Author Profile

Sherry Zachary

Sherry Zachary

Sherry Zachary, Director of Human Resources – Field Operations

WOW! Date:Joined WOW on 11/26/2001
Education: M.A. Employee Relations
Past Jobs: Previous, progressive career jobs all with Tier 1 and Tier 2 automotive suppliers

Why I love WOW!: As a member of the Human Resources field I firmly believe that employees are a company’s most important asset. It is both refreshing and rewarding to work with a management team that believes this too. At WOW!, our leadership team relies on the philosophy that happy, satisfied, engaged employees are the key to our success.

3 Things About Me
• Worms do not repulse me. I am the absolute happiest when I’m sitting in a small boat on a lake or a river, with my father, sister, husband or nephew…. casting for pan fish!
• When I was in 5th grade, I won the spelling bee for 5th and 6th graders on the word n-e-c-e-s-s-a-r-y.
• I love to cook and will try most anything. When I was in my first job out of grad school and on my first business trip (to NYC), we went to dinner in Chinatown. My boss ordered dessert and told me they were goats’ eyeballs. I believed him, and tried one anyway. The lychees were delicious.

Sherry Zachary's Blog Posts

It’s All About Those Core Values

… and Why They Translate into the ‘How’ of WOW!

We talk all the time at WOW! about the fact that it’s not what we do, but how we do it.  How we do it differently from our competitors is a result of the engagement and commitment of our frontline employees… to create a better experience for our customers.  Why do they do it?  Because it makes them feel good, feel proud and… well because it’s fun. 

It’s hard to believe I’ve been contributing to this blog for a whole year – yes, time flies as you get older (groan), but more importantly time flies when you’re having fun.  I guess that’s the last message I’d like to communicate in this space called ‘Culture’ on our blog.  At WOW!, having fun at work is something we’ve come to expect and I believe it translates to how.

In a work environment that is focused on Serving Others, where Respect, Accountability and Integrity rule the day… week… month… year, a natural byproduct is this:  People are happy to come to work.  There’s no worry about back-stabbing, sabotaging, blame-laying or spotlight stealing.  Our core values don’t permit these things.

When people are happy to come to work, there is a whole different kind of energy that pervades the workplace, for example:

- Particularly hard jobs become team challenges
- Unexpected ‘priority projects’ become volunteer opportunities
- Extra efforts are appreciated and recognized on the spot and…
- When there’s a reason to celebrate, congratulate or even reach out to the community, participation is whole-hearted and heartfelt.

So here’s my logic:
1. Core Values make you feel good at work.
2. Feeling good creates fun.
3. Fun Drives The How.

I have to admit I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to write about in this last ‘culture column’ and I also have to admit that I left it to the last minute.  It’s due to be posted today – 12/14/10.  So now I need to  get this up on the blog and then get back to having fun… oops – I mean get back to work… at WOW!.

Best Wishes for a Happy and Personally Rewarding New Year!

1 In Culture posted December 14, 2010 at 8:45 am

Holiday Giving – The WOW! Way

Imagine you are the married father of three growing teens and a toddler and you are the sole wage earner in your household.  You work two jobs to make ends meet.  Then within two weeks, your car quits, and both your washer and dryer give out.  The car alone is going to cost over $1000 for towing, parts and labor.  All this happens just before the holidays.

Then imagine you work for WOW!. 

Guess what? 

Your supervisor calls the garage who maintains the vehicles for their office, and the garage owner offers to repair the car for the cost of parts alone.  Your supervisor picks up the tab for towing.  Your teammates secretly hold a meeting and take up a collection.  Their money pays for the parts.  Then they find a replacement washer and dryer set in good working condition and buy it for you.  Finally, they purchase gift certificates and donate the rest of the collected cash toward food and gifts so your family can have a real reason to celebrate Christmas.

This is just one story, in one location, in one holiday season at WOW!.  These kinds of efforts go on all year long when a member of our WOW! family is faced with unexpected trauma and need. 

It’s called Leading with Courage.
It’s called Serving with Heart.
It’s called Celebrating the holidays with Grace

This year, like last year, there is more need than ever in our neighborhoods and our communities.  Please consider a few less stocking stuffers, or a more cost-effective Christmas meal and consider spending your savings on someone else.  You can touch the life of someone who has very little to celebrate this year.

I’ve quoted our CEO in this column before, but it’s appropriate to repeat it here:

“NOTHING FEELS BETTER THAN GIVING.”

Happy Holidays from WOW!

In Culture posted December 7, 2010 at 9:30 am

Career Pathing – the WOW! Way

Three days ago, I had the opportunity to train and teach three new technicians on the Career Path Program they will enter upon completion of their training.  This program is designed to provide Broadband Technicians with a clear progression of skills, each of which represents a pay increase once the employee demonstrates he or she can perform the work and maintain certain performance metrics.  It also provides technicians with the opportunity to become involved with, and be partly accountable for their progress through the different skill levels.  Finally, it provides technicians the opportunity to earn pay increases in any given month of the year – pay increases that are skill-based and not tied to the annual review/merit increase process.  A Career Path Program for Broadband Technicians seems logical, right?  Since I provide this training almost every month, I was surprised to learn I’ve started taking it for granted.

This month we had an unusually lively group of technicians and they asked a lot of questions.  As a result, I ended up describing the original Career Path program launched in 2003, and the iterations it had gone through over the past seven years to accommodate changes in our market, changes in our product offerings and changes in technology.  As the training came to a close, one of the technicians spoke up and said, ‘You know, I worked for ‘X’ company for over three years. I never had a performance review from them, not even one, and I sure never got any pay increase because of my skills.’ 

