As one of the largest employers in Thurston County, Xerox Commercial Solutions hires amazing employees. They excel too at retaining those gifted workers by fostering a sense of community, involvement, family, and morale. Xerox corporate CEO Ursula Burns sums up their focus on Global Citizenship as “Since our earliest days, Xerox has embarked on a never-ending journey to demonstrate that good business and good citizenship are not only compatible, but synergistic…Today, we still live our beliefs and our values through our actions. We know that being a good corporate citizen is integral to our innovation and top-line performance.”
Having been in Thurston County for 10 years, Xerox moved to their current Lacey Hawks Prairie location in 2010. Last year the management team began an employee picnic to celebrate their staff and the region they call home. Last year’s inaugural picnic was held at the Regional Athletic Complex but this year moved on-site to the Xerox offices in Lacey so all staff could attend, even if they were scheduled to work.
Free to employees and their families, the event was held on September 7 and full of fundraisers, games, food, music, and prize giveaways. The celebrations aren’t officially themed, but stick to a family-friendly format with a dunk tank, photo booth (complete with props), bounce houses for the kids, games, and prizes. Whereas last year’s celebration highlighted raffle prizes based on tickets earned through excellent work performance, this year tickets were sold with all money going back into the community; over $1100 was raised for Thurston County Animal Services.
Holly Houle, an operations manager for the company’s Telecommunications & Technology department, summed up Xerox’s morale building as crucial to their success: “We are one of the largest employers in the county. We believe in having a strong presence in the community because of our employees. We are living in this community and we can have either a positive or negative impact on our own lives and the lives of others. We have and will continue to do food drives, school supply drives, ‘adopt a family’ for the holidays, donate to the women’s shelter. We feel that being in the community makes a good business sense because our staff can see how much we care about them and their families and their lives.”
And boy did they celebrate: they went through twice as much food as last year, passing out more than 800 hot dogs alone (with no leftovers). By hosting the event on-site, all employees could attend with their families and share in salads, hamburgers, BBQ chicken, and auctions including an iPad, Xbox, and 42 inch flat-screen TV. A huge amplifier was brought in to provide family friendly local radio music and management even took their turn on the receiving end of the dunk tank.
Says Houle, “We feel really honored that we have the ability to showcase our appreciation for the team we work with and the opportunities we have to give back to the community. Our staff is looking for more than just a job, we are looking for a place to call home and give our dedication to. When we have the ability to help others in our community, we jump at the chance to help. When we do that, we feel good about the work we are doing and the rest of the staff really appreciates our efforts. It is team building when we all get involved like we did for our picnic.”
With supportive management, dedicated employees, and an appreciative community, I’m sure I speak for all of Thurston County when I say: Everybody raise your hotdog in salute to many more successful years!
