Darren Virassammy, Co-founder and COOIn an interview with Manage HR, Darren Virassammy, co-founder and COO of 34 Strong, shares insights into how through strengths-based training, coaching, and speaking, the company helps organizations positively transform their workplace culture.
How did you come up with the idea of building 34 Strong?
I have personally witnessed the juxtaposition of being highly engaged in one job and highly disengaged in another. This drove me to figure out a way to help organizations create workplaces where people can thrive at work instead of just surviving day-to-day.
When I shared this idea with one of my friends, he introduced me to Brandon Miller, co-founder and CEO of 34 Strong. He was going through the CliftonStrengths certification process at that time. We both wanted to create a workplace where people feel valued. This is how the journey of 34 Strong started nine years back.
What are some of the challenges that your clients are facing, and how does 34 Strong solve those?
The Great Resignation has become the biggest roadblock for businesses today. According to studies conducted across the U.S., there has been a significant shift in employee attitudes toward their jobs. A recent report from Gallup revealed that 48 percent of employees are actively looking for new employment opportunities.
Organizations’ reluctance toward employee recognition is the primary contributor to this quandary. Studies show that 79 percent of workers quit their jobs because they don’t feel appreciated. Given this scenario, recognition is currently one of the most important issues that needs immediate attention.
Businesses promote their best performers to managerial posts, but, they never realize that a great leader should have different skillsets in addition to what they contribute as an individual. Leaders should know how to engage people, how to recognize them, and more importantly, how to design a people strategy.
So, there’s a disconnect. Our goal is to help businesses create a culture of engagement by transforming managers into stronger leaders with proper training. We make them adept at setting clear expectations for their employees in an individualized way.
Unlike other consultants, we never claim ourselves to be change agents. We equip clients’ leadership teams with all the necessary tools to help them foster a positive change, making them the change agents. We promise to stand by them and provide the necessary support at every stage.
What are some of the services that you offer to your clients?
While collaborating with clients, we frequently discover that each organization has its own distinct culture. A cookie-cutter approach cannot bring optimal outcomes. That’s why we fully comprehend the culture of an organization to design the best-in-class solution.
At 34 Strong, we utilize a well validated survey to assess employee engagement. Employee engagement measurement aids in identifying a company’s strengths. We then move on to leadership, focusing first on engaging managers and then leaders since you won’t get engaged employees from disengaged managers. The next step is providing leaders with the right tools and programs to engage their employees and focus on their own engagement. We also custom design the programs according to clients’ requirements.
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Unlike other consultants, we never claim ourselves to be change agents. We equip clients’ leadership teams with all the necessary tools to help them foster a positive change, making them the change agents. We promise to stand by them and provide the necessary support at every stage
Our aim is to help people work in liaison with the person that’s right next to them, and this leads to higher levels of engagement.
Could you cite one or two instances where you have enabled clients to overcome hurdles and attain desired outcomes?
One of our clients, Road Runner Sports, wanted to identify its business areas influencing employee engagement. As per our methodology, we conducted a survey and found some of the underlying business factors affecting employee engagement.
Working collaboratively with the client, we built a leadership program for their culture to help managers better engage the employees. And we worked through creating more engagement at the leadership ranks as well.
The client’s leadership team became fully committed to our program, and they took ownership of the fact that they were responsible for moving the needle on employee engagement. This played a vital role in helping Road Runner significantly increase the employee engagement score. This resulted in 2021 being the most profitable year in the 38-year history of Road Runner Sports.
This is a perfect example of how our approach contributes to the overall financial health of an organization.
What are the factors that give 34 Strong a competitive edge?
34 Strong focuses on creating ownership that allows companies to realize their own culture. Our extensive range of expertise in employee engagement benefits not only small-scale businesses, but also larger enterprises. We have a track record of helping businesses create their own recipe for becoming a strength-based organization with a focus on employee engagement.
