A Letter to Our Stakeholders – Community
At Daycos, instead of shareholders, we talk about our stakeholders: our customers, our employees, our community, and the company itself. We strive to evaluate the impact of every decision we make on these four entities. While some decisions may benefit one group more than the others, our goal is that our overall impact in business is good for each and every one of our four stakeholders. That is why we call the effort Daycos4Good.
What does it mean to have the community as a stakeholder in a business? When we make important decisions, or decide how to allocate resources, we strive to make a positive impact on our community. In our society, a company like Google gets a lot of credit for having a slogan of “Do no evil”, but we think that sets the bar too low. Daycos tries to go beyond avoiding harm to our community; we want to be a force for good.
There are many reasons why we view the community as a stakeholder equal in importance to our customers, our employees, and the company itself. One of the most important reasons is that it is ingrained into the DNA of our company. It has always been a part of this company’s history to give back to the community, from its founding nearly 39 years ago. What we are doing now is merely an extension of the example set by the founders of the company, an expansion based on increased assets available to invest as the company has grown.
We also believe that the connection between our community and our company is vital to the success of the both entities. Daycos’ success will help our community, as we employ more people and have more assets to invest in the community. And just as our success helps the community, the community’s success will help us.
As a service based business, our business can only be as successful if we can employ the very best people. We have a great pool of employees and potential employees here in rural Nebraska. Despite the strange looks, and confusion over which “Norfolk” I mean when I tell someone where we are located, I am convinced that we would not be as successful as we have been for the past 39 years if we located somewhere different. As we continue to grow, it is vitally important that we do everything possible to keep our community growing and thriving for years to come, so that we can continue to have the ability to hire enough of the employees we need.
If our community is growing, we believe that there are many people who are attracted to the idea of working for a company where the focus is beyond profits. If we can hire, retain, and inspire the very best people in our community, our company will be more successful, which will allow us to invest even more in the community.
We do not believe that the success of our community can be left up to the government programs funded by tax dollars, or non-profits trying to do as much as they can with declining budgets. Businesses have a role to play that goes beyond paying taxes and making occasional donations, and we want to make sure we are fulfilling that role.
And the final reason, although certainly not the least important reason we consider our community a stakeholder, is that supporting, assisting and working in our community to make it a better place is a lot of fun. It brings joy to all of our employees who can see the impact of their efforts in making other’s lives better. Anytime you can bring joy into the workplace, it will have a positive impact on the employee, the company, our customers and our community.
