When a company stops asking “What If,” they stop growing. And that’s why we’ll never stop asking at Tallgrass Freight Co.
At average companies, new ideas rarely come to life. Sure, ideas come to mind every day, from team members at all levels. But without a pathway for team members to share initiatives, no one feels their voice matters. And even if you do somehow get management’s attention, those brilliant thoughts get lost in the shuffle of business as usual.
But we’re no average company. We don’t do “business as usual” here at Tallgrass Freight.
Here, innovation is crucial — so crucial, in fact, that we’ve built a whole program with financial rewards for those with game-changing ideas. In our quest to innovate, empower voices and fresh perspectives and solve new challenges like never before, we’ve developed a new and exciting program for our team of freight agents. We call it the What If? Program, encouraging agents to never stop asking that pivotal question: What If?
Why We Pay Freight Agents for Their Best Ideas
Since the day we opened our doors in 2012, we haven’t stopped evolving. That mindset drove the creation of our groundbreaking freight CRM — the one we lovingly call our “cash register,” because this incredible system makes our agents more money.
To build the very best freight agent CRM in the business, created for freight experts by freight experts, we invested $1 million and 2.5 years. And we’d make that investment all over again – because we believe in investing in our agent’s growth and success. Because of this investment, freight agents can expect this CRM to uplevel their careers in countless ways.
To continue our mission of building a technology roadmap designed to help our agents work smarter, not harder, launching the CRM is only the beginning! To stay the best, you have to keep improving. You must keep asking “What If?” — and so when an agent has an idea to improve the CRM, you bet we really listen to that idea.
But listening is only the start. When an idea lands on our CRM improvement roadmap, that team member earns a cash reward.
And by “cash reward,” we definitely don’t mean a $5 coffee shop gift card. (Come on, now, we’re Tallgrass Freight Co. We always go big.)
Any idea that lands on our innovation road map earns $100.
Even better? No caps! EVERY great idea gets $100. The sky’s the limit! That’s how we do it at Tallgrass.
How Every Voice Matters at Tallgrass
“When a company stops innovating, they start dying. Our foundation is built on our team, and so we invest in our people and reward every win,” says co-owner and COO David Barnes. “We work hard, play hard and have created an environment where people look forward to waking up and being part of this team each day. And we keep that culture strong by listening to our agents’ great ideas.”
This program inspires (and, let’s be honest, incentivizes) agents to ask the question, “What if?” What if there was a report specifically built to do this? What if there was a button that took you straight to a page about that? You get the picture.
Agents are working within our CRM all day, every day — many of which have very specific tasks and responsibilities to take care of. It was this train of thought that sparked the idea for our What If? Program. After all, who is better equipped to help draw up the blueprint for a better tomorrow than our very own people?
Every voice matters here at Tallgrass and everyone has the opportunity to impact our short and long-term goals. That’s why we empower our agents to share where they think Tallgrass can grow. Our What If? Program not only furnishes agents with another outlet for their voices to be heard, but it fosters dynamism and forward momentum. Simply posing the question sparks conversation, allowing our freight agents to participate, engage and build upon each other’s thoughts and ideas.
Many companies treat their freight agents like another number. Not here. At Tallgrass, everyone’s input matters. Are you being heard at your current company? If the answer is no, we’re actively recruiting new freight agents and want you on our team. We believe you deserve a voice too. Learn more about how you can build a career that’s purposeful and values your ideas by joining our team today.