Resource One, 321 E. Adams St., is a full-service contract office furniture dealership established in 1987 by Cindy Davis. She serves as president of the company while her son, Chris Davis, is vice president of operations and her daughter, Lauren Nevius, is vice president of sales. The business was recognized as one of Springfield Business Journal's Best Places to Work in 2018.
Davis said of receiving the honor, "It's important to me because I started the company, and we've gone through ups and downs and ups and downs."
Davis said, "Our motto is improving lives by design, and we believe that design improves lives." She noted that when a workplace has a pleasant aesthetic, "it helps promote wellness and happiness. It's important to our customers and to us and our own teammates."
Nevius said, "It makes a difference to our clients when they visit our showroom and see a team of people who are happy and having fun. They are assured that we'll design their workspace as a team and it will be an enjoyable process, because we have a good culture at Resource One.
"Design communicates culture," said Chris Davis. "We practice that here as well for our clients."
The management team at Resource One is intentional when it comes to creating a place where team members like to work and where they choose to stay and build their careers. Some of the 19 people on staff have been there for more than two decades, such as the installation manager (28 years) and the financial manager (24 years). Chris David said it's a place where staff can learn, grow and have a good time doing so.
Company culture is the enduring personality of an organization that can be felt when you walk through the door. It's a set of values, beliefs and practices that define how an organization operates. The management team at Resource One was looking for a way to improve team members' work lives and improve the internal dynamic by setting expectations for what it means to be a part of Resource One.
Chris Davis and Nevius worked with Steve Thomas, a consultant who builds leadership, develops people and creates teams. They reviewed some of the best culture codes from companies such as Netflix, HubSpot and LinkedIn. "Not to copy them," Chris said, "but to see where these companies intersect with what we do."
Cindy Davis said, "We came up with nine elements of cultural guidelines, and Resource One-Ness was introduced at the company's annual retreat."
"It's not a code of ethics," said Nevius. "It's about how to communicate and make good judgments, and how that impacts everyone's lives. We are one company, and we want to take care of everyone. We are an innovative company that operates with mutual respect and excellence."
A big change at Resource One, said Cindy Davis, came after one of their distributors, Herman Miller, purchased Knoll, another distributor.
"We had been the only Knoll dealer between St. Louis and Chicago for 34 years. We took a full year to make the decision on whether to carry MillerKnoll or go with another company. We carefully weighed our options and agreed on Haworth, a family-owned company in Holland, Michigan," she said.
Lauren said, "Haworth's values aligned with ours, and they were expanding their collection, which opened doors for us and expanded our horizons."
Chris Davis said that switching alliances helped provide a jumping-off point for making sweeping interior updates and internal upgrades. "We needed to turn our attention to our showroom, and it changed the way we feel about this place. We are proud to bring our customers here. It makes a good impression, and it's a great place to close a deal. It has a vibe that it didn't have before," he said.
"Your space should communicate your culture," Cindy Davis said. "When we present to a client, we are very intentional about how we present our culture."
Resource One has been located downtown since 1992, and the company's leadership has been active in ongoing revitalization efforts for both downtown and the larger community.
"We believe in Springfield," said Chris Davis. "We need to look at the possibilities for making this a place where there are more dynamic and exciting workplaces for our community. We participate in Sangamon CEO, and we give the high school seniors the (come back to Springfield) speech: Go out there, learn, travel and get your first job, and then come back and be a part of making Springfield amazing."
