In Business magazine won the statewide award for Best Wisconsin Workplace, Small Business category from the Wisconsin Psychological Association in the award’s first year of existence. Yet it doesn’t have a seven-acre sports complex, roller hockey rink, horseshoe pits, three wellness centers, or a benefits plan that dispenses 100,000 hours of free massages a year – like Google did in 2012.
IB doesn’t have an organic farm to service four onsite cafeterias a la SAS, which made the 2013 list of Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For.” It doesn’t offer $10,000 to volunteer at a nonprofit like the Boston Consulting Group does, nor does it let employees give other employees gift cards in recognition of offering good customer service, as does Wegmans Food Market. The smallest company to make Fortune’s honor roll, at the rank of 7, was Hilcorp Energy, which made a 2010 pledge to its 1,012 employees to pay each $100,000 if the company reached a goal to double production in 2015. IB would have to more than double its client list and add a couple zeros to ad prices to offer anything approaching that!
Wisconsin did have one company on the list – Robert W. Baird and Co., which moved up the list from No. 21 to 14 because it rewards all hourly and salaried employees with profit-sharing from a pool comprised of 10% of the firm’s pretax net operating income.
So what makes a great workplace? And how can small businesses compete with larger entities as the job market loosens and talented people put on their walking shoes for that next better position? Here is what we learned by going through the process of applying for the Best Workplace award and talking afterwards with the psychologists who conducted the full-day screenings, when we asked why we won:
1. Provide a positive work environment. IB put a “No Drama Zone” policy into effect, which basically means it’s not a backdrop for workplace drama. Differences of opinion are encouraged and supported, but negativity, gossip, and cliques are not. Conflict is handled by bringing all parties to a table and calmly talking through the problem rather than working around difficult personalities or sidestepping sensitive workplace issues.
2. Evaluate and measure. In addition to annual performance reviews, staff understands budget goals and Web statistics, and all staff members are acknowledged for the work they put into issues and events, and thanked for their contributions and talents. IB has moved away from anecdotal proof of success to look at numbers and to evaluate variance from goals. In this way, all staff members are motivated to hit those goals and a common language is established to define “success.”
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3. Have fun. IB has hosted strange but meaningful field trips into the community to do random acts of kindness, to create stained-glass wonders (we wondered what we made, in other words), to participate in field day games, to see the Blue Man Group perform in Chicago, and to repurpose thrift store purchases. But perhaps some of the best times are had at impromptu pizza celebrations, at or during costume parties, and at staff potlucks in the conference room.
4. Develop people as well as products. IB promotes from within whenever possible, and it is almost always possible with advance thought and training. People are not micromanaged but rather encouraged to do things a “better way” or “smarter way.”
“When I was hired, you promised me this would be the best job I ever had,” editor Jan Wilson recently told me, “and it is.” But it isn’t just a better job, it’s a better workplace, and yes, a small business workplace – with its nimble celebrations and last-minute potlucks – can compete with jungle motif conference rooms and fancy in-house gyms when it comes to caring about employees and making it known that employee satisfaction is a key concern and source of pride.
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