b'occasion they set up a COVID-19-shaped pinata andrestrictions meant they couldnt employees (who were naturally masked and sociallygather together physically.distanced) got to take swing at it during an officeAs humans, we all crave that meeting.connection and I think that has The companys Joy Squad continues to inject actsbeen magnified throughout the of kindness into work life and there was even a recentlast year, says Bethany Gremel, decorate your workspace contest. Becks director of culture and You wouldnt believe some of the stuff that camebrand experience. Weve had to out of that. It was a really good outlet for people to belook for opportunities where we creative, Julie says. Its important to keep doing thosecould stay connected with cus-fun things. tomers and each other while still recognizing the safety Communication Key to Engagement rules in place.John Wyffels is president of Wyffels Hybrids, whichGremel says one of the employs about 175 people across the central corn belt.potential positives that could He says one of the keys to getting employees to feelcome out of the pandemic plugged in and engaged is to be proactive, not reac- is that it could prompt some tive, which starts with the hiring process. seed sellers to reexamine I thing a big part of our culture is passion or whattheir corporate culture, we like to refer to as give a care, he explains. Its partincluding how they engage of our hiring process. If we dont feel that during theemployees.hiring process than thats pretty much a signal for usCulture and engage-its probably not going to work. ment is a foundation for The fact Wyffels Hybrids is a smaller, family-ownedany organization. Its what business makes it easier to encourage engagementcarries you through your since many of its employees work out of the samechallenging times and location and see each other on a daily basis. difficult seasons. What Another key consideration for the company whenyou build during your it comes to making employees plugged in is com- good days will carry you municating with those same people, according to thethrough the challenging companys president.ones.We communicate a lot and that makes it hard for people not to be engaged. Communication is a reallyLooking on the Bright big piece of it, he adds. SideOf course, the tools the company is using to com- Although it will be some municate with staff these days these days are a littletime before things get back different as a result of COVID-19. Video conferencingto truly normal, Wyffels was rarely used prior to the start of the pandemic lastadvice to other seed sellers March. Now there are days when Wyffels spends thewhen it comes to helping bulk of his day on Zoom calls. employees feel plugged in is While the pandemic hasnt had much of an impactto focus on the future.on sales, production and research team members atOne thing I would share Wyffels, its office and marketing staff have had to dealis to encourage people to with some changes, including working from home.look ahead and look beyond With many of those staff now returning to the office,the storm clouds on the horizon, he says. I thinkReexamining Wyffels says it has been a real positive for drivingtheres a tendency, especially during the pandemic,company engagement. to manage whats right here in front of you. It canculture is be hard to look six to 12 months out on the horizonespecially Reexamining Corporate Culture with so much uncertainty and complexity, but itsimperative to Like many seed companies, family-owned Becksimportant that you do.SW engaging Hybrids in Atlanta, Ind., had to look at new and differ- employees. ent ways of staying connected with employees and customers during the pandemic, even when health 8/ SEEDWORLD.COMSEPTEMBER 2021'