Hancock Lumber’s number one focus is to create and sustain a world-class employee experience. Today, the company announced Team Hancock’s been named a Best Place to Work in Maine for the ninth consecutive year, reinforcing they’re delivering on their mission to enhance the lives of the people who work at the organization. For Hancock Lumber, their nine-time Best Place to Work in Maine honor is about the journey, not the destination.
What makes this accomplishment most impressive is the company has averaged a 95 percent employee participation rate in the annual survey since it started the process over a decade ago. Yes, you read that right, there were a couple years in which the company did not earn the title. That didn’t stop the company — in fact, it fueled the team to dig deeper and create a system for constant feedback and continuous improvement. The Best Places to Work survey is a system that has enabled Hancock Lumber to create a differentiating culture which translates into an incredible experience for everyone connected — their employees and their families, customers, vendors, community partners and beyond.
“This is such exciting news — number nine is just as rewarding, if not more so, than number one,” CEO Kevin Hancock commented in a companywide celebratory email to all employees. “To be able to sustain this employee experience and culture WHILE growing and onboarding new people and new companies is a fantastic accomplishment! Congratulations and thank you all for delivering on Hancock Lumber’s #1 priority!”
Team Hancock leverages this third-party survey process to capture employee feedback— formally and consistently — and utilizes the data to keep improving throughout the year — and, year-over-year. The Best Places to Work recognition is a moment to celebrate the effort that every location and team member contributes all year round into making the work experience meaningful and enhancing the lives of those who are a part of it.
“Kevin Hancock started down this path over a decade ago, setting the stage for an updated company vision and strategy asking, ‘What if we created a human-centric mission?’”, commented Chief Marketing Officer Erin Plummer. “Hancock Lumber has always been about people, but this is next level. Everyone on Team Hancock has a voice and is expected to use it—to be a leader. It’s an employee-first, inside out culture which translates into an amazing customer experience and so much more.”
Because people spend so much time at work, the company set out early on to find deeper ways for it to be more meaningful — making work important, but not all-consuming. The team simplified the mission and made everything employee-centric first. While Team Hancock’s 650 employees across 16 locations will pause, celebrate, and reflect on this nine-time honor, it won’t be for too long. The real work happens every day throughout the year — listening, learning, and finding ways to create and sustain a culture where everybody leads, where everybody is trusted, respected, listened to and heard. Being a best place to work is more than the award, the banners, and the logo—it takes year-round focus, discipline and commitment from everyone. The goal is to have a culture that enriches the lives of people that work at Hancock Lumber, fosters a high level of engagement, and guides good minute-to-minute decision-making by all employees.
“Working at Hancock Lumber has helped me grow as a person,” said Taylor Davis, Pittsfield Sawmill moulder lead. “When there was an opening for a promotion, everyone here on my team was so encouraging and motivated me to apply. Now, I make decisions easier and with more confidence. It’s helped my quality of life–I’ve gained friends that are now like family to me. Working here has been a huge game-changer for my life and I really appreciate all that Hancock Lumber has done for me.”
Thank you, Taylor — and, the rest of Hancock Lumber’s employees — for all you do and the way you do it to make Team Hancock a best place to work.
Being in the lumber business since 1848 says more about Hancock Lumber’s commitment to the future than it does about their past. Today the company is a seventh-generation, family-owned integrated forest products company who is passionate about its people-first and values driven culture. Operating high-efficiency eastern white pine sawmills, lumberyards, component manufacturing facilities, and full-service kitchen design showrooms, Team Hancock is led by their 650 employees and has been named a ‘Best Place to Work in Maine’ since 2014. Learn more online: http://www.HancockLumber.com.
