It takes more than great salaries and excellent benefits to build and keep a powerful workforce that enjoys what they do, especially during tough economic times, according to leaders of companies ranked among the best places to work. What stands out at these businesses are cultures of respect, loyalty and trust, built around an environment that inspires the passion of workers and unleashes their talent, where staff are involved in finding solutions, and management never underestimates the power of a Thank You. “If someone is just chasing dollars, they will be chasing dollars elsewhere soon enough, if the pay is higher,” said John Parker, co-founder of construction company Parker Brown. “It’s about other things, it’s about how we treat each other, it’s about camaraderie.” Very few businesses are completely immune to the recession and what sets companies apart as a great place to work is not how little adverse impact they’ve experienced or whether they’ve avoided layoffs and cut backs on programs; it’s how those “other things” come into play during the difficult times, businesses said. “What motivates most of us is not money, what motivates most of us is pride, is feeling good everyday, feeling that we are part of the solution, feeling that we are respected,” said Arnie Friedman, CEO of CPI Solutions, a technology consulting, solutions and services company. Especially when it gets tough, it’s critical for people to believe they are contributing and have responsibility for the success of a business, he added. “We run an open book company; every employee knows what our financial performance is every quarter. It makes everybody feel that they’re associated with the goals of business,” Friedman said. That openness keeps morale up when difficult decisions have to be made. Although CPI’s revenues are up 18 percent over last year, the company has seen a downturn in new business acquisitions, and existing customers are spending less money. “We went from 51 people to 44 in last three months. It hurts to have to let people go but you don’t want to gloss over it. The key is to be open and honest about what’s going on in your company. My employees know why we do what we do when we do it and that makes them feel part of the solution.” When it comes time to cut costs, whether it be through salary freezes or lowering end of the year bonuses, keeping open lines of communication and talking about the challenges with sincerity builds trust, helping people understand even when they don’t like the outcome. “That element of trust certainly makes it more palatable and keeps the climate healthy,” said Chris Hardt, Regional Leader at financial services firm Edward Jones. “Employees won’t believe you’re trying to slip anything past them that they can’t trust you over.” A strong “family culture” at portable sanitation services company Andy Gump Inc., has helped morale remain strong even after layoffs were announced in recent months. “At Andy Gump we’ve been definitely challenged with changes in the market, we recently had some layoffs, it’s the first time in my 15-year career that I’ve seen that. It was very difficult to let those few people go. But we are always sticking together,” said Operations Manager John Torres. Through weekly meetings that let everyone know that the company’s number one concern is protecting and sustaining jobs for the future, Andy Gump has done a great job of conveying the message that “we’re going to get through this together”, said Torres. “And it’s truly amazing. It’s beyond business sense, its people sense”. What matters most in a great organization especially during a recession is the respect you show your employees, said Lee Kanon Alpert, President and co-founder of the law corporation Alpert, Barr & Grant, APLC. Business decisions must work in accordance with the premise “treat others like you would want to be treated” and this means paying employees on time, and taking care of their needs. “Never, not once since 1976, has the company not paid their employees or paid staff late. However, us shareholders have many times deferred payment or not taken our take when we’ve needed to,” Alpert said. A culture of loyalty and camaraderie at his law firm is also derived from a sense of equality, he said. Alpert, who during his youth worked odd jobs at a steel mill, painting fire hydrants and working at a supermarket as a box boy, said he understood that at the end of the day, “we’re all just people.” “You learn from those experiences and you know that it doesn’t matter who you are, what you do for a living, what your title is or how much money you make; what matters is how you treat people,” he said. “You need to have the knowledge that all the success you have achieved can come to a crashing end at any time. So whether you think you are a big shot or not, it’s important you realize you’re a person like everyone else. When people genuinely feel you care for them and you actually do care for them, that’s how you develop loyalty and trust.” Saying thank you is also a vital way of keeping employees motivated and injecting pride that ultimately makes employees work harder, better and be more successful. “The reality is that I think that we as employers need to work hard to make sure that people recognize how important they are,” said Friedman. Making employees feel that they are a significant reason for their success, is the reason why Wells Fargo, who was ranked as the number one best place to work in the large company category, sets in place an annual action plan strictly focused around how to recognize team members. “This becomes especially important during tough economic times, “said Marla Vasquez, Regional President San Fernando Valley Community Bank “And listening is always essential.” Perhaps one of the most defining elements of a great place to work is the quality of the people that work there. “The most important thing is to hire the right people. We spend huge amounts of time in the hiring process rather than in the terminating process,” said Parker. This emphasis on getting the right people in the right jobs, combined with a powerful sense of camaraderie driven by the goal to differentiate themselves from the competition, has allowed the construction company to adjust well during the economic downturn. “Our sales with existing customers are off by 40-60 percent, but we have gone out and found new customers,” said Parker. This willingness from employees to give even more time and effort when a company is going through difficult times is the result of a nurturing caring environment where people feel invested. Often, it’s a company’s best practices to build camaraderie trust and loyalty, what carries the company through to better times, he said.
