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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

What Employees Want From Their Firms

It doesn’t take much to make employees happy. Don’t get me wrong, you’ve got to pay fair wages, give decent benefits and honor labor laws but sometimes all it takes is listening to workers when they want to be listened to. One of the special reports inside this issue is our first Best Places to Work. It is the result of a project started by the Business Journal several months ago. The project was managed by an outside firm, the Best Companies Group, which surveyed companies that were nominated for the honor of being selected as a best place to work. Executives of each company were sent questionnaires and asked to provide information on what health benefits they offer employees as well as other activities that they sponsor to make their workplace better than just the average office or plant. The results of that questionnaire were 25 percent of the total score for each company. The rest of the score resulted from the employee satisfaction survey that each firm was sent. Great attempts were made to keep officials of each company from “spinning” the results. Usually when the Business Journal selects the “best” or “top” of anything, it is done through research by our editorial staff with help from our local sources and from committees we form made up of businesspeople from different industries. This is the first time we used an outside firm to manage the process. This firm didn’t know our local companies and provided a purely scientific and objective view from the outside. So what did they find? You don’t have to be large to provide things that attract employees. So-called perks that local companies offer include massages, weekly catering of lunches, gyms, payments for educational expenses and the occasional trips to foreign countries. But there are other far less costly things that make the environment pleasant at some of these firms like having an open-door management policy and flexible work schedules. This provides freedom and access for workers. Knowing you can ask questions or voice your concerns to leaders of the firm at any time makes workers feel like the company cares about them. Letting them work out-of-the ordinary schedules makes employees feel like you trust them. Some feel that these “intangibles” are far more important than a cruise to Mexico (although that sure is nice). But intangibles sometimes can be harder than spending company money: They take time, creativity, compassion and passion. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great that some companies provide all the comforts of home for their employees. Most workers spend almost as much time at work as they do at home so it should be as comfortable as possible. But firms that can’t afford it, should look at these less costly ways to make things better. OK, I know that I’m far from the perfect manager myself and by writing this column I’m leaving myself open to criticism from staff people who may think I don’t practice what I preach. So, to them I say: my door is open. Business Journal Editor Jason Schaff can be reached at (818) 316-3125 or at [email protected].

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