I was more than surprised.  No performance review in three years?  No pay increase as the employee was able to perform more complicated work?  I realized once again, that I sometimes take for granted the culture and core values of WOW!.  We do pay for performance – top performers are rewarded in multiple ways at WOW!.  We also pay competitively.  If someone can do A, B, and C jobs, that someone should be making more than a coworker who can only perform A-type jobs.  And we are committed to our annual review process.  Employees deserve to get feedback, find out where they are excelling, where there is room for improvement and what they contribute to their team, their department and the business.

It’s a simple matter of Respect – treating employees the way anyone would like, no, the way anyone would expect to be treated
It’s also a matter of Integrity – doing the right thing and connecting compensation to skills and performance
It’s a simple matter of Accountability – making pay adjustments timely and appropriately
It’s a matter of Servanthood – showing employees that as managers, we know we owe it to them to follow the first three statements above.

There’s those Core Values again.  They’re pervasive as all get-out at WOW!, even where compensation is concerned.   Next month, when I stand up to train new technicians on the Career Path Program they’re about to enter, I will tell them about the real roots of the program – the Core Values that are the foundation  of WOW!.

In Culture posted November 30, 2010 at 11:28 am

Saying ‘Thanks!’ the WOW! Way

Recently, I was struck anew with appreciation for being in a Human Resources position at a company like WOW!.  Why?  Because I was asked to review a tri-fold recruiting brochure being developed in one of our field locations and in it, there are several quotes from WOW! employees.  This is what they said:

“I have worked for WOW! for five years and I can truly say WOW! is part of my family.  If you ever wanted to work for a company that cares and supports their employees and helps them strive for ‘gold’ in their career, then this is the company for you.  I cannot imagine working anywhere else”

“It only gets better and better and you WILL have a WOW! Moment while you are here… it’s just a matter of time!”

“Working for WOW! has been one of the best experiences of my life.  Since working here I have gained a level of self-respect that will never go away, and I have the courage to step out and do things I never would have imagined possible.”

Can you imagine working for a company where the culture and atmosphere inspire employees to say things like that?!  At WOW!, it’s all in a day’s work, and it all boils down to our focus on Servanthood.  Everyone at WOW! learns (and eventually believes in their own heart) that it is an honor to serve others.  When you are in a Human Resources department, whose primary function is to serve others, it is extraordinarily rewarding to have other managers, department heads and yes, even the executives of the company have the same mindset… the honor of serving others. 

Servanthood is a self-fulfilling practice.  When you ‘do’ for others, I guarantee there will be a time, maybe when you least expect it, that others will ‘do’ for you.  As we approach our national day of giving thanks, I would like to express my own gratitude for being part of this unique company and send out my own Thanksgiving wish:

May everyone who reads this either give or receive a WOW! Moment today.  Happy Thanksgiving!

In Culture posted November 23, 2010 at 8:00 am

Serving Others – the WOW! Way

The culture at WOW! is undoubtedly reflected by our core value of Servanthood, which we define as “Embrace the attitude and honor of serving others rather than being served.”  The employees at WOW go above and beyond to demonstrate their commitment to helping the people in the communities that we serve.  Last Sunday, November 7th, WOW! employees once again gave a WOW! moment to a very special family by showing their passion and dedication to serving others.

WOW! teamed up with the Suite Dreams Project to raise money for a very special family. The Suite Dreams Project is a charitable organization whose mission is to bring comfort and joy to children affected by serious medical conditions by creating healing environments in their homes and in our communities that improve their quality of life and prospects of recovery.

The wonderful staff at Suite Dreams introduced us to the Zentz family and their adopted 7 year old son, Ben. When Ben was just six weeks old, he was believed to have been violently shaken by a family member which caused severe brain injury. Ben has had numerous surgeries, several strokes and is now legally blind and unable to walk or talk. 

Last Sunday, WOW! held a bowl-a-thon fundraiser in honor of Ben and the Zentz family. Over one hundred employees and their guests attended the event! The Zentz family was also in attendance and spent most of the afternoon thanking WOW employees for their support. Funds were raised through bowling games, raffles, a silent auction and general donations. In total, $13,887 has been raised so far!

Normally with a bowling fundraiser, funds are raised by charging an admission price to the event. We did not feel it was necessary to charge an admission price because we knew our employees would get behind the cause and individually reach out to family and friends to raise money. Indeed they did! Employee fundraising and donations alone generated over $7,000 – half of our overall money raised.

The proceeds from the fundraiser will go towards creating Ben’s healing environment. Ben’s greatest need is a special bed to keep him enclosed and safe at night. He also needs physical therapy equipment in his home to keep him active and constantly learning. 

Several WOW! employees volunteered their own time to design and create the bedroom with the help of a Suite Dreams designer.  Planning for the bedroom will begin in the next week or two and we hope to have the bedroom finished by Christmas.
 

Ready to bowl!

Ready to bowl!

Competitive team

Competitive team

Selling LOTS of raffle tickets!

Selling LOTS of raffle tickets! WT Young, committee member on left helps Shirley Roseman

The rest of the WOW! fundraising committee

The rest of the WOW! fundraising committee

A happy raffle prize winner!

A happy raffle prize winner!

In Culture posted November 16, 2010 at 9:30 am

Sherry Zachary's Recent Comments

  1. Really good article, Ray.

    In WOW! Security posted December 4, 2009 at 11:25 am