With this first in a series of interviews with The HON Company’s President Brandon Bullock, discover a rare gem: how company culture, shared goals, and meaningful connection have been a constant at this respected organization from the very beginning.

The next 12 months will be big for The HON Company – we’re celebrating the 75th year of our parent HNI’s incorporation. As we reflect on that significant milestone, it’s important to us that we look ahead just as much as we consider the past. That means understanding and celebrating how and why we’re successful today, but also envisioning where our organization – and the industry – is headed tomorrow.

It makes sense to inaugurate 2022 – and our platinum anniversary! – with an in-depth chat with HON President Brandon Bullock. From meaningful core values and successful strategies to what lies ahead for the office furniture industry, let’s dig a little deeper into what – and who – defines where we’ve been and where we’re going next.

Featured Product: Ignition^­­­®

Seventy-five years is an impressive achievement. What have been the keys to HON’s ongoing success?

Anyone who’s familiar with HON knows that we attribute our success to promises kept. What does that mean exactly? Well, it starts with trust. Trust is the foundation of our brand pillars: made to last, do things right, collaborative expertise, and customer first. All four are so important to our heritage, our customer satisfaction, and how we work together to encourage strong relationships, commitment to quality, and enduring confidence. Made to last is self-explanatory – it hails from HON’s storied history of designing and crafting exceptional products that stand the test of time. That bedrock of reliability continues with do things right - a nod to our long-established member-owner culture. We take a great deal of pride in our mindful connections with the people who work diligently every day to ensure our solutions meet exceedingly high expectations – without them, our achievements would be impossible. And those relationships extend to our dealers, too – that’s where collaborative expertise comes in. Our customers have always wanted and needed strong local support – it’s priceless for them to have dependable contact and extensive experience to rely on when making a significant investment. And last - but definitely not least - you can’t be successful without putting your customer first. One of our enduring missions is to understand what our customers need and how to make – and keep – them happy. That means providing the tools and communication necessary to take customer experience to the next level. For example, our new easy-to-use HON Store, which makes the buying process straightforward and hassle-free for busy people. Valuing someone’s time – our customers are on-the-go! — is invaluable.

So, can you explain a bit more about HON’s member-owner culture? It’s an unusual term.

Anyone can have an employee. Referring to our coworkers as members is HON’s way of keeping our relationships familial – and invested. Literally! Our members participate in profit-sharing, which means when the company is reaping the rewards of success, the people who work for us do, too. In essence, we’re all steering the ship – and that’s really empowering. Enthusiastic collaboration, admirable work ethic, and a passion for one’s job develops organically when you care about how people feel, not just how productive you think they should be. And that protocol develops thoughtful, approachable leadership, which is central to how HON does business. Our founders were entrepreneurs, but they were human first. They cared and they wanted the people who worked alongside them to care. That culture - encouraged by the pillars I mentioned earlier – hasn’t changed.

Again, trust plays a huge part in our culture. Transparency matters – our members are aware of HON’s financial goals, and the fact that we’re all compensated accordingly creates a sense of community and inclusivity. It’s a shared experience and livelihood that never goes away. And it helps our members build relationships, which results in healthy alliances that motivate and inspire. In a world that’s constantly evolving, having the ability to rely on your cohorts instead of competing with them is rare. HON owes a great deal of its success to those enduring connections and shared goals.

Speaking of creating something new, let’s talk about new products in the pipeline. HON has a long and rich history designing office furniture solutions – chairs in particular - that customers love. What can they look forward to in 2022?

I’m glad you asked – there are so many great things on the horizon at HON! Although 2020 and 2021 were mired in uncertainty – people began working from home more and the office landscape changed dramatically – it ended up being a great time to refresh our performance seating lineup. How could we make these chairs more intuitive, more supportive, more agile? I believe we’re hitting it out of the park with Nucleus®. It’s always been an MVP – and one of my favorites when it comes to comfort – but HON is adding some exciting updates in 2022. We retained that stellar support and added sleek, streamlined style to take it from great to remarkable. And Ignition® 2.0 – a task seating customer favorite – saw some significant upgrades with an all-mesh option and new colors to choose from. All in all, the last several months have offered up some truly exceptional solutions across the board.

I could go on about products all day, but the takeaway is that these enhancements and innovations are a meaningful reflection of the brand pillars I talked about earlier. They’re a composite of hard work, connection, determination, expert craftsmanship and creativity. Those are the hallmarks that have kept HON thriving and evolving for almost a century. And I believe they’ll pave the way to an incredibly bright future ahead. Want to learn more? Take a look at how we’re evolving workspaces to make them work better.

Featured Product: Ignition^­­­®