Case Study

Investing in Leaders: How GPC Reduced Turnover by Half

Overview

Great Plains Communications (GPC) is a telecommunications provider serving over 200 communities across a multi-state footprint in the Midwest. With approximately 400 employees, the company has long prioritized both employee and customer relationships as key differentiators in their industry. To maintain and strengthen their people-first culture, GPC sought an effective, flexible, and engaging leadership and culture development solution.

Challenge

Like many organizations, GPC faced significant workplace shifts due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, they transitioned to remote work and simultaneously executed a major acquisition that increased their workforce by 25%, expanding their geographical footprint into a new state. These changes led to communication challenges, cultural integration concerns, and a rise in employee turnover—nearly doubling their typical rate. Additionally, a gap had formed in leadership development, as prior programs had been deprioritized during the pandemic. GPC needed a scalable, cost-effective solution to reinvigorate leadership development, unify their workforce, and reinforce their cultural values.

Solution

GPC discovered BetterCulture’s On-Demand MindSet Leadership Program through a local chamber of commerce leadership course. The short, digestible video content and flexible implementation appealed to their HR team, as did the ability to customize the program to fit internal facilitation preferences.

Encouraged by its success, GPC later expanded its engagement with BetterCulture by adopting the 20 Tenets of Culture Program, initially offered exclusively to high performers. Leadership intentionally handpicked a select group of standout employees, HR leaders, and Culture Committee members to serve as culture champions, ensuring a strong foundation before expanding the program more broadly.

“We wanted to be intentional about recognizing and investing in our high performers first. By giving them early access to the 20 Tenets of Culture Program, we empowered them to set the tone for others and drive cultural excellence across the company.” – Caseina Mixan, Senior Director of Human Resources, Great Plains Communications

Process

On-Demand MindSet Leadership Program

GPC launched the On-Demand MindSet Leadership Program in 2023 with 60 senior managers and executives, ensuring leadership at all levels actively participated. This approach helped reinforce leadership alignment, improve engagement, and foster stronger connections between top executives and senior managers.
The program spanned four in-person sessions over several months, with structured discussions around pre-watched video lessons. Guided by BetterCulture’s materials and facilitation resources, HR leaders led interactive conversations that engaged participants and reinforced key leadership principles. Building on the success of the initial cohort, GPC recently launched a second leadership development cohort with 40 additional leaders, including supervisors and top performers. This expansion helped bring leadership training to employees who may not yet manage people but demonstrate strong leadership potential.
To promote and sustain long-term learning, GPC continues to engage past participants with different leadership topics each month. This ensures continued reinforcement of key concepts, and it makes leadership development an ongoing priority.

20 Tenets of Culture

GPC introduced the 20 Tenets of Culture Program as an exclusive opportunity for high performers, rather than a company-wide rollout. GPC’s leaders handpicked 60 standout employees—including HR, the Culture Committee, and top talent—as a way to invest in their growth and cultivate culture champions.
The program combined short, high-impact video lessons with ongoing discussions via Microsoft Teams. Every two weeks, participants received a new lesson paired with a discussion prompt, allowing them to engage in self-reflection and share insights in a collaborative setting.
Quarterly small-group discussions gave employees a chance to connect across departments, gain fresh perspectives, and build relationships beyond their immediate teams. Many of GPC’s high-performing employees valued this opportunity to network and learn from peers in new ways—especially in a growing, geographically dispersed organization. Rolling out the 20 Tenets program in smaller, highly engaged groups has proven to be an effective strategy. While the long-term goal is to include all employees, GPC prioritized high performers first to maximize engagement and impact before expanding access company-wide.

Outcomes

Turnover Reduction: Employee turnover has dropped by nearly 50% since launching these initiatives, helping GPC retain talent in a highly competitive job market.
Stronger Peer Recognition: Alongside BetterCulture programs, GPC launched a peer-to-peer employee appreciation platform that has been well-received and widely utilized.
Improved Cross-Department Collaboration: Employees reported gaining deeper insights into their colleagues’ roles, building stronger interpersonal connections, and improving workplace communication.
Enhanced Leadership Alignment: Managers actively incorporate MindSet Leadership terminology into daily conversations, fostering clearer communication, a shared vocabulary, and greater consistency. This common language reinforces leadership best practices across the organization.
Sustained Focus on People & Growth: Despite rapid expansion through market growth and acquisitions over the past five years, GPC has remained steadfast in its commitment to leadership development and culture-building. These initiatives continue to foster alignment, enhance employee engagement, and ensure seamless integration of new team members.

If you’re looking to upscale your leadership team, create a common vision, and strengthen your organizational culture, consider BetterCulture’s proven programs. Learn more about how we can help your organization achieve similar results by contacting us today.

“The flexibility of the BetterCulture programs allowed us to make leadership and culture development work for us—on our timeline, within our budget, and in a way that truly engaged our employees. The positive impact has been undeniable.”

Caseina Mixan

Senior Director of Human Resources, Great Plains Communications