Meridian Group started in 1976 with two clients, an Anheuser-Busch plant and the Oregon Department of Transportation. Two very different organizations, but both with people issues involving cooperation, teamwork, motivation, responsibility, and productivity. After three years at the Anheuser Busch plant, averaging one consulting day per week, productivity had doubled. Meridian Group has achieved similar results with other major companies (see Clients, Company History and Founders and Results).   (top)

Every client sees their own specialty as unique, and in many ways it is. But relationships, communications, morale and motivation are areas for improvement in all companies. Meridian Group has specialized in the manufacturing and distribution industries, but our long experience has made our work effective in a wide range of companies large and small, from high-tech to professional and financial services. (see Clients, Client List)    (top)

Most consulting companies do studies, write reports, and make recommendations. Meridian Group works closely with managers to get results in-place, and fast. With our deep experience on the people side, we have probably experienced your very issue many times. We work carefully with your managers to tailor the solution to fit your workplace. Because everyone is engaged, we get results. Our clients are surprised and pleased with those results and it shows in the satisfaction of managers and employees who work with us.   (top)

Company culture is behind what people do and the meaning they attach to it. Business success requires having everyone involved, clear on the goal, motivated, responsible, and making good decisions. Culture is not so much about what you do—this is often given by technology, laws, markets, and economics. It is about how you do it—by involving the people affected by decisions, by being open to everyone's ideas and creativity. Meridian Group helps you create a workplace where people feel so good about their value to the team effort that they don't leave and they tell their friends that your company is a great place to work. That's why we say "company culture delivers the bottom line." (See Our Culture Development Process and Culture and Employee Productivity   (top)

Sometimes leaders try to approach culture as a problem to be solved, as if it were a broken machine. This doesn't work because culture is not a problem and cannot be broken. Every company has a culture. Every company is a culture. You improve it by deciding what values you want more of and then by looking for opportunities in what you do every day that demonstrate and reinforce those values. Changing a culture is a "doing" thing, not an "analyzing" thing.

If you want people to be more involved, find ways to involve them in an upcoming decision or project.

If you want more teamwork, see how you can bring the team together to make a team decision.

If you want people to be more efficient, share financial information with them on both the big picture and about their daily work.

Most people do not understand how they personally fit into the financial flow. They don't know what their actions cost and how they contribute to the whole. When they understand this, they will become more efficient and productive. (See Our Culture Development Process)   (top)

If your pay and benefits are reasonably similar to competitors, your challenge is to make your workplace the most attractive in your industry or location. The U.S Labor Board 1998 survey across 1000 companies ranked Why Employees Really Stay:

The 1997 National Study of the Changing Workforce painted a similar picture of Reasons for Staying in a Job

Developing your culture is not just another program. It is more how you do your daily work and projects. Usually managers find that when they open up the information and decision to those affected that better decisions are made, faster, and with everyone committed to make them work. It takes very little time. Depending on the level of upper management support—you do not want to do things that contradict what upper management does or says—you can expect results to begin immediately. Meridian Group has seen major shifts in a culture—from adversarial to highly cooperative in just months. The speed depends on the size of the group and the level of upper management commitment to "walk the talk." (See Our Culture Development Process)   (top)

Because Meridian Group's work dramatically improves productivity the cost is minimal relative to the benefits. As one manufacturer put it: "Your consulting for a year cost less than a day of can lids and in three years productivity doubled." Meridian Group does not begin with large studies. We start small and low-key, demonstrating results in a few areas so that others will see and follow. We transfer skills to your managers as fast as they can learn them. In a small organization we may be onsite just a few days a month. With a larger organization we might put a team of two or three people onsite perhaps one week in three. It all depends on the size or the organization and how fast leaders want the change. In all cases we carefully plan the work with the top leadership tailored to your budget and time.    (top)