Video: Smith Celebrates Employees with SmithJam Concert

Smith’s people power our success.

Today on #EmployeeAppreciationDay, we celebrate our team members worldwide who power Smith’s unique culture and thrive in the entrepreneurial spirit with which we were founded nearly 38 years ago.

At Smith, we value our employees. Our employee-focused culture is key to attracting the best and brightest people at each of our global locations. Smith continues to be recognized with awards that highlight our commitment to our people – including Best Private Companies by Chron.com, Best Places to Work finalist and Outstanding Diversity Helping Hand from Houston Business Journal, and Employer of Choice from JobMarket Hong Kong. Two of our employees were also winners of the Women in Supply Chain award from Supply & Demand Chain Executive.

Smith continuously invests in our people. From day one, employees can learn about our culture, history, market, and processes through our award-winning online learning platform, Smith University. Career progression is front and center here at Smith. Half of our senior managers started their careers in junior positions, and many have been with the company for over 20 years. With ongoing training opportunities, corporate social responsibility programs, and team-building events and contests, both new and tenured employees alike feel at home with Smith.

Employee celebrations are the norm.

Every year, in every office, Smith’s employees gather to celebrate our employees and the company’s success – except for 2020.

That year, the global pandemic halted business travel, and social distancing practices made it unfeasible to gather in large groups. Conversely, customers’ growing need for support navigating the pandemic’s disruptions accelerated Smith’s business as we pushed ourselves to meet their evolving needs. As a result, the highly anticipated end-of-year employee celebrations were held virtually, if at all.

As the pandemic’s challenges carried on into 2021 – and its resulting ongoing shortages continued unabated – our co-founder Lee Ackerley felt the need to do something big for our employees. His vision was a private concert for Smith employees where they could relax, reconnect with colleagues, and take some time to celebrate a challenging but amazing two years.

After months of planning and logistics, over 45 employees were able to travel internationally to Houston, home of our global headquarters, and take advantage of a week full of educational sessions, sharing of best practices, meeting newly hired Smith employees, and visiting with teammates they hadn’t seen in person for two years.

The week culminated with a Texas-sized event. As promised, SmithJam – An Employee Celebration was held for Smith employees and their friends and families. The concert featured two well-known international rock acts, Weezer and Toadies, plus inspirational speeches and accolades from our founders and executives on a job well done. SmithJam was a motivating week for many, and this enthusiasm spread across our global offices as attendees returned home.

We see another year of both challenges and opportunities unfolding before us in 2022. Today on Employee Appreciation Day, our global Smith family will take a moment to celebrate each other, and we’ll continue to provide our customers the high-quality products and services they rely on.

Keep an eye out here on our company News section and our LinkedIn page for more updates about what Smith and our employees are up to around the world!