Stroll through the offices of Natural History New Zealand and you might think you’re in an art gallery. Are these Picassos and Van Goghs adorning the walls? Actually, no. These masterpieces are the works of employees. Not only does this wildlife film production company promote staff art, but employees also get to set up the office’s interior design.
Managing director Michael Steadman believes in giving his team a sense of ownership over their work environment. One way to do that is by allowing staff to redesign their office space. Pick the furniture, design the café, throw some priceless staff art on the walls: a simple yet effective way for staff to take pride in their workspace and feel further connected to the company.
When global brand marketer Sellagence had a record-breaking sales month for Gillette in 2002, the bosses wanted to celebrate. Naturally, staff headed down to the office café for some champagne, nibbles and good cheer. One slight problem: not everyone who had contributed was onsite. Many were doing sales work on the road as far afield as Kaitaia and Invercargill.
Talent director and part-owner Heidi Rosser says management met this challenge with a little creativity. It sent a bottle of bubbly to every employee’s home so those on the road could also celebrate. Just one way to remind staff that out of sight doesn’t mean out of mind.
Whether it’s recognising staff effort and success or promoting a sense of ownership, the 20 top companies listed in this year’s “Best places to work” survey (23 if you include the companies that made the top small, medium and large company lists but not the main list) shared a common theme. In all these organisations, employees felt they were an integral part of the team. More importantly, they felt they had a future at their company.
In fact, the 2002 survey results showed this sense of future at an organisation was by far the most important factor to employees in determining their overall perceptions of their company as a great place to work (see “Be the best”). Not only that, it was also the biggest difference to last year’s survey results. In 2001, a sense of future at an organisation accounted for 10% of employees’ overall perceptions. This year, that figure jumped to 30%.
“A few years back, some were proclaiming that ‘people are just a resource and there is no loyalty’,” says survey designer John Robertson, head of human resources consultancy John Robertson & Associates, which crunched the numbers for the survey. That has changed. Now what’s important is “this sense that there is a place for me — a future linked to that of the organisation”.
Nobody wants to feel redundant at work and we’d all like to consider ourselves more than just flavour of the month. But with the survey being conducted in the middle of 2002, when the September 11 bombings and the global recession made New Zealand a less stable place than a year before, perhaps this craving for security is now more important.
Recognition and rewards were also a top priority in this year’s winning workplaces. Electricity firm The Marketplace Company (M-co), number 10 in this year’s survey, promotes a system of staff-nominated awards. Something as simple as singing at work, as personal assistant Jackie Later often does, can win a nomination for this award that acknowledges staffers who exemplify company values. Twenty nominations for M-co values awards were received in 2002, and two winners received free transtasman return flights.
Many of this year’s happy survey respondents praised their companies for the freedom, trust and flexibility they gave workers. In many cases, employers focused more on results and were less concerned with dictating how their teams got from A to B.
Sarah Aitchison, a stakeholder communications manager for the Ministry of Culture and Heritage (number 20 on the survey) says this flexibility was a job-saver in her case. A while back, she was thinking of quitting due to increasing responsibilities at home. She told chief executive Martin Matthews of her dilemma: wanting to stay on at work but needing to pick up her child from school each day. “I don’t think those things are mutually exclusive,” he answered, and worked out a way for Aitchison to work 85% time.
The golden rules
While top companies received high scores in all survey categories, it’s the unique combination of strategies and policies that set each winner apart and provided lessons on creative ways to build a future with employees. It can all sound a little airy-fairy until you talk to some of the best companies’ chief executives and discover there are some rules.
Speak very politely using a person’s name. Say “please” and “thank you” as a minimum. Tell the truth and use positive conversation. Think these are just rules on the wall of a kindergarten classroom in an effort to prevent playground chaos? Wrong. They are the core pillars of a courtesy system used at Henry Schein Regional/Regional Health, a dentistry, medical and pharmaceutical product distribution company that took the number one spot in this year’s “Best places to work” survey.
