For more than 80 years, Pye-Barker has operated with a family-oriented culture. The largest fully integrated and full-service fire protection, life safety and security services provider in the country—with over 250 branches and 9,000 team members—views itself “very much as a family,” says Rebecca True, CHRO. A new “employee ownership” model is solidifying that mindset, while promoting retention, attraction and sustainable employee engagement.
After having grown significantly through acquisitions in recent years, and with employee engagement data suggesting team members were eager for more rewards opportunities, an increase in investment capital at the start of this year accelerated a conversation about “giving back” to the workforce, True says.
“We were thinking of these pillars of family, ownership, how people want to take part in the company more,” she says, which all led to the creation of the Achieving Lasting Legacy Incentive (ALL In) employee ownership program that rolled out in August.
At the heart of ALL In is a financial incentive given to all full-time employees this summer, which will be followed by growth awards in each subsequent year while they’re with the organization. As a privately owned company, Pye-Barker can’t assign a share price, but the company’s growth trajectory will drive future award amounts.
“[Employees] participate in that growth,” True says. “They don’t have to do anything, sign anything—just be continuously employed. And however our growth increases, they’ll get that in their paycheck.”
True says the initiative is meant to be an investment in employees’ futures—designed in a way to respond to the needs employees identified: They want to take more ownership in the company, understand the impact of their contributions and be rewarded for that work.
“This is a way to do all that,” she says.
A focus on messaging
As the program readied for rollout, True’s team worked closely with the marketing and finance functions, as well as the private-equity firms that have invested in Pye-Barker and CEO Bart Proctor, among others.
They knew that communication and education, she says, were going to be imperative—particularly to help team members differentiate the growth award from a bonus given at the start of this year.
A few days before the launch, leaders conducted a briefing with all vice presidents and branch managers, who also received a video explaining the program featuring True and Proctor. The video was shown at a town hall for all employees, who also had access to in-depth webinars and a special Teams channel that was open throughout the launch week for questions and feedback. True and Pye-Barker CFO Christian Dirx “tag-teamed” every question on the hour-long town hall and set up an email account to field feedback after.
Employees also received ALL In-branded deliveries to their home, including a certificate stating they were officially part of a company powered by employee ownership.
“I got this wonderful email from an inspection coordinator in Pennsylvania. His wife had opened the box and sent him the pictures, and they were so thrilled to hear about the program and be a part of it,” True says.
Driving employee ownership forward
The employee ownership concept got even more eyes on it when Pye-Barker, the Official Fire Safety Partner of the LEGACY MOTOR CLUB, designed a custom wrap for its No. 42 Toyota, driven by John Hunter Nemechek, that was unveiled during the NASCAR Cup Series. The wrap featured the names of all of the more than 9,000 employees.
“It was a wonderful way to let people know our company is truly powered by all of our team members,” True says.
Seeing the impact of the ALL In rollout, she adds, has been a career highlight.
“That Monday when we launched this program was one of the most meaningful and heartfelt days of my career,” she says. “I was on cloud nine. We have an ability to drive a hopefully life-changing experience for folks who join us and stay with us—and not just with the little stuff; this is the big stuff.”
