Maritz Motivation was once again honored as the giant category winner of St. Louis Business Journal’s “Best Place to Work” Award. Today we are highlighting one of our employees, Leah Harwell, who helps make the culture so special.
Leah Harwell started her journey at Maritz Motivation as an IT intern, while studying Computer Science at Webster University. After serving in that role for a year and graduating with her bachelor’s degree, she’s now in her fifth year as a software developer for the CultureNext team.
A long-time proponent of the value and responsibility of community service, Maritz Motivation encourages its employees to take up to 12 hours of paid time each year to perform volunteer work for one of 300+ partner organizations. Leah accepted the opportunity and chose to help a local church organize a donation drive for school supplies for area children. Leah genuinely enjoyed taking time off work for a good cause, and is thankful that Maritz Motivation not only encourages our employees to serve the community, but also provides the time to make sure they’re able to do it. “I think many people may hesitate to volunteer because they think they don’t have enough time, or they aren’t sure where to start in terms of what organization they should volunteer for,” she said. “Maritz Motivation helps to solve both of those problems, by encouraging employees to volunteer during their working hours, as well as partnering with numerous organizations to help the employee or their team find the volunteer opportunity that’s right for them.”
Leah is a good example of a culture leader at Maritz Motivation for reasons beyond her volunteer efforts. She’s happy to dive into the “work hard, play hard” culture. The most recent example was at the lip-sync battle during last year’s town hall. “I was in the Left Shark costume while my co-worker, Julia Gilbert, was lip-syncing Katy Perry. It was a great time!” she said. Leah also helps to plan the annual Rocket Day event, and is a member of the employee engagement committee, which is responsible for planning fun events such as BINGO, scavenger hunts, battleship, bean bag tournaments and other activities.
Leah encourages any fellow Maritz Motivation employees who are looking for an opportunity to become more involved in the workplace to join the employee engagement committee, which, she said, is always happy to welcome additional members!
We’re proud of Leah for her dedication to serving the community and for pointing the way for other employees. To see how Maritz Motivation lives out its own values and provides its own employees with an amazing place to work, check out this St. Louis Business Journal article.
