Creating a best workplace is something every manager wants to accomplish for his or her company. Several years ago, we made it our management team’s goal to make this a priority. Having a place where people love the environment in which they work is essential to our business. Happy employees means happy families and happy clients.
The journey for us was relatively easy. Why? We listened to our staff. This is simple, but not very easy for all. We formed a best workplace committee to guide us in the direction that our staff wanted to go. The committee meets regularly and provides recommendations to me and our management team. While we don’t guarantee everything will to be implemented, we identify key ideas we think are reasonable and easy to update.
This year, we began creating a more regular and flexible workspace. If an employee needs to work from home, or a coffee shop, and if that employee is in good standing, he/she can do it. We have a nap room. We got rid of the candy jar (a Fearey tradition) in favor of healthier options in the kitchen (a work in progress!). We rode the Seahawks Super Bowl wave all the way to the parade. We promote based on performance, and we work to honor those who are constantly impressing clients and driving winning results. We don’t hamper cool ideas, we advance them through innovative, fearless thinking. We work with each person individually to support the value system that works best for them to thrive at our company. We have a generous vacation and sick day policy. We close the office at 3 p.m. on Fridays in August. And we give everyone an opportunity to take their birthday off as well as a day between Christmas and New Year’s.
Bottom line, we are working on it. The Puget Sound Business Journal just awarded us the Bronze Medal in its annual Best Workplace awards. Two years ago, we received the Silver Medal. We have placed in the top three in the small business category twice in three years, but we are not done. We have not settled. We are working toward the gold. We will continue to listen to our staff. We will continue to innovate. We will continue to work hard toward becoming an even better workplace. Listening is key.
What are some of your best workplace ideas? What does your company do? We are searching for ideas. We want the gold. Comment below and let us know.