Culture, as defined by Webster’s dictionary reads: The set of values, conventions, or social practices associated with a particular field, activity or societal characteristic. Now I don’t know about you guys, but when I think about the culture at my job that smartly worded sentence is not the first thing that comes to mind. You see, to accurately describe the culture at Garman Homes there are two words, and two words only that can do her justice; and those two words are, “Garman Homes.” Now I understand that doesn’t make sense to most of you, especially since we only have about 6-7 employees! What I am suggesting is that the culture at Garman Homes is so unique that it can’t be boxed in by another’s.
There are a multitude of things that make up the culture at Garman homes, but today I want to focus on just a few of them. Do you guys remember back in, “The Good Ole Days” when people worked hard, loved what they did, built a superior lasting product, and most importantly loved its people and customers? Well that’s us, we have built our business around making people’s dreams come true and building a quality house at the same time. I can’t tell you how many people have come to us with ideas of what they wanted in their perfect home and time and time again we made it happen for them. So, I guess I will call my first culture point the, “we slayed it again factor!”
We all know of “that guy” or “that product” or “that company” that is at best second rate in terms hontegriditis (yes I made up this word). What is this you might ask, this is my attempt to sum up and combine the words honesty and integrity. This is my second culture point, here at Garman I can confidently and proudly say that WE DO THE RIGHT THING! In many aspects this has been key to our success, as a builder because when people see this (and believe me, they see it) it leaves a lasting impression that they just can’t help but tell others about. As a field guy this is one of the most challenging parts of my job. In my experience anytime you have to be upfront and honest about something is usually because along the way something got messed up! Let me be the first to tell you that “after-the-fact” fixes are hard, time consuming, and down-right irritating. But, at the end of the day if we can’t be bigger than our mistakes (and yes we make them) where does that leave us???
Bringing up the rear is a little something I like to call attitude. We have all heard the saying, “attitude reflects leadership.” Well that’s certainly true and we are leading the way in our unconventional style of home building. Having a good attitude doesn’t mean we don’t get mad or angry, but it does mean that we commit to being positive while we work through things with each other and customers. A key component of this is humility. You won’t find any ego here (except from me but I am working on it) and we give each other plenty of wiggle room. Put all that together and you have a great place to excel because people aren’t afraid to make mistakes.
I hope you have caught a glimpse that while we aren’t a perfect company, every day we strive to do the things the Garman Way. If you can’t find a good fit for what you’re looking from anyone come check us out, I think you’ll like us!
Gerry Felton
Rock Star since March, 2010
