What Makes for A “Family Culture” in the Print World?

When you hear “family atmosphere,” it’s easy to dismiss it as a common phrase that’s said but not frequently realized. Unless you head to the Chicago suburb of Hanover Park, where ER2 Image Group is based. The company is in its 2nd generation of family leadership and enjoying record growth.

Still, if you ask brothers and VP/Co-Partners Gary, Alan and Mark Schellerer, a real family environment doesn’t get built simply because some people share the same last name. What are the active ingredients required at ER2 Image Group to make for a closer culture built on valuing everyone like family?

Hiring Based on Culture Fit

At a time of labor shortages in so many positions across the industry, ER2 could rush into a hiring process to fill open jobs with bodies. And it would be tempting to move that fast with a lot of hiring. That can be a trap, however. As Alan Schellerer explains, “I have seen and heard of so many environments being damaged by just a few people who were technically qualified for the roles they were hired for. But they were such a bad fit for the atmosphere that the company was trying to build.”
Schellerer recommends taking the time to view the entire person from the perspective of how they might fit nicely on a team and as part of a culture. Not just their past and most recent experience. If not, it sends the wrong message to the talent you’re striving to hire.

“While you may be feeling a lot of pressure to hire fast, you may also fire fast as a result of that short-sightedness,” he says. “Candidates will see that kind of turnover and think, ‘What’s going on here? If they get rid of people that quickly, what kind of stability can they offer me?’”

Apprentice Programs for Training from Within

ER2’s installers enjoy an outstanding reputation for their experience and talent, making it challenging to fill more positions with skilled workers to step right into. Instead of looking high and low for rare, ready-made talent to bring into its environment, ER2 tried a different approach — creating an apprentice program.
The apprentice program at ER2 allows promising employees passionate about learning a trade to work closely under some of the best installers in the business. In doing so, the up-and-comers are trained to a high level of expertise.

And that’s not all. The apprentice program’s success drives ER2 to ensure designers, salespeople and account executives are shadowing their more experienced counterparts.

It goes beyond promoting people from within. It’s a close-knit approach to educating and elevating the skills of people from within. And that helps foster a family culture too.

Enhancing Company Benefits that People Can Enjoy Today

It’s not that 401(k) plans and other benefits designed for the future are bad. But let’s face it. They aren’t easy for a person to fully appreciate in the here and now.

So, when ER2 considered enhancing its company benefits, it knew some benefits were “warmer” than others and geared toward a more immediate impact. “One of the best ways to show people how much you care is with a benefit they can use, feel and experience today,” says Alan Schellerer.

For example, ER2 increased vacation time across the board for all staff members. It recognizes everyone’s contribution to ER2’s continued success and rewards it with more quality time to spend with family, friends, etc.

Having Fun and Celebrating as a Company as Much as Possible

It’s easy for larger print shops with multiple departments to become too siloed into their own worlds. That’s when certain wins get celebrated by one department as “ours” without the rest of the company. While that can happen, it’s essential to bring the entire company together as often as possible to share celebrations as one organization, not just one team.

That’s why ER2 aims to deliver fun surprises, traditions and rewards that the whole company can appreciate. For example, ER2 makes it a point to bring in lunch on Fridays for the entire staff. One day this past summer, it even arranged for lunch to be delivered fresh in the parking lot through one of the food trucks ER2 did a vehicle wrap for. Other times, it has sponsored youth sports leagues, held pajama day contests, and had holiday parties that tend to last well into the evening.

“When you hire the right way and show you genuinely care about making people happy, you’ll eventually become a group of people who truly like spending time around each other,” says Schellerer. “We look forward to those moments because that’s when we’re making great memories. Just like any family would.”

 For more than 30 years, Chicagoland-based ER2 Image Group has been producing captivating wide-format graphics in extraordinary environments to transform Fortune 500 brands across the nation. The company’s groundbreaking work frequently finds a home in iconic buildings, stadiums, corporate headquarters and virtually any place that demands people experience design at a much larger level. To view ER2’s most powerful finished projects, head to ER2Image.com.