When it comes to positive company culture, one important consideration is how well the company can find ways to make its employees feel valued both at work and in activities outside of work. We spoke to Kyle Favel, owner of Favel Transportation about how they have managed to successfully create a company culture worth emulating.
As an employee would tell you, one aspect of working that can make or break an experience is the value that the company puts on the experiences of its employees. Favel Transportation has made sure that its employees feel valued in various ways.
Kyle Favel says, “And one thing to know about Favel is our staff are important and I believe in having a good solid dispatching and sales staff and making sure that the customers know that we’re going to be there for them. It also lets prospective drivers know that we don’t have a lot of turnover in our office so that way it lets people know that we’re serious about keeping good quality people.”
Favel Transportation also takes the time to provide all its employees with benefits no matter their position. “Everyone in our company is allowed to participate in our retirement plan, whether they’re drivers or contractors, or office staff, they’re allowed to participate in our retirement plan. They’re all also allowed to participate in our health and dental benefits plan,” says Kyle Favel.
Outside of their great work environment and considerations, Favel Transportation also works hard at making sure their employees can also contribute to the well-being of their community of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. “I’ve gotten my teammates to participate in Movember where you grow a mustache for donations,” says Kyle Favel.
They also have managed to grow the Moose Jaw Regional hospital through various donations, and Favel Transportation also works together with their staff to raise money for the hospital in Regina, Saskatchewan by matching funds donated by them throughout the year.
“Our staff makes a donation every year into a donation jar and the company matches those donations and it goes to the neonatal intensive care unit in Regina. That was a key piece of Saskatchewan infrastructure that we needed for one of our children when they were born,” says Kyle Favel.
Along with those donations, Favel Transportation also worked to create a nonprofit organization, where they have organized fundraising events for various charities. Kyle Favel says, “We also started a nonprofit called the Saskatchewan Big Rig Show and Shine, and we ran a few show-shines. That was quite fun and rewarding. We were then able to make donations to anonymous charities with the proceeds, which was great, and quite rewarding.”
When looking to the future, Favel Transportation has put a priority on growing the business both organically and through purchasing other companies. This includes focusing on gathering leads from drivers or receiving phone calls by word of mouth references and ensuring that the community is aware of their presence and contributions.
Kyle Favel says, “We are looking to purchase more trucking companies through mergers and acquisitions to add more capacity for us and more loads for our customers. And we look at that as adding more people and building a culture of people who want to succeed and do the best for the truckers and do the best for the customers. We’ve got a great core group of people that by adding people we can only strengthen the business and provide better service to our customers.”