Change the World CEO: Marcell Haywood
Putting his employees first to make a real impact
How often do you think about the people who maintain the building where you work? I’m talking about the folks who keep the floors and windows looking spiffy, fix the wiring or leaky faucets, keep you OSHA or LEED compliant, or watch over the place when everyone else has gone home for the evening? Marcell Haywood thinks about them all the time. And every time he thinks about them, he asks himself the same question, “How can I make their lives better?”
Marcell Haywood is the founder and CEO of Encompass Onsite, which provides “end-to-end property solutions” for companies across Florida. Encompass manages the talent on behalf of its clients who can choose among a suite of solutions, ranging from operations to housekeeping to compliance and numerous other services. Marcell started the company fresh out of graduate school at the University of Florida. Some 14 years later, Encompass employs 550 people and growing, with a client list in the hundreds.
But the real story of Marcell isn’t the financial success he’s enjoyed with Encompass, it’s the way he’s conceived and built his organization around his employees’ success. I’m not talking about a program here or there provided as a perk. I’m talking about a company built from the ground up on the premise that your staff are your primary “customer” and that investing in them can pay dividends in terms of serving your secondary customers, which for Encompass includes a Who’s Who of leading brands such as Apple, Prudential, Barclays, and Dade County itself.
Marcell’s playbook is deceptively simple:
- We’re all trying to play by the rules when we should be playing by our own rules.
- Our paradigm is defined by ourselves. Passion is the only necessary ingredient.
- Most people think first comes the money, then comes the passion. Marcell thinks it’s the reverse.
- Ride the bus so you can understand your employees.
- Build trust in your organization. It serves your mission.
I can just picture the young Marcell walking down the street in downtown Miami, the whole world before him, and seeing two women mopping the floor in an office building. He raps a knuckle lightly on the window and smiles in at them. What happens from there inspires me to my core, not least of all because he makes it seem like the most natural thing in the world. Maybe it ought to be.
If you want to make more of difference in the world but can’t quite figure out where to begin, you owe it to yourself to check out this podcast. After you listen to it, let me know what you think.
Robert U. Craven, MegaFood CEO
PS: All credit to my ghostwriting partner, Dave Moore, who is instrumental in getting my thoughts out in a coherent manner & into these blogs. Thanks Dave!
