Buckeye Innovation isn’t just innovative in our development of technology; we create new, creative solutions for every part of our business. This leads to a company culture that is uniquely focused on support, transparency, and community.
Work-Life Integration
Buckeye Innovation adopted a fully remote work model in 2020, which has allowed us to expand our business to 16 team members located across the country. We also took our innovative work a step further; we implemented a 4-day work week in 2022. We are off every Friday, and we have only seen our productivity increase since making this change. Our 4-day workweek policy enhances this by offering our employees an additional day to rest, recharge, and spend time with loved ones.
Buckeye also provides a flexible schedule; we recognize that our team members have lives outside of work. We don’t want our team stressed about when to schedule a doctor’s appointment; instead, we encourage them to take care of themselves, and then get the work done later in the day. Team members just need to keep their calendars updated so that no one schedules them for meetings while they are unavailable.
Additionally, our comprehensive benefits package, including profit sharing and reimbursements for wellness purchases, reflects our belief in taking care of our employees. As President Brad Griffith puts it, “I just asked myself what kind of business I would want to work at and what kinds of benefits I would want, and then I provided those, because I do work here.”
Living Our Mission
Our mission statement is: “We believe in the power of entrepreneurship and innovation to drive meaningful change in our community. Through unparalleled access to exceptional web engineering, design, and content strategy, we amplify the impact these innovators have on our world.”
Buckeye Innovation serves its employees professionally by making sure we get to do work that drives us. We work with many libraries, non-profits, and community organizations. These types of projects typically do not have large budgets. However, serving our community is important to our employees, so these clients are a fundamental part of our business model. Buckeye Innovation allows us to be the change we want to see in the world.
At Buckeye Innovation, we also believe strongly in transparency. For internal communication, this means posting in open Slack channels. Anyone can ask any question without fear of shame- and they also have the ability to search to see if anyone else has had that question in the past. By using open Slack channels, we create a database of frequently asked questions for all current and future employees.
Building Connections
Despite the fact that our team is spread across the country, we maintain a strong sense of community. We do this by scheduling occasional time during work hours to connect on a personal level. Our team meets once a month with Healthy New Albany to do things like virtual yoga, movement workshops, and nutrition advice. We also have a monthly Spirit of EQ meeting for our team to think about how we handle conflicts. Our team participates in quarterly Wellness Challenges to keep our team connected and focused on personal growth. Daily stand-up meetings ensure we stay aligned on our goals, while monthly happy hours provide opportunities for informal interaction and bonding. We even have a Slack channel dedicated to cute pictures of our pets!
Buckeye also hosts annual in-person retreats. These retreats are an important part of our strategy to strengthen team relationships and brainstorm ways to better serve our clients. These gatherings foster a collaborative spirit and help us build a positive and supportive work environment. At our last retreat, one team member commented that they “felt like they got to know the team better in four days than in years of working at other jobs.” This is because the retreats are designed with connection in mind. Brad encourages team members to ask important questions about our passions and interests, which drives conversations about how we approach our work.
A Testament to Innovation
By reimagining traditional work structures, we have not only increased productivity but also created a more engaged, satisfied, and motivated team. At Buckeye Innovation, we believe that when our team thrives, so do our clients—empowering us all to make a meaningful impact together.
