Rea's Annual Report Making Waves: 2017 Annual Report | Page 29

Cornerstone #4: OUR FIRM Goal: Build the firm in a way that supports the other three cornerstones. To take our firm from good to great, we must take each office, each specialty practice and each person from good to great. Each must have its own specific, ag- gressive plan to achieve The Rea Advantage’s objectives. Internal Communications – In our firm’s 2016 employ- ee satisfaction survey, we asked our employees to tell us what was working and where we could be doing better. The results showed that internal communication was one opportunity for improvement. To overcome this challenge, a Rea NextGen leadership team developed a solution. This team’s research showed that internal communication is directly related to employee engagement, which is di- rectly tied to client satisfaction and profitability. Rocking the boat with data points and research, the team received a green light to seek out and hire the firm’s first-ever internal communications specialist. As Rea continues to grow, enhanced internal communication will play a critical role in protecting and enhancing our culture and ensuring that messages are communicated clearly and appropri- ately. Abigail Eisenbrei (New Philadelphia) was chosen to fill this position. Abigail is responsible for facilitating com- munication from the top-down, bottom-up and across different groups in the firm. Improving communication will ultimately help connect the firm’s offices and regions, ensure we are all rowing in the same direction, give everyone a voice and ultimately develop better leaders and communicators. a Brighter 2018 Everything we do and every decision we make is centered on our desire to serve our clients better by imple- menting the strategy outlined in The Rea Advantage. We’ve realized great success over the last two years and are more excited than ever to make even more waves in the year ahead. Stay tuned to discover how we plan to rock the boat in 2018. Regionalization – In 2017, Rea formally adopted a new regional operational structure. Each of the four regions is led by a regional president whose main goals are to facil- itate growth and profitability in their targeted area and to raise up leaders behind them. Rick Lash (Cleveland) is regional president for our Northeast Ohio region, which consists of our Amherst, Cleveland, Mentor and Medina offices. Kyle Stemple (New Philadelphia) is regional pres- ident for our East Central Ohio region, which is comprised of Coshocton, Millersburg, New Philadelphia and Wooster offices. Mark McKinley (Dublin) is regional president for the West Central region, which includes our Dublin and Lima offices. Chad Bice (Zanesville) is regional presi- dent for the Southeast region, which brings together the Cambridge, Marietta and Zanesville offices. 2017 ANNUAL REPORT