Thriving Culture leads to Zero Turnover and Revenue Growth for this Maryland Based Company

Organizations across the country are searching for the best ways to increase employee engagement, improve retention, and strengthen workplace culture.

While some companies can’t seem to get it right, Honest Air, a full-service 20-employee HVAC organization based out of Maryland seems to have hit the nail on the head.

As the company continues to grow (revenue growth of 30% YOY since 2020) while experiencing ZERO turnover over the last 2-years in an industry traditionally plagued with high turnover, Honest Air is setting itself apart from others.

“Our culture has never been better” said Andrew Lohr, Owner of Honest Air.

Over the last two years, Lohr has put major emphasis on the need to create a culture that will allow his organization to thrive.

“We were always good but I wanted to be better,” Lohr shared. “I was presented with the idea of having my team experience Lead ‘Em up and I was hesitant at first as I didn’t know how my guys would receive a training program like this but after day one, I immediately pushed for more. My team was on fire. The guys were all talking about how they could do more and how they wanted to be better. The energy within the company was incredible,” Lohr continued.

Lohr shared it wasn’t just a feeling that could be felt within the team but the customers could feel it as well. “I’ll never forget that first day, I remember getting a call from a customer who wanted to talk to me directly to let me know how great my team was.”

Lohr has since deepened his relationship with Lead ‘Em Up contracting them to be their “Chief Culture Officer” hosting various team trainings, small group leadership training with the leadership training, on-boarding training with new staff, and 1-on-1 training with emerging leaders. Lead ‘Em Up provides Honest Air 6-hours of leadership development a month in the various areas.

The staff is also fully engaged in the Lead ‘Em Up Green Team Culture program that gives each individual $500 when they earn verification.

“People are often hesitant to invest in leadership or professional development because it can be hard to track a return on the investment but I see the return all over the place. I see employees growing and wanting to grow in their roles, I see a work environment that is enjoyable and people don’t want to leave, I see people knocking on our door wanting to work here and I see the feedback from the customers about their experiences,” Lohr said.

Honest Air has taken their experience and helped bring it to the community as Honest Air provides their three local high schools Urbana, Oakdale, and Linganore the Lead ‘Em Up program through a sponsorship so the students can begin learning about leadership and what it looks like to build a thriving culture.

Although momentum is felt by ownership, oftentimes in a workplace an Owner may have a different perception of the culture than the team does. That is not the case with Honest Air. “It’s just different here,” said Gio Fuentes, a Lead Installer with the company.

“Work doesn’t even feel like work at times. It feels like I get to hang out with my buddies,” said Fuentes.

When Fuentes was asked why he thinks Honest Air has been able to retain everyone in an industry that is usually littered with turnover, Fuentes points to two reasons, “the trust, faith and respect leadership has for the team and the relationships everyone has on the team.”

In his answer, Fuentes didn’t say the word culture but both his answers point to one thing, culture. When you get it right, good things will happen and Honest Air is experiencing it.