Successfully Focusing Caring Efforts

Overview

Troy Meachum has always focused on bettering his faith and his community. For decades, he’s been heavily involved in his church—you can find him pointing young folks towards the Gospel on a weekly basis. But, that wasn’t enough for Troy. He wanted his faith to be an even bigger part of his life, and he began to look for other places to spread God’s love. Only one place remained. 

When Troy and his father met for a regroup meeting back in 1997, Troy made his mission clear: ACR Supply Co. was going to be a place of work and ministry. At that moment, L.C. and Troy had no idea where to start, but they knew as long as they trusted the Lord, they were headed in the right direction.

The Problem

Troy and L.C. were looking for ways to actively better the lives of their employees and community while serving the Lord. Troy was adamant that ACR’s aim as an institution should be to enrich the lives of everyone it touches. So, Troy surrounded himself with a team that supported this vision, and they began the slow and difficult process of a cultural transformation. They started small with local initiatives that served the community like food drives, volunteer work, and charitable contributions. 

And, while their efforts were fulfilling—and necessary—Troy’s internal vision still hadn’t come to fruition just yet. He couldn’t figure out the best way to impact his own team—to bring them closer to God and show them His love.

So, he asked us for help.

How we shaped the culture.

ACR Supply Co. has always been known for their strong sense of company culture. They’re mainstays on the “Best Places to Work” lists. But culture is just the result of a lot of other things working well: processes, leadership, messaging, values, and the list goes on. 

So, how did they build this strong foundation? 

After conducting an internal survey with ACR employees, it became very clear where they felt they needed the most support. An overwhelming majority wanted to learn and grow at their place of work. The first step in addressing this desire was to establish a Caring Team—9 employees from different departments—to ensure a full scope of ideas, perspectives, and needs would be brought to the table. From there, he worked closely with our team and his Caring Team to devise a training program that nurtured his employees’ natural leadership skills and desire to grow. 

The resulting program, L.E.A.D., became a staple in ACR culture. It provided employees with the opportunity and resources to become leaders, while learning about the responsibilities and best practices of the role. ACR and Troy realized the impact of this program when they saw their employees’ personal and professional lives change for the better. 

The company’s COO, Corey Salyards, went through the L.E.A.D program and is now a mentor for current participants. He’s nurturing the program as if it’s his own, adjusting curriculum to match what the company needs from its future leaders. 

ACR goes beyond their physical walls when it comes to caring for people. When creating a Caring System, they wanted to reach their employees, local community, country, and global community. Together, we brainstormed ideas that fit into all of those categories, selected the ones that were most doable, then charted them on something we call a Caring Matrix. This helped ACR organize all of their caring efforts into a single document that anyone could reference whenever. 

Buying into a Caring System started with Troy and has trickled down into every facet of ACR. Now, they work on improving their system to the ever-changing needs of their employees and community. 

Check out their Caring Matrix to see how they are currently caring.