“It’s not earth-shattering stuff, just ‘please’ and ‘thank you’,” says managing director Garth Bradford, who has led the company for nine years, growing it from a staff of nine to 43 and gaining industry leader status.
Amazing how the simplest ideas resonate the loudest. Take customer service staffer Nicky Smith. She originally worked at Schein for two-and-half years and left when personal circumstances caused her to rethink her career path. Two years later she was back, leaving her new job to return to Schein because she believed the other company did not have a forward-thinking environment.
“Here, positive attitudes are really encouraged,” she says. “In a lot of places people don’t speak nicely to each other.”
Schein expects to double in size by 2007, accelerating towards a 100-person staff. Bradford has a couple of ground rules in place to meet the tough challenge of balancing growth with maintaining the personal ambience of the office. (Remember, it’s no coincidence that none of the top five best places to work have more than 100 staff — it’s hard to grow and keep that fantastic atmosphere.) Bradford’s kept the simple approach. There will be no executive tearooms and no electronic telephone answering systems in Schein’s future — in fact, Bradford cringes at the thought. He enjoys making his cup of coffee each morning, saying it’s his chance to catch up with the staff. “If you take those things away, that’s when you lose it,” he says.
From village to tribe
Every year Flight Centre staff get decked out for the Academy Awards — the Flight Centre Academy Awards, that is. It’s the company’s New Zealand ball; a glamorous evening where top performers are recognised for their excellence. The ball is just one way Flight Centre (in eighth place in Unlimited’s survey and a worldwide multibillion-dollar company luring customers with lowest airfare guarantees) celebrates goal achievement.
But not just any goals. Flight Centre teams strive towards BHAGs: “Big hairy audacious goals,” says regional director and North America manager Chris Greive. “And they typically end up exceeding them.”
In New Zealand, Flight Centre has 490 staff; 4516 internationally. Last year, 16 new shops opened in New Zealand, bringing the country’s total to 117. Of the eight external brands globally, New Zealand had one new brand last year, and forecasts are for 120 new shops opening worldwide in the upcoming year. Within this expansive context, focus on maintaining a team atmosphere is crucial in preventing workers from feeling like another cog in the machinery. To this end, Flight Centre uses a system centred on the concept of family, village, country, nation and tribe, says managing director Graeme Moore.
Sound a bit primitive? It’s actually a progressive strategy for keeping the office atmosphere personal and cosy. According to Moore, it works like this: your family is a team of eight or nine people working on one brand. Your village has 14 or 15 families within one geographical region. Your country is a set of villages. Your nation is all Flight Centre brands from New Zealand. And, you guessed it, your tribe is Flight Centre, the global company.
With a flat management structure and a no-ceiling policy, teams are encouraged to push harder and higher. “In this business, everyone has control over their own destiny,” says Greive, adding that a consultant could easily earn more than a manager depending on their team’s success. And whether your success is highlighted at the ball or at monthly “buzz night” bar celebrations, the company is quite generous in its incentive rewards. “It dangles a lot of carrots,” Ritchie says, boasting of co-worker James Blankley’s recent success as New Zealand’s top performer. The achievement earned him a new car.
Now that’s a good place to work.
The top 20 best places to work
How the companies were selected
Be the best
Six tips for those on the prowl
Where to from here?
Top 5
Returning champs
Kicking off a good year
Freedom and fun
Six tips for a better workplace
Best places to work 2003
Convinced your employer has created an ideal work environment? Sounds like you should enter your company in the 2003 “Best places to work” survey.
Enter even if you don’t think you will make the top 20; simply completing the survey can provide your company with an invaluable source of information. The survey gives you the chance to see how you compare with peers over several years. Just by participating, you will receive a confidential report with your company’s ranking, showing where you exceed those qualities of your peers and where you may be falling behind. Evidence from past surveys shows many companies enter for the opportunity to benchmark themselves and measure their progress amid a growing number of progressive and talented companies.
To enter the 2003 “Best places to work” survey, click here.