Innovation

Lippert has created a program which started as a simple initiative, but has developed into a movement that defines the culture at LCI. Their 100,000 hours of community service goal has quickly stretched far beyond its title. The company itself employs about 8,200 workers across the United States, Canada, and Italy. The idea is for Lippert employees to give back to the communities in which they reside; a grand total of at least 100,000 hours.

What is lesser known, but has gained extreme momentum, is that other companies are following suit. CEO, Jason Lippert says a lot can be done just by his own company, but the real difference starts when other companies see what we've done and then join the movement. Two other companies in the Elkhart, Indiana area have publicly pledged their goals for 2017. This will put the total count over 150,000 hours for the year, while five other companies have recently committed but haven’t yet released hour goals. Lippert estimates over 1 million hours in Elkhart County alone next year if businesses continue to pledge at this rate.

Not only has Lippert committed the resources necessary to create and maintain a website designed to make it easy for LCI and other companies to get involved, they have also created an app that makes it easy for employees to track their hours and involvement. Full time positions at LCI, like the director of philanthropic partnerships, Michilah Grimes, who we interviewed for this story, have also been created to support this movement. The website (www.actsofservice.com) helps connect local businesses with nonprofits in the area in need of volunteer help. Grimes says "Before, the only website for this type of thing available made it really difficult to find relevant opportunities in the areas where our people lived and worked, so we have created actsofservice.com to not only make it it easier for us, but also to provide the technological infrastructure in place for other companies."

Inspiration

The inspiration for this initiative came straight from the top at LCI. At the annual board of directors meeting in December, each member gets to share their top five ideas they think the company should focus on for that year. After all the ideas were on the board, and the duplicates were erased, each member then got three votes for their top initiatives. The five at the top were determined to be what the company would focus on for the year.

This outreach initiative was extremely popular this past year, and the company has since spared no expense to make it happen. "I am not exactly certain how they landed on 100,000 hours, but it is an ambitious goal" Grimes says. "LCI employees were already extremely involved prior to this and the company wanted to track their impact." CEO Jason Lippert has always felt strongly about giving back. Through this new initiative at his company, he is able to continue to share his passion with his employees and other companies looking to lend a helping hand in the community. The company has also received many benefits within its own four walls as a result.

Overall impact

The overall impact of this movement would have to be measured in a very dynamic way since it touches so many different areas in business and society as whole. Lippert Components has created a very sustainable, opportunistic, and scalable impact on the communities in which they reside. In less than 6 months, the company is already knocking on the door of 50,000 hours, with over 6,500 of those hours coming from their employees volunteering on Earth Day. LCI plans on reaching the full 100,000; however, Grimes says "we are counting on even more companies within their communities to swing the hammer with us and continue to get involved." With more involvement, many areas in sustainable development will thrive. These include economic growth, good health and well-being, sanitation, sustainable cities, as well as partnerships for these specific goals. These goals are a big driver in what sustainability stands for and believes in. With an initiative and passion for a culture shift like this – LCI’s vision will be the original seed planted, creating a growing tree of corporate and communal responsibility and sustainability in the business world.

Business benefit

Not only has this movement been great for the communities in which employees have donated so much time, but LCI has seen benefits to business as well. A primary benefit comes from what the company calls “#LippertLove” and it conveys the way they treat their customers and stakeholders. This movement has molded a new way of business culture for the company as it has consistently been modeling employee behavior and responsibility. Also, CEO Jason Lippert says because of the culture change, their employee turnover rate has dramatically decreased from years past. Before, when manufacturing employees might have left to work elsewhere for an extra dollar or so an hour, his employees have put less emphasis on small amounts of money when it is up against feeling a part of the company culture and being happy at work. He said about the initiative, “When they (employees) associate that great feeling of helping others with the company they work for, they stay longer. When that happens, quality, efficiency, and safety improves.”

Social and environmental benefit

Within LCI and their 100,000-hour initiative, both social and environmental impacts have been heavily highlighted. All of LCI’s employees have the ability to get involved in a way that they feel passionate about. The company even brings opportunities to work for their employees who may not have the ability to spend much time out of work to be involved. Many other companies and organizations like The Boys and Girls Club, Kem Krest, and Genesis Products offer their time and sources to complete tasks. These volunteer services include therapeutic writing, child abuse awareness, creating blankets for children’s hospitals, community cleanups, and countless more. Lippert’s simple 100,000-hour campaign has proved to be such a social benefit in communities because people have really adopted this movement and want to be involved. Communities thrive on this and the social impact has been growing immensely over this past year. Lippert Components has lead by example while having created a much larger social group which exponentially creates both positive societal and environmental impacts.

Interview

Michilah Grimes, Director of Philanthropic Partnerships