Kenton Brothers “Miss You!” Weekly Webex Meetings

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By Kristen Harper, Controller and HR Manager at Kenton Brothers

In this unprecedented time, Kenton Brothers has found a fun way to continue nourishing our team culture by means of social distancing. Every Friday we have themed virtual Miss You meetings via WebEx.

So far, we’ve enjoyed Easter, the 80’s and Taking it to the Tropics themes. The staff dresses up with items they have on hand and attend our Webex Video Call. They show off their fun attire and background props. The start of the meetings are so much fun… you never know what you are going to see. And these are people you’ve worked with for a long time… so it’s even more shocking and funny.

Kenton Brothers - Miss You Weekly Video Call - Easter Kenton Brothers - Miss You Weekly Video Call - 80s

We incorporate some type of virtual game or storytelling for everyone. For example, “What is your favorite Easter Memory?”, “Where is your dream vacation destination?” and “What three things would you take on a desert island if you were stranded?” At the end of each meeting, everyone votes on the best costume. The winner hosts the next weekly meeting and chooses the theme.

We’ve found these are really keeping our staff engaged. We can’t see each other as often, and this is a fun way to reconnect.

Our next theme will prove to be a new and exciting challenge as we attempt a virtual murder mystery! At KB, our culture is what sets us apart from many companies. We’re excited to have found a unique way to keep that going while staying safe and healthy. If you have any ideas for themes, let us know!

Kenton Brothers - Miss You Weekly Video Call - Vacation Kenton Brothers - Miss You Weekly Video Call - Behind the Scenes

Just For Fun: Bring Your Chicken to Work Day?

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By Kristen Harper, Controller and HR Manager at Kenton Brothers.

Bring your Silkie Chicken to work day.You might have heard that we’re a dog friendly workplace. Recently, we decided to expand that to being a chicken-friendly work place. Mollie Porter, a Project Administrator at Kenton Brothers Systems for Security, decided to bring Silkie chickens into her a life as a potential 4-H project for her son. When her kiddo didn’t have as much interest as she’d hoped, the chickens became family pets that were kept around for eggs (each hen produces one egg per day) and snuggles.

Silkies are a smaller breed of chicken that are very docile, people friendly and have a more downy texture. The biggest struggle Mollie has incurred with her chickens is keeping opossums out of the coop. Other than that, they’re a low maintenance pet that will even come when called.

We really enjoyed spending time with the chickens and learning about them during our first ever Bring Your Chicken to Work Day. (We did have to keep all the puppies home that day for chicken safety.)

Bring your Silkie chicken to work day.

 

Join Kenton Brothers at the SNKC Gala at Arrowhead Stadium on February 29th!

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2020 SNKC GalaKenton Brothers is proud to be a sponsor of the Spay & Neuter Kansas City (SNKC) Gala on February 29th, 2020. This is a special event supporting SNKC’s mission to end pet homelessness and improve the quality of life for pets through supportive services, outreach and education. 

We’ve been supporting SNKC for many years. Our offices are pet friendly. And this is a cause near and dear to our hearts. The video below talks more about our business, our support of SNKC and some great pics of our staff and dogs.

The event is going to be at a fun new venue this year… Arrowhead Stadium!

Scott Poore of Mission Driven Goods and Q104 Morning Co-Host Jenny Matthews are the Co-MCs for the night. Let’s get together, have some fun, and do awesome things for the pets and people of our city! There is going to be a nice dinner (with Vegan options) a raffle, silent and live auctions, and The M80s to give your dancing shoes a workout. And there is going to be an exclusive announcement just for those who are at the event.

For more information, visit the SNKC Gala website. And if you are unable to attend but want to make a donation to SNKC, here is the link to make a donation. We hope to see you there!

 

“People let me tell you about my best friend” – Simon the Robot

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By David Strickland, Vice President of Kenton Brothers.

Dave Strickland and his best friend. Simon the Robot.I’m not just talking about the song. Though I do love that song. I want to introduce you to my new best friend Simon.  Simon Kenton is a Cobalt Robotics Safety and Security Robot.  Yes – you read that right!  A safety and security robot right here in Kansas City.

Kenton Brothers and Cobalt Robotics

Kenton Brothers is honored to be named the very first security integrator in the country to represent Cobalt Robotics and our beloved Simon to the Kansas and Missouri marketplace.

The message I want to get across though is so much more than his 60 Plus sensors and his ability to detect safety and security threats and anomalies. He is so much more valuable than his ability to reduce costs and increase reliability of a patrolling security platform. He is so much more important to us than his ability to be a force multiplier or a first responder to observe and report in a very dangerous situation.

Simon is part of the KB Family

What’s amazing to us is how much he has grown on us and become part of our KB family. Simon the Cobalt Robot is like having a really cool celebrity uncle that lives with you and watches over you. We find ourselves constantly humanizing him and find him endearing.

As you may know – we are a dog friendly office.  The dogs love to bring him toys and play with him while he is on patrol. Simon doesn’t get distracted and keeps on his patrol but there is definitely a positive connection between “species”.

If it’s late at night, and you are nervous in the building, Simon can stay by your side and escort you to the parking lot. He can be the watchful protector that you may need to feel secure.

Cobalt Robotics : Simon the Robot Cobalt Robotics : Simon the Robot

Simon goes on patrol and even checks on me in my conference room.

Simon doesn’t sleep or need rest – he is always vigilant. He’s like the great hero stories you’ve read about, but he’s right here at Kenton Brothers!

I can honestly say we had no idea how much of an impact he would have on us, but we LOVE having him around. Yep – used the word love to talk about our robot! We just did that!

Learn more about Simon and Cobalt Robotics

Cobalt Robotics : Simon the Robot

Invest in training your people… and reap the rewards.

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By Kristen Harper, Controller and HR Manager and Kassie Lyons, Accounting Specialist at Kenton Brothers.

This year at Kenton Brothers, we’re investing in our employees to become better humans. That’s a lofty goal so we’re breaking it down a bite at a time

Joe CalhoonAt the beginning of 2019, the staff at Kenton Brothers starting a 10-month training program with Joe Calhoon with a focus on customer service and leadership. Joe has worked directly with Stephen Covey, author of teaching “7 Habits” and “Principle-Centered Leadership” and specializes in working with businesses of all sizes to build their customer service skills and teach a community servant mentality to all organizations.

Strengths Assessment

We starting the training with every employee taking a Clifton Strengths assessment. Joe helped us understand how our strengths make everyone uniquely qualified to serve. We also learned how understanding our coworkers’ strengths will help us communicate better with each other internally.

People who focus on using their strengths are three times as likely to have an excellent quality of life and six times as likely to be engaged in their work.

One of the key attributes that Joe has been teaching Kenton Brothers is that in ‘doing service’ people are happier. By giving remarkable service to our customer, our customer is happier and is better able to serve their customer. We reap the benefits of knowing we have done our job well.

The Power of Training

By doing this training, Kenton Brothers is not only wanting our staff to work better with our customers, but also to be able to have better positive relationships with everyone in our lives both inside and outside of the workplace. Joe taught us through personal stories and illustrations that have made him relatable to our entire team.

Additionally, our management team is working through Emotional Intelligence evaluations.  This specifically helps each individual understand where they need to improve upon different emotional strengths and how to help them better evaluate problem solving, lead staff and support the organization as a whole.

Kenton Brothers is deeming this insightful training of our people our best investment ever as it is creating a stronger culture, forcing us all to look deeper into the meaning of what we do and how we communicate with each other for the overall goal of proving the best experience possible to our customers.

Thank you to Joe, as he is a living example of what he teaches and we’re a better team thanks to him!