Staff Learn That Safety Is a Value, Not Just a Policy

Limbach: 2025 BEST Award Winner, #16

Warrendale, Pennsylvania

2-Time Winner

Photo | Phil Kramer

Limbach views talent development as a critical talent advantage, guided by the idea that a stable income, attractive benefits, and excellent advancement opportunities are the best tools to ensure staff provide top-flight solutions to its customers. The building systems solution company's commitment to TD starts at the highest level, with specific programs that underpin all three pillars of its growth strategy.

Winning hearts and minds with safety

The organization partners with building owners and facilities managers who operate mechanical, electrical, and plumbing infrastructure at mission-critical facilities such as hospitals, industrial sites, and higher education institutions. Its more than 1,300 employees across 19 locations are indispensable partners to its customers and investors, with a culture of L&D at the heart of that relationship.

Limbach puts safety front and center as part of its commitment to its people and their families. The Hearts and Minds Commitment course is a 16-hour, in-person event that equips leaders with the mindset to influence their team's actions as well as the company's safety processes and culture. The program has garnered recognition and awards from peer and industry groups for its innovative approach.

The course emphasizes the value of team leadership skills to improve safe production and behavior, as well as the importance of taking responsibility for others with the honest intent to eliminate safety violations. "It's not just a training; it's a shared pledge," notes Melissa DiMuro, chief people, culture, and marketing officer. "Leaders … come together, leaving titles aside, united by the goal of ensuring everyone goes home safely to their families every day."

Participants learn that safety is not just a policy, but a personal value. "It's a powerful reminder that a commitment to safety isn't just about following rules," says DiMuro. "It's about people, families, and the fundamental right to a safe workplace."

The course has received so much attention that Limbach has begun providing it to employees of other companies too. The TD team has taught the course to a staff at a subcontractor as well as one of Limbach's top customers.

Enabling a new customer account strategy

Limbach is undergoing a transformation into an account-based business structure to establish closer trusted advisor relationships with its clients and partners. That is a departure from the traditional, transactional way organizations in the field conduct business.

The TD function directly supports those efforts, developing playbooks that help staff better articulate
solutions to customers and hosting a customized sales boot camp to help the business more effectively sell directly to building owners.

Two employee groups that required special attention were the sales team and the special project team that comprises project managers who both sell and build work. As a solution, the company developed
the Sales and Special Projects Bootcamp. CEO Mike McCann participated in the process, logging more than 40 hours in meetings and project development.

Over 2.5 days, the two groups break into functional tracks but also spend time learning with one another to promote effective account management. The program features McCann as an instructor.

The initiative includes a reinforcement component, with additional training modules that local branch managers teach with the help of instructor guides and other materials developed by the TD team. Branch managers also have access to their team's pre-assessment and post-assessment data to help provide remedial coaching to those who need it.

In the first six months of the boot camp, Limbach rolled it out to more than 40 percent of salaried staff. On average, program participants' assessment scores increased by 22 percent. The company estimates the program's return on investment after six months was already more than 84 percent and likely to continue growing.

Moving up, not out

To corner a competitive talent market for skilled laborers, Limbach offers advancement opportunities into leadership positions. "This approach allows us to retain top talent, ensure continuity, and ultimately deliver the best service to our clients," explains Kate Mistry, associate vice president and director of TD.

One vital tool the company uses to execute its vision of internal growth is the LEAD program. The initiative has three levels, each for a different audience. Level 1, for emerging leaders, focuses on leading oneself. It helps participants build a servant leadership foundation that will help them succeed in all future roles at the organization.

Level 2 builds upon that foundation in the context of team leadership. Combining in-person experiences with virtual instructor-led training and e-learning, the program lasts about one year. The first half focuses on helping participants get to know themselves as leaders and define their personal leadership philosophies. During the second half, participants practice applying their leadership philosophies in the context of team leadership while working on their influencing, decision-making, and negotiation skills.

Level 3 focuses on current and future executives. Participants must use what they learn in the program to build a business plan for a new geographic location, service, or product offering that requires company investment. They pitch their plans to the C-suite at the end of the program, and the company allocates funds to successful proposals. About one in four proposals receives funding.

The data demonstrates that the LEAD program has delivered excellent results. During the past three years, about two in three graduates of the Level 2 and Level 3 programs have earned promotions. "By investing in their growth, we're not only developing our future leaders, but fostering a culture of growth and engagement that extends far beyond the workplace," Mistry notes.

View the entire list of 2025 BEST Award winners.