The Business Case for a Strong Family Business Culture
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Date and Time
Thursday Sep 19, 2024
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM CDT
Location
Zoom link will be shared upon registration.
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Description
The Business Case for a Strong Family Business Culture with Tom McDougall of High Point Network
How is your company culture, honestly?
Regardless of how much effort you put into it, your company has a culture. Oftentimes, that culture is a critical component of employee recruitment & retention, company cohesion, and long-term business success. The problem for many businesses is that their culture is a byproduct of the work that they do rather than the work that they do being the byproduct of their culture. This can lead many family businesses to believe that their company’s culture is pre-established and that there is little they can do to influence it.
Join Prairie Family Business Association as we tackle the topic of company culture with Tom McDougall, President & CEO of High Point Networks. Tom will share the lessons he has learned surrounding company culture over more than two decades in business.
Tom McDougall founded High Point Networks in 2003 when he noticed that other too many IT providers were focused on answering requests, rather than solving needs. And so, he started out with four people in a small office in West Fargo offering information technology and cyber security for businesses. Early on, naysayers told him the work would become a commodity, but McDougall believed solutions-focused expertise would be always be needed to help business overcome challenges and be successful. He was right. High Point Networks grew to ten offices in five states, serving more than 1,300 clients throughout the Midwest, with 53 employees locally and more than 200 throughout their territory. In 2014, they moved corporate headquarters to a new building off I94 in West Fargo, where they intend to stay.
In 2016, McDougall was ready to take High Point Networks to the next level. He invested in studying growth models and business operating systems – an effort that led to restructuring and new management strategies so everyone could rise to new levels of performance and accountability. Then, came three key acquisitions, which fueled massive growth and positioned them for long-term success. In 2019, they instituted a theme they called S.T.E.M., which stands for Stability, Training, Efficiency and Margin. This theme is engrained in every level of the company and has led to incredible growth in both the top and bottom line.
Accomplished businessman aside, McDougall is humble and community-minded, with a focus on serving others. He was board president for F5 Project and TNT Kids Fitness, Treasurer for North Dakota FarmHouse Alumni Association, and Chair of the West Fargo Planning and Zoning Commission. He says his most treasured accomplishment is doing worthwhile work in the neighborhoods he serves. The business values he teaches are to be humbly confident, grow or die, help first, do the right thing, and do what you say.
This mindset has resulted in great customer experience. High Point Networks is constantly on guard against greed, over-charging and providing solutions that are not necessary. He’s built a company culture that revolves around honest service, leadership, family, and giving back. McDougall said he can’t wait to take on every new challenge and opportunity that comes their way.