How to Develop a Strong Company Culture at Your Industrial Business [New Podcast]

Mikaela Tierney Nov 20, 2019

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On this week's new episode of the Thomas Industry Update Podcast, Thomas CMO Shawn Fitzgerald sits down with American Crane and Equipment Corporation President & COO Karen Norheim. A Champion for Industry winner and Chair of the National Board of Women in Manufacturing, Norheim is not only undoubtedly a leader in industry, but she's also a committed leader to her American Crane team.

"I really believe that we build beautiful machinery, but the way that we build beautiful machinery is because of all of our amazing people at American Crane," she says in the latest podcast episode. "The most important part of our business is our people. They're the ones who allow us to create these awesome machines. And I'm very proud of them and the products that we build and the customers that we serve."

Maintaining Core Values Across a Multi-generational Family Business

After getting involved in the family business at the encouragement of her father, who came to the U.S. from Norway in his early twenties, Norheim quickly recognized the value her father placed in the members of the American Crane team. Using the Norwegian concept of the 'Viking and the Gardener,' Norheim says, "He really taught me that I both need to set the vision so we can thrive on this battlefield, which is our business, and then I also need to be a gardener, growing and cultivating people. My job is to develop and nurture these teams so that we" are successful as a company, she explains.

A few years ago, Norheim says, she "realized that I had to solidify the founder's legacy, this culture that my dad created. I needed to convey to our people the commitment of myself and my family to the business. Much like old Viking law, our old culture was passed down by generation to generation by word of mouth; it wasn't really written down. It worked, and it got us through some really tough times, but we really needed to do a reboot on this."

Creating and Implementing a Realistic, Guiding Company Mantra

To enact this cultural reboot at American Crane, Norheim developed a mantra for employees to work by: "GRIT Matters." The phrase sets "our vision, mission, and values; this is our North Star, what we look to as our guiding light," she explains. "The most important thing at American Crane is our people. And we are gritty at American Crane, which means we put perseverance, heart, and integrity into everything that we do."

Regardless of generation, background, or role in a company, Norheim says, "I think it still all comes down to culture. You want to feel respected, and you want to have purpose, no matter how old you are."

"If you don't set your own culture," she says, "others in your business will be setting it for you."

How to Develop an Industrial Company Culture

Learn more about GRIT Matters, how the multigenerational workforce at American Crane embodies the traits of GRIT Matters every day on the job, and how you can develop a strong company culture at your own industrial business in episode 3 of the Thomas Industry Update Podcast.