TEAM Software, Inc. has been a leading provider of software solutions in the contract security and building service industries for nearly 30 years. The Omaha-based company is now leading the tech industry in a completely different way.
TEAM recently launched a new Volunteer Time Off (VTO) program to encourage its employee owners to give back to the community.
The employee-owned technology company developed the VTO program to provide community engagement opportunities for its employees that are meaningful and make an impact in the community in which they live and work.
“TEAM strives to make a difference in the lives of our employee-owners, and we’re taking this a step further with the Volunteer Time Off program,” said Judi Szatko, TEAM’s Vice President of Human Resources. “This avenue will help encourage pride and embed a strong community mindset within our culture and company.”
TEAM believes these types of activities also enrich and inspire the lives of employee-owners. Amanda Sullivan, TEAM’s Director of Marketing & Communications, said the company’s employee-owners are excited to contribute their hours to something that fits their talents.
“There’s been a lot of buzz around it,” said Sullivan. “It gives employee owners an opportunity to do something that is meaningful to them and give back.”
The program expands on TEAM’s already successful partnership with TeamMates, a youth mentoring organization that TEAM has supported since 2013.
All employee-owners can receive up to four days of VTO per year specifically to volunteer on behalf of the company. For a company that employs 124 people, giving them each 32 hours per year to volunteer is a large investment.
“We know it’s an investment and that’s the kind of investment we want to make, not only for our employee-owners and future employee-owners but for improving and contributing to the community,” said Sullivan. “It’s important to us to have a connection here.”
TEAM is a B2B company with approximately 400 customers all over North America. Their customer base is largely from outside the Omaha area, so reinforcing the company’s connection to the local community where employee-owners work and live is important.
Recommended volunteer activities support civic-minded and 501(c)(3) nonprofit community improvement organizations such as Youth Emergency Services, YMCA or TeamMates. Other activities can include those that address health and research initiatives like fundraiser run/walk events or volunteering at a nursing home, food bank or hospital.
In addition to making changes in the community, the VTO program is reinforcing TEAM’s company culture and increasing the stake each person has in the company.
“It’s about cultivating that culture around employee ownership. We all own the company so we hold each other to pretty high expectations, we’re the shareholders,” said Sullivan. “We think it’s really important to focus on not only what you can get out of it, but what having this kind of culture can enable you to give.”
Sullivan said that the more things like the VTO program that TEAM offers, the more chances they have of displaying their company culture to people who may not know who they are or what they do. That exposure has multiple benefits including attracting new employee-owners.
“As a tech company, we know that we’re competing for highly talented people,” said Sullivan. “You can be a developer everywhere but can you be a developer at a company that’s community-minded?”