Business View Magazine May 2023

179 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 10, ISSUE 5 RAYSER HOLDINGS continued. “In retrospect, we were lucky with the timing, as it put us in a stronger position to deal with (sudden workplace changes),” Hoover says. Building its reputation and culture as an ESOP Given the company’s status as an employee- owned organization, employee owners are provided with transparent information on how Rayser is performing from a financial perspective. But there’s more to building a strong ESOP culture than financial transparency. It is also important for employees to feel connected to leadership decisions, which is why Jensen, Bormann, and Hoover regularly spend time at the holding company’s different locations, meeting with employees both formally and informally. “We want to get everyone engaged in the ESOP model,” Hoover says. “It is important they feel a part of the overall plan because we are making decisions in part to support employee wealth.” The message has not always been easily translated to employees, largely because each