Morales Group worked extensively with Parallel Design Group throughout two significant expansions, and we were beyond pleased with the service they provided to our team from start to finish. Briana is a class act and kept us calm and focused on the projects.
Truly – the physical change in our interior has made a world of a difference within the walls of our organization; specifically an increased morale amongst our growing team and a sense of a more cohesive family unit.
Our headquarters are in Indianapolis. We’ve seen some great growth in the Midwest but what makes us most proud and is also a differentiator and that is our ability to attract a globally diverse workforce. With all of our offices (ranging from Indy to Columbus, Jeffersonville, Anderson and Lafayette Indiana; as well as Louisville, Kentucky and as of most recently Charlotte, North Carolina), we have over 3900 external employees working on a weekly basis with 14 languages spoken throughout the team and 37 countries represented.
With quick growth in a short amount of time – we quickly realized that we needed to internally redesign and acclimate our internal space to meet the needs of our team but also to reflect our brand better.
Of course, without a hesitation we knew PDG was the team we were going to use. Here a few of the items that made big impact on the energy of the office and team morale.
- Open Concept Space: With the new open space concept, it’s easy to see that our team can easily build and keep deep relationships with their co-workers! We absolutely love to see this.
- The Design Layout: Within PDG’s Space Planning services, they guided us to create several different areas where employees could congregate and mingle throughout the work day so that employees felt a stronger sense of oneness as a staff. Examples of these areas are the bull pen and kitchen. We really wanted to eliminate cubes as they foster isolation. In addition to the communal areas providing versatility, our leadership team has an open-door policy – and truly always have an open invitation to employees.
- Inspiring Color: Hanging proudly from the ceiling are flags representative of the various countries and cultures of our employees’ heritage. Not only does this unify our team but it also brings a piece of our team’s home country to the workplace.
- Natural Light: PDG guided us through several conversations that made us realize the importance for our space to include lots of natural light. It has been proven that natural light increases energy and positivity, so we were all in for organizing our office furniture in a way that lets as much natural light in as possible.
In addition to the design changes, our company has also focused on a few areas that have been imperative for our morale.
- Employees are Valued: Across the board, we drive home the message that we are all equally valued, titles and accolades aside. Tom, our CEO and Co-Founder makes sure to take his time to pour into the leaders so that they carry on this message, as well.
- LEGOS Program: Corporate responsibility is at the heart of our company’s mission and values. We developed our Loving Every Gift of Service Program (LEGOS) to articulate to our clients, team members, and partners how we bring all of our acts of service together in one place for building better futures.
Our approach is simple; we ask team members to nominate their peers when they exemplify one of the core values while in service of others. These nominations are read aloud each month at the all company meetings and the individuals are recognized with a LEGO brick that goes into the foundation of building a LEGO house.
By the end of the year all the acts of service culminate into a true replica of a home. We then take all those that have committed to the passport program and have completed 25 hours of service to Mazatlán, Mexico to build homes for those in need through YWAM Homes of Hope.
- Outside Community Involvement: We make it a big deal to bring in outside community members inside the walls of Morales – extending our care to others and encouraging the staff to do so too. We are proud to partner up with more than twenty-five diverse organizations across Indiana, Kentucky and North Carolina. We also host monthly town hall meetings where we bring various community members together to discuss issues affecting our community.
On the horizon for Morales Group:
- New Charlotte office which is currently open, and Parallel Design Group led the design charge. We are hosting a ribbon cutting on May 22.
- Check out our Skill Up Build Up Podcast, www.skillupbuildup.com
- GROW network, a Morales Group workforce initiative which further supports our mission of building better futures one story at a time.
Follow Morales Group: Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, Instagram,Website
Photography: Parallel Design Group and Morales Group