Spartan Light Metal Products: Celebrating 60 years of great work

Since 1961, Spartan Light Metal Products has been producing complex engineering solutions to deliver the highest quality products for leading manufacturing companies around the world. And for over 60 years, Spartan, a family-owned company, has built a culture based on servant leadership, collaboration, integrity, and celebration.

SITUATION

Spartan recently celebrated their 60^th company anniversary and wanted it to be an extra special event for their 1200 employees. Along with a company event and open house for the community, Spartan was looking for a meaningful, memorable employee gift they could give their people to thank them for their great work over the past 60 years.

“We talk a lot about how our employees are our most valuable asset for our business. Nothing really happens without them. People are a very important part of this organization, and we want to celebrate that.”
—Melissa Markwort, Vice President of Program Management.                                                

SOLUTION

Spartan works with O.C. Tanner for their employee holiday gifts each year, so they turned to O.C. Tanner to provide a fun company anniversary gift that employees could share at home. Together, they chose Spartan-opoly, a fully customized board game for employees to enjoy with their families. Spartan-opoly was personalized with all of Spartan’s facility locations, departments, and the tools and equipment they use at work.

“Our customized Spartan-opoly was designed for our 60th anniversary as a way to emphasize we are a family-owned business, and we are celebrating our successes with our employees. A board game is something they can take home and enjoy playing with their own family and is a great reminder of our commitment to our people,” explains Markwort.

The company gave employees the Spartan-opoly game at their 60^th anniversary open house celebrations. They invited employees and their families, customers, vendors, stakeholders, partners, and the community to join for plant tours and family activities. Employees and their families had lunch and learned more about Spartan’s company history, products, and culture.

RESULTS

Employees greatly enjoyed their custom anniversary gift—many went home and played the game with their families after the anniversary celebration. It provided an opportunity for family members to ask questions about where and how employees worked, and for employees to explain more about their jobs and the company to their families. There was much positive feedback about the Spartan-opoly gift and 60^th anniversary celebration overall.

In addition to celebrating company anniversaries, Spartan also recognizes and appreciates their people throughout the year with:

• Regular employee appreciation luncheons
• Safety milestone celebrations
• Holiday/Christmas events and gifts
• Birthday lunches where employees can meet and chat with senior leaders
• Attendance and performance awards

Each location caters their recognition experiences to their workforce, but ultimately this culture of celebration and recognition comes from the top. “Recognition and celebration have been in our history for a long time. My grandfather (Henry Jubel, founder of Spartan) was directly involved in designing company anniversary gifts from the very beginning. It’s a cultural thing to celebrate people in different ways in different times throughout the year,” says Markwort.

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Outcomes are everything
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