dogIDs is certainly off to a very PAWsitive start to 2015 (pun entirely intended)! On January 8, 2015, the Fargo-based startup that makes personalized dog products, was awarded Happiest Company in the 2015 TINYpulse Awards. 
TINYpulse is a startup launched in 2012 that allows for companies to keep track of employee happiness and productivity by sending a single survey question each week. It also provides a platform where employees can anonymously give feedback – whether that’s making suggestions for improvement, or offering praise for a coworker.
TINYPulse recently raised $3.5 million in Series A funding, and is a partner with Fargo-based venture capital firm, Arthur Ventures.
dogIDs CEO or “Pack Leader” Clint Howitz said they have been using TINYpulse for a few years and are honored to receive this award.
“We were all really excited about it, ” he said. “It’s definitely nice to get recognized like that with a national company. And it’s good to know something is right here, as far as giving employees appreciation and keeping a pulse on the general feeling of our employees.”
Howitz said that besides having already been a tight-knit group of employees, the software allows them to get the open communication one step further.
“When you send praise to somebody, then it’s public to the group,” he said. “It holds a little more water that way.”
He shared his top 3 pieces of advice for creating a happy culture:
1. Stay in tune with your employees. For Howitz, using TINYpulse has played a major factor in staying in tune with employees. “It gives you a really good feeling to know the general climate in your organization,” he said. “The weekly question gets you results every week. Once you start seeing trends, you know what you need to address.”
2. Lift each other up. A key reason to why they are such a happy company, Howitz said, is that they are always quick to encourage each other. “Anytime we have a staff meeting or a group event we make sure we go around the room and either talk about how certain people in the group have demonstrated our values or done something special,” he said. This is something they do every week, he said.
3. Positive company leadership is critical. As a leader, Howitz said that he is constantly ensuring that the communication between employees remains positive. “There’s a lot of bantering, a lot of ribbing, but there’s a lot of encouragement and appreciation that happens as well,” he said. “That’s up to me and the leadership to make sure that keeps growing. As soon as you see that dying off, or some messages with negative connotation, you pay attention to that. Try and turn that around.”
TINYpulse is also rewarding the recipients who gave and received the most cheers with trophies. The winners were MVP Cheers Recipient Award: Eric Schafer, and MVP Cheers Giver Award: Shelby Cochran.
Congratulations, dogIDs!
“Team Time”: The dogIDs crew has a lot of offsite events, such as when they went trap shooting last fall.
To learn more about TINYpulse, read here.
Read our 2013 interview with Clint Howtiz.
