Top Workplaces: Team culture helps InPwr employees thrive

When you do technical work, it helps to be able to get a question answered without having to worry about ruffling feathers.

At InPwr, employees say a collegial tone set by management to keep everyone in the know goes with being able to take on increasingly complex, large electrical contracts – like projects involving new data centers. Those projects are a lot more complicated than, say, doing electrical work for a warehouse, another company specialty.

“But it’s been a pretty seamless transition with the amount of knowledge that a lot of the people that I work with have,” says Ryan Weber, an estimator who has been with the company for over five years.

When he has a question, Weber says others will stop whatever they’re doing and talk him through it until he understands. If he’s taking on a project or challenge he hasn’t faced before, anyone with more experience will take time to teach him. That kind of “team culture,” echoes Allison Koerkel, an administrative coordinator who just started with InPwr in January, has made her transition from the retail industry less daunting as well.

She’s felt welcomed and that others value her experience while being willing to offer their insights when asked. “You’re more comfortable to reach out (for help) when you’re not an expert at something,” Koerkel says.

The sharing culture at InPwr doesn’t end there, either. Besides X’s and O’s, Weber says management truly spread the wealth during times of plenty – like now, providing progressively bigger performance-based bonuses – and have tightened their belts to save employees’ job during leaner times in the past.

“The big one for me was during the pandemic – a rough time for construction, not a lot of new projects coming through,” he recalls. “So the entire executive team took some pretty massive pay cuts to keep everyone on board that they could. Hardly any layoffs – just trying to keep everybody employed and happy.”

They even made health benefits more generous during that time, where individual health benefits are now fully covered by the company, he says.

Hannah Burd, an accounts receivable specialist, says company co-founders, husband and wife Brian and Staci Inskeep, are “so caring and giving, and they believe in people first,” setting the tone for the way people are treated throughout the company.

Burd is excited to take advantage of another employee perk, too: “For every five years of employment, there is a one-month sabbatical for all employees – field and office,” she explains, her fifth anniversary coming up in September. Employees also get $2,000 to spend as they choose, for example, on travel; and it’s all in addition to their annual PTO.

Ultimately, Burd and other employees say the key to the company’s success – and employees’ happiness – is all being in it together.

“Because ultimately if you’re not successful … InPwr is not going to be successful overall. So it’s not a dog-eat-dog,” she says. “It’s: If there’s something you need help with, I want to help you, because ultimately that helps us all.”

Bottom Line

• Founded: 2005

• Headquarters: Indianapolis

• Company profile: electrical design contractor specializing in large commercial and industrial projects such as warehouses and data centers

• Locations: One

• Number of employees: 75

• Website: inpwrinc.com

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Top Workplaces: InPwr's culture breeds success for company, employees