At Big Path Capital, we’ve seen how creating a strong and connected team is crucial to realizing our business goals and driving impact. Through everyday actions and long-term strategy, we embody our commitment to our team members by providing skill-building opportunities, seeking input on company policy and decisions, and supporting their individual well-being. 

Research supports these actions, showing that a commitment to workers as key business stakeholders can help drive workplace and bottom-line growth. Prioritizing the well-being of our team also reflects Big Path’s values as a Certified B Corporation to put people and the planet on par with profit.

What does this look like in practice for Big Path? It means being intentional about creating connections among our team members although we work in different locations; acting with authenticity and transparency; and encouraging creativity and innovation. In these ways and more, we move forward in alignment with Big Path’s core values:

  • Bring Passion
  • Put People First
  • Be Authentic
  • Do What You Say
  • Create Joy

Big Path’s long-term goals include supporting the growth and professional development of our team members. This year we set the goal to launch two internal initiatives to support our people. One of those was a quarterly one-on-one conversation between each employee and their team leader to check in on how things are going, ask for their feedback on the leader, and find out how we can better support them. Our second was an annual employee feedback and satisfaction survey. The survey provides us with data — both quantitative ratings of how connected people feel to their primary team, how supported they feel by their supervisor, and how well we are supporting our culture as well as open, anonymous comments so we can gather ideas and general feedback.

Below, we highlight comments from our team members’ surveys and ways that Big Path aims to nurture a culture of belonging, resiliency, and impact improvement. 

“It’s cool to be part of a company that feels like it is constantly working on bettering itself.”

What this looks like at Big Path: Our Chief Operating Officer, who has an extensive human resources background, designed a draft survey and collected feedback from the partners and then the full team. She used the Workers section of the B Impact Assessment (an online tool for impact measurement) as a rough guide to ensure we asked about overall satisfaction, culture, if team members feel they can bring their authentic selves to work (an important metric from an inclusion standpoint), and how Big Path can be a better place to work. The survey is anonymous, which we hope helps team members share how they truly feel. 

“What I appreciate most about Big Path is how much it cares about making a positive impact on society. It’s refreshing to work for a company that prioritizes doing good over profit at all costs. Knowing that our work is helping to shape a better future gives me a real sense of purpose and fulfillment.”

What this looks like at Big Path: We will compare survey results year over year and look for trends. We know that circumstances can impact employees’ work experiences. For example, during times of growth, the focus can emphasize serving clients, and practices that support the culture can go by the wayside. Comparing data year over year can help us catch those shifts early and ensure we are living our “People First” core value. 

“Being part of a team that truly values me and my contributions — I haven’t had much of that in my past work life. Not being afraid to ask questions or speak up, knowing I have a voice here and my opinion and expertise are respected.”

What this looks like at Big Path: We describe our company as “remote but connected.” We meet via Zoom four mornings per week, and each day has a theme. We share our individual priorities, connect about systems and tools, do something fun together, and share what we’ve accomplished over the course of the week. It’s nice to start the day by “seeing” everyone and connecting as people. We often sing happy birthday to one another (very off-key, but it’s heartfelt!). 

In addition, individual teams within the company meet regularly to stay connected to one another and advance the work.

“I am most appreciative that we work hard as a team to show up every day for our clients but that Big Path emphasizes each employee’s well-being outside of work. I feel like I get to work on every aspect of my life and feel fully balanced rather than lacking in a particular area.”

What this looks like at Big Path: Our annual in-person retreat allows us time together for both work and play. We have dinner together, engage in a work session to improve how we serve our clients, share information across the team, and track key data on our results. We always include some fun: We’ve played mini golf, and there have been surprise (and funny) awards, gag gifts — one of our Core Values is Create Joy after all.

Our emphasis on individual well-being also reflects our Core Value to Put People First. Ensuring we’re at our best helps energize us for our collective work with mission-driven clients and other partners to advance a sustainable economy. 

Follow Big Path on LinkedIn to get the latest on our mission-driven work for positive impact.