Only the most tenacious, nimble companies can say they’ve been around for 100 years. Holladay Properties is looking toward the future and planning to be one of those companies.
In 1952, Wallace Holladay began his business in the Washington, D.C. area and in 1999, Holladay Properties branched off under the leadership of John Phair. Since then, Holladay Properties has addedoffices throughout Indiana, Illinois, Tennessee, and beyond.
With such dynamic growth, the leaders at Holladay Properties recognized the opportunity to set down a new mission, clearly define their core values, and ready themselves for the next few decades so that by 2052, they can attain their vision of celebrating 100 years of business.
“We’ve been growing substantially over the years and we stepped back to think about why we’re doing what we do, how we’re doing it and how we could do it better, and where are we going,” said Tim Healy, who became President and CEO of Holladay Properties this year. “We already had an amazing culture built around the leadership of John Phair, but we knew that to continue to thrive, we needed a defined Mission, Vision and Values.”
After pulling together a committee made up of associates throughout the company, the team at Holladay began discussing what it is that makes them a great company, as well as what they want to be known for. It all culminated with a new mission statement: Enriching lives through investment and service.
“Collectively, we agreed that we want to be a purposeful organization. We wanted to be more than just a profit-oriented organization—we want to make a difference,” Healy said. “We make big investments in our communities. We’ve enriched communities by creating jobs, economic development, increasing the tax base, and much more.”
The Holladay team took the word “enrich” and used it as an acronym to detail out their core values: Entrepreneurial, Nurture, Respect, Integrity, Community, and Health. These six words encapsulate all that Holladay Properties wants to be known for.
“These are the things that we hold near and dear as an organization, they are the values that we’re not going to compromise on. This is who we are,” Healy said. “At the end of the day, I want to be measured by how we enrich people’s lives.”
The overarching value of enrichment is something that Holladay Properties embraces and will continue to embrace even more in the future. And it starts at home with their associates.
The Holladay Cares program was created for associates who may fall on financial hard times to anonymously tap into funds from a 501c3 to help them through that rough patch. Holladay Properties has also set up an additional benefit for associates where employees can donate their unused paid time off to another associate. All of these programs are meant to enrich the daily lives of associates, creating a happy and well cared for workforce.
“We want our associates to feel valued and we want to invest in them. We want them fully engaged,” Healy said.
The next goal is to enrich the lives of the clients Holladay Properties works with. This will involve taking time to receive feedback from their clients and evaluating what they can do better and how.
“We want our clients to be raving fans of Holladay,” Healy said.
Enriching communities is another aspect of Holladay Properties’ vision, one which they have been steadily achieving for some time now. Having clarified values, however, will help Holladay Properties when choosing future projects.
“We have project opportunities all the time and we can only do so much. When we’re deciding to do a project, we think about what the project would mean to a community and that will help us know which project to choose,” Healy said.
While many projects are not always community-focused, Holladay has taken on some projects that have done immense good for the surrounding community. The Promenade at Founders Square in Portage was one such project, and seeing the growth that has come from that project is something that keeps Holladay investing in local communities.
“Good community investment attracts additional community investment, but sometimes you need a spark to get it started,” Healy said.
Ultimately, by enriching their associates, their clients, and communities, Holladay Properties sets themselves up for continued success and profit, which is a benefit, but not the driving factor. While profit is important, they know that having a greater goal is what will really motivate others.
“Great organizations don’t exist just to make a profit. They exist to do something that people can get behind,” Healy said. “People don’t get behind making money for investors, they get behind making a difference in the community they are in. They get behind making a difference in the life of a fellow associate. These are things that are core to the human experience.”
Creating a new mission and core values is an important step in helping Holladay Properties to reach that goal of 100 years. The time was right to look to the talent and assets already at work, focus them, and set them off on a path to a bright—and long—future.
“When you provide clarity of mission to a group of amazing people, things happen, people get organized and motivated, and you start changing,” Healy said. “At the end of the day, we want to look back and be proud of the organization and feel that we did some good during our time here on earth.”
For more information on Holladay Properties, visit their website: https://www.holladayproperties.com/
