Meet Trek Bicycles
Based in Waterloo, Wisconsin, Trek designs, manufactures, and distributes premium bicycles, cycling apparel, parts, and accessories to retailers worldwide.
Trek’s leadership, spearheaded by CEO John Burke, emphasizes a people-centric approach and is committed to fostering a positive workplace culture. Since taking over from his father in 1997, Burke has championed initiatives that promote environmental sustainability, corporate responsibility, and community engagement. Trek’s philosophy revolves around continuous improvement and innovation. This drive for excellence is reflected in their workplace culture, where employee feedback is highly valued, and every team member is encouraged to contribute ideas and solutions.
Challenge:
Bringing Trek’s mission to life
Trek Bicycles faced the challenge of revitalizing its company culture to truly reflect its mission of changing the world through bicycles. With a dispersed global workforce of approximately 6,500 employees in 27 countries, Trek needed a comprehensive and reliable method to measure employee satisfaction and gather actionable insights. Initially skeptical, CEO John Burke and VP of HR & IT Mark Joslyn agreed to partner with Great Place To Work after learning about the strong correlation between Great Place To Work scores and profitability.
Solution:
Scaling company culture with the Trust Index
Trek began its partnership with Great Place To Work in 2013 and achieved Certification in 2015. They utilized the Great Place To Work Trust Index™ Survey to gather consistent and comparable feedback from their global units. This approach provided the detailed insights needed to deeply understand and improve their culture. The Trust Model, proven to enhance culture and business performance, allowed Trek to measure itself against the best companies.
Outcome:
Employee investment in culture beyond HR initiatives
By breaking down employee survey data to a granular level, Trek fostered a sense of ownership among its leaders. This encouraged managers to take accountability for their teams’ satisfaction and performance. The data guided year-over-year improvements, enabling Trek to benchmark against similar divisions and share best practices. This collaborative effort, dubbed the Montgomery Principle, led to increased engagement and improved Trust Index Survey scores.
Key outcomes included a 24% increase in positive responses to the statement, “My manager keeps me informed about important issues and changes.” Employees became more invested in improving company culture, participating actively in feedback sessions and contributing to solutions.
Takeaway:
Certification’s critical role in Trek’s transformation
Great Place To Work Certification was pivotal in Trek’s cultural transformation. Leveraging unique data from Great Place To Work, Trek benchmarked its culture against the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For. This comparison helped Trek adopt best practices and build trust over time. Employees’ willingness to provide feedback and participate in solutions strengthened their commitment to the company’s success.
Achieving a 93% response rate in the 2023 employee survey, Trek demonstrated strong employee engagement. This high level of participation and the application of best practices resulted in significant business growth. Trek is now three times bigger than it was a decade ago, with even greater profitability. For the first time, Trek earned a spot on the prestigious Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list.
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