How the Best Job Ever Drives Remarkable Employee Engagement

Radio Flyer, the creator of the Little Red Wagon, has been creating smiles for over a century. My Little Red Wagon got a real workout. As a kid, I used it for hauling everything from rocks and dirt, moving materials to build our treehouse, and transporting friends and pets. The company’s breakthrough approach to employee engagement — the best job ever — will continue to bring smiles for another century.

I fondly remember Hank Thomson's song —

Won't you ride in my little red wagon
I'd love to pull you down the street
I'll bet all the kids will be jealous
When they see my playmate so sweet
Hold tight till we come to the hilltop
Then we'll coast down the hill, you and me
Won't you ride in my little red wagon
For you are my sweetheart to be
Won't you ride in my little red wagon
I'd love to pull you down the street
I'll bet all the kids will be jealous
When they see my playmate so sweet — Rex Griffin

Keeping a company successful is hard work. Robert Pasin has served as the Chief Wagon Officer (CWO) since 1997. Pasin heads the family business founded by his grandfather in 1917. He wanted to build an excellent company, culture and attract the best people. Under Pasin’s leadership, Radio Flyer sales have more than tripled, driven by introducing the most new products in the company’s history. By taking a “Good to Great” approach, Radio Flyer has gone through a complete cultural transformation resulting in a dynamic, goal-oriented workplace.

To win in the marketplace you must first win in the workplace.” — Doug Conant

Today Radio Flyer is recognized for being the best place to work from several establishments, including Fortune and Best Places to Work. Gallup reports that a staggering 87% of employees worldwide are not engaged. Many companies are experiencing a crisis of engagement and aren't aware of it. Radio Flyer score 97% on employee engagement.

How did they do it?

Their journey to move from Good to Great took a giant step in 2007 when Pasin recruited Amy Bastuga as a senior VP of Human Resources. He challenged Bastuga to have every person who joins Radio Flyer to believe it is the best job they’ve ever had! Bastuga took up the challenge and knew that working at Radio Flyer would be the best job she ever had. Since then, she has made this impressive employee promise a reality. Moreover, they stand by it.

Before an employee is hired, they receive a letter from Pasin asking them NOT to take the job unless they believe it will be the best job they’ve ever had. The company wants all employees to be passionate about their work and see their role as more than just a job.

Radio Flyer Connects Daily Work to Their Purpose

The company works hard to ensure that employees are passionate about what they do. Their goal is to have all employees feel they are part of creating awesome kid’s products that inspire active play. Please have a look at their inspiring video on Mission, Vision and Values.

VISION: To be the world's most loved children's brand.

MISSION: To bring smiles to kids of all ages and to create warm memories that last a lifetime.

By our actions:

• Relentless commitment to building a great team.
• Awesome kids’ products that inspire active play.
• Deliver breakthrough results.
• Improve our world by acting sustainably.
• Outstanding customer service.

VALUES: We follow the “Little Red Rule:” Every time we touch people’s lives, they will feel great about Radio Flyer because of our passionate commitment to the FLYER code:

• FUNomenal Customer Experiences
• Live with Integrity
• Yes, I Can
• Excellence in Everything
• Responsible for Success

They share customer testimonials, photos, videos and stories on a regular basis to remind employees how their efforts directly impact products, sales and customers.

Employee Engagement

There are only three measurements that tell you nearly everything you need to know about your organization’s overall performance: employee engagement, customer satisfaction, and cash flow.”  — Jack Welch

Their engagement survey consists of more than 60 questions. Their engagement score is 97%. This score represents a combination of satisfaction with their role, benefits, leadership, culture, work environment, training and supervisor relationship.

Moreover, about one-quarter of its employees were first hired as interns. They all had a chance to test drive their job. Also, over 30% of employees offered promotions last year, every employee said yes to the job promotion.

Effective succession planning is an essential element to employee engagement. They are able to see a possible future for themselves in the company. Personal develop can then focus on the future possible roles. We use behavioural DNA to help team members leverage their strengths and manage the areas required for success where they are not naturally strong.

Starts with A Best-Fit Hiring Process

Some companies don’t have an engagement problem, they have a hiring problem.” — Bob Kelleher

Alignment with the company’s purpose begins at hiring. They look for people who are both creative, sincerely committed, and the kind of people that everyone wants to work with – talented, smart, helpful and fun.  They have a rigorous selection process to match people with roles that align with their strengths and work that energizes them. Thus employees end up with the best job they ever had! To achieve a similar fit for your organization we offer our best-fit staffing process. Our analytics can predict success with an 85 percent reliability, the highest in the industry.

Great Work Environment — Pride in Its Fun Work Culture

We think it’s important for employees to have fun… it drives employee engagement.” — Tony Hsieh

Radio Flyer provides an environment that is flexible, fun and beneficial to its employees. The company offers programs and benefit options that appeal to and can be customized. These benefits include summer flex hours, an on-site gym, two days off per year to volunteer in the community, development workshop opportunities and committees surrounding a variety of Flyer’s interests.

Radio Flyer celebrates a lot. They go out of their way to recognize good work. They show gratitude through recognition, celebrating our successes, and personal milestones. They create fond memories at work. I've previously shared How to Appreciate and Recognize Your Employees. Praising others and saying "thank you" does not take much energy. Regularly putting a few minutes toward making sure others feel appropriately acknowledged for their efforts goes a long way to building a positive team environment. Plan to work appreciation into your every day, and before long, raising the visibility of your high-achievers will be a regular habit. Your positive team environment will impact your workplace.

Radio Flyer's“Little Red Rule Award” goes to employees who model the company’s values. They recognize “Captain FUNomenal” — superheroines/heroes around the office who were acknowledged for achieving outstanding results.

To learn more read Laura Garnett’s interview with Amy Bastuga.

Is ‘Best Job Ever’ the Key to Success?

Success is more than a declaration or destination is an ongoing work in progress. It requires alignment of goals from top to bottom in the organization and all processes. Radio Flyer has systemically aligned individuals with their mission, vision, and values. Their focus on ensuring that employees feel that they are working in the best job ever. Their internal succession process and recruitment processes show the genuine commitment to “walk the talk.”

It always seems impossible until it is done.”  --Nelson Mandela

All organizations exist to increase shareholder value. There are two necessary conditions: satisfied customers and an engaged workforce. The ‘Best Job Ever’ has created remarkable success for Radio Flyer. You need something that will resonate from top to bottom with your organization. It needs to shape the culture to achieve success in your industry. We offer strategic insights to help you find your special sauce for success.