Case Study
Many companies manage HR without dedicated staff. However, every growing business reaches a tipping point where the endless demands of HR make it essential to hire a coordinator of some kind.
Perlo Construction had always prided themselves on having a fun, collaborative workplace culture. Up until 2017, they’d managed to maintain it without a formalized HR position, but that year, a surging growth phase made it clear their tipping point had arrived.
In the midst of their conversation around formalizing their HR practices sat this question:
Could they maintain their current growth rate without losing the family atmosphere and positive culture they’d spent decades cultivating?
They were about to find out.
About Perlo Construction
Perlo Construction has been building commercial buildings throughout Oregon since 1956. They work in nearly all commercial categories including industrial, healthcare, education, and retail.
From unique structures like wineries to industrial buildings to vital institutions like public schools, they build extraordinary facilities which redefine their surrounding communities.
Leaping into the Eye of an HR Hurricane
Meghan Looney found her role as Perlo’s Director of HR out of a genuine love for the work.
Originally hired in a marketing role, she found herself naturally filling the void left by not having an HR person on staff.
“I gravitated towards our people, onboarding and giving office tours and making sure that new people felt comfortable in our building, with our owners and executive team, and with our field crews. It was really important to me that people felt welcome right away.”
Meanwhile, Perlo was experiencing a staggering level of growth.
- In 2010, they crossed the 100 million mark in sales, and now in 2022, their projections run closer to 400 million.
- Since 2017 when Meghan took on her role, the company has added more than 150 employees and now has over 300 team members in place.
When Perlo’s leadership suggested Meghan make the move into HR, she willingly leapt into the eye of this hurricane of growth, but the question remained of how best to equip her for the job.
Though she’d been growing in her HR knowledge and experience, her degree was in Public Relations, and she was now the first Director of HR at Perlo.
Meghan saw Xenium as an opportunity to wrap a larger team of experts around herself and the people in her care.
The people part and the people aspect, the culture part was all easy to me. It was the legal stuff – what’s coming down the pipeline related to HR – that I needed help with.
Can a Company This Big (and Growing This Fast)
Still Feel Like Family?
In 2017, one of the things Perlo’s team members appreciated the most was the genuine sense of family in the company and its collaborative, supportive culture. There was concern that as Perlo became more systematized and formal in its approach to HR, it would lose the atmosphere which was part of its success.
In Meghan’s earliest interactions with Xenium, she felt she’d found a team who shared this concern.
“I think Xenium is a company very similar to Perlo in that we care about our people, we care about our culture, and we protect it. When we were talking early on, it was clear that Lacey and the team and the entire team really understood our business.”
– Meghan Looney
Step One
The HR Compliance Audit
Xenium was hired to perform an HR Compliance Audit at Perlo, examining all of the processes, systems, and tools Perlo was using to serve its people.
“We reached out for a full company audit to make sure we were on track and building the best HR department that we could in the midst of our rapid growth. I wanted the peace of mind to have somebody like Xenium in my back pocket, which is exactly what they’ve been.”
– Meghan Looney
The audit was an opportunity to create a roadmap for the work needed to build a firm HR foundation for Perlo. It was also a chance to celebrate the things they were doing well!
Most importantly, it was the beginning of a relationship where Meghan would have ongoing, constant support in her role.
Step Two
Xenium’s Custom HR Service
Following the audit, the full force of Xenium’s support resources kicked into gear to help Perlo catch up to the needs of its growing team through our Custom HR service.
When Perlo hired us, her one-person department instantly gained the support of a larger team of more than 80 specialists and experts at Xenium.
HR Consulting
Meghan now has an outsourced, dedicated team of specialists in her corner, and all of her support is managed through one, dedicated contact, Perlo’s HR Business Partner.
Foundation Building
Xenium coached Meghan and supported her in building critical HR infrastructure for Perlo like the employee handbook and its hiring and onboarding processes. All of this work was done with careful attention to preserving and strengthening the positive workplace culture they had built.
Dedicated Support
Now, Xenium is a proactive partner in helping Perlo remain compliant with constant changes in regulations. When urgent issues come up with personnel or questions about sticky situations like workers compensation, their HR Business Partner is just a phone call away.
“Being a team of one on an HR department is a really lonely place to be, and it’s overwhelming to keep up with all of the regulatory issues that come up and just best practices in general. So being able to wrap around her with our team adds a level of extra support that’s really meaningful.”
Lacey Partipilo, Senior Director of HR, Xenium
HR Partners for a Season of Growth
Perlo caught up to the needs of its 300+ person team by magnifying Meghan’s passion for people with Xenium’s resources. Through our partnership, Meghan has been able to meet every challenge and grow as an indispensable leader in her organization. For example . . .
Building the Employee Handbook
Perlo was used to an informal approach to employee relationships and had few written protocols or policies in place, but their HR Compliance Audit revealed the vital importance of documentation to the company’s leadership.
The handbook was completed within the first year of Perlo’s participation in the Custom HR program. It emerged as a milestone in their journey, giving them confidence in the road ahead.
Now, Xenium helps Meghan keep this key resource up to date.
“Lacey will send me an email to say, “The law changed. We should amend your handbook. Here’s some language. It’s often something that may not have been on my radar at all. That’s the kind of stuff that’s so important to me, and I don’t take it for granted.”
Fast Responses to Urgent Questions
Having a dedicated HR Business Partner in place has been invaluable to Meghan.
“We’ve built a great program with Xenium’s help, but of course there are things that come up. I’ll send Lacey a quick email or a text, and the response is immediate. I would say that’s the most surprising thing. I know how busy the Xenium team is and just getting that immediate response gives me the peace of mind I’m looking for.”
As a one-person department at Perlo, Meghan appreciates having colleagues within easy reach who understand her work. She has confidants who she can safely speak with about any situation.
Leadership Training and Growth
Early in the relationship, Xenium would host training events for Perlo on core issues like Respect in the Workplace and Building a Positive Workplace Culture. These training events are one of the keys to preserving and maintaining a safe, supportive culture.
Over time, Meghan learned to host these events herself and forged a direct link with her team in leading them to build a collaborative culture.
“It’s been really exciting to see the growth that Megan has had in her career, and our relationship has changed over the years. In the beginning it was about supporting her with fundamentals. We’ve been able to shift our conversations to be a lot more strategic in nature, and that’s been really exciting.”
– Lacey Partipilo, Senior Director of HR, Xenium
Partners in Preserving a Culture
Meghan’s journey into HR began with a love for people which shapes her vision for the workplace culture at Perlo.
“I fell into my role because I love our people, but I’m also really proud of the work that we do in our business. I hope our people see me as someone that’s here to help them through whatever they’re getting through – and also to have fun. Parties are important. Work life balance is important. It’s about finding the balance between a comfortable and productive work environment.”
All along, Meghan has been fortunate to have the fervent support of her leadership in building this environment, and Xenium shares the same passion.
The structures and protocols Xenium helped Perlo develop didn’t restrict or diminish its collaborative, positive environment. It built the foundation where it could thrive.
Similar to Meghan’s balancing act mentioned above, balancing both the structures and the cultural support people need to thrive has been the focus of Xenium’s work.
“Xenium has always supported Perlo in the Perlo way, which is: we work hard, we take care of our people, and we always do what’s right. There is just a level of comfort that they understand us, and we understand them. They’re the greatest teammate to have in this work.”
Meghan Looney, Director of HR, Perlo Construction
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