“The ‘Best’ Get Even Better During Tough Times”

By Denise Gredler, BestCompaniesAz, Don Henninger, The Phoenix Business Journal, and Greg Harris, Quantum Workplace

For over 7 years, the employee-survey based “Best Places to Work in the Valley” program, as published by The Phoenix Business Journal and BestCompaniesAZ, has been shining the spotlight on outstanding employers across the state. Whether you’re considering participating again or for the first time, you may be questioning the appropriateness of doing so given the current state of the economy.  After all, is it appropriate to seek “Best Places to Work” recognition when the economy is in a downturn and unemployment figures are on the rise?

There’s no doubt that hard economic times foster fear and uncertainty across all employment levels. You probably find yourself on a daily basis needing to make forward-thinking decisions while facing the harsh reality of keeping your business viable in the here and now. But in reality, this may be the best time of all to engage your employees and celebrate your company’s best practices. To help alleviate your concerns, we’d like to offer the following perspective:

If a company truly is one of the “Best Places to Work,” then difficult times will bring out even more resolve to think and act in accordance with your best practices.

Being a “Best Places to Work” involves knowing what your employees are thinking today.
Greg Harris, President of Quantum Workplace says employee engagement is mission critical in all economic situations. He adds:

“Managing engagement is fun when things are going well; it’s work when they’re not. But the strongest marriages are always those that have weathered a few storms. You need to know what your employees think right now. By not asking, you’re sending a message that your commitment to them is conditional. Find out what they are unsure about in this year’s survey—and create clarity for them.”

This year’s “Best Places to Work” program offers you four distinct opportunities to expand and capitalize on your best practices:

#1 –Develop Leaders, Managers and Supervisors

Building trust and strong relationships between managers and employees is a central theme found in best places to work companies. There is no better way to send a message to your workforce that even in tough times, their opinions and feedback are important. It also gives you the ability to evaluate how your leaders are handling challenging issues like downsizing, layoffs and reorganizations.  This is an ideal opportunity to seek feedback from employees so that you can develop your leadership and management teams to sustain today and excel tomorrow. 

At Infusionsoft we work to minimize the divide that is commonly found between employees and “management” regardless of the state of the economy.  We preach Jim Collins’ Stockdale Paradox to our leaders, encouraging them to “confront the brutal facts of the current reality” while continuously believing that in the end we will prevail.  Getting feedback from employees can be “brutal”, but it is incredibly valuable information.  If you are afraid to listen to your employees, you might want to have a chat with the person in the mirror and ask, ”What are you hiding from?”   Brett Gilliland, ‘Director, Built to Last’ at Infusionsoft, 4X winner of Best Places. 

#2 –Strengthen Corporate Culture and Values

As an organization fluctuates during times of change, so do its culture and environmental surroundings. Relationships between workers and leaders will reflect the level of alignment with the company’s stated vision, mission and values. Surveys can help to define and establish benchmarks revealing the true culture and brand of the organization. Results and findings may even help to define training opportunities for building team relationships and enhancing productivity. 

Lee Vikre, Vice President of Tremendous People at McMurry believes in this proposition. “The need to create a ‘best place’ culture is even more important in uncertain times,” Vikre says . “When the economy was good, we incented our staff to be innovative, and we continue to do so with an increase in awards from last year.  Our staff is deeply invested in finding efficiencies and cost savings, as well as new products, services and processes that can help us weather the tough times and still thrive.”  (McMurry was inaugural #1 small-sized winner in 2003 Best Places, and can be found on several national “best companies to work for” lists.)

#3 –Enhance Communications and Keep Employees Engaged

We encourage you to use this year’s survey process as a way to further strengthen communications within the company and engage employees in developing the solutions needed to weather this economic storm. By providing employees with open information about the state of your company and industry, and by communicating frequently and honestly, you will help your employees cope with the uncertainty they may be feeling about their future.  Even if you’re not in a position to address some of their issues today, you are providing them a voice to express their concerns and ideas.

“Keeping employees engaged simply means staying connected to your employees in ways that allow them to bring out their best, which ultimately benefits the organization, as well as the employee.  A good place to start is by figuring out what employees want”, says Bob Skoff, VP-HR for Henkel, a Fortune Global Most Admired Company and recent winner of the Workplace Diversity Award, and inaugural Best Place to Work award recipient..

#4 –Gain a Competitive Advantage and Keep Your Brand Alive  

The marketing and branding of your company is not a start and stop process. Granted, tough times create tighter budgets, but that’s when successful companies find unique opportunities to keep the momentum going – like being recognized as one of the community’s “Best Places to Work.”  Use this time to think and plan strategically.  The best companies will weather the storm and continue to promote their employment, company and product brands –keeping them top of mind and ahead of the competition. When the economy turns around, you’ll be well positioned to attract the best and brightest customers and employees.

While St. Joseph’s is in a position where they are receiving an overwhelming response from candidates and are not actively engaging in any outside resources for recruitment assistance at this time, they are still moving their brand forward by leveraging technology, using alternative job boards and implementing non-traditional recruitment initiatives ie:  www.bestcompaniessaz.com, Twitter.com and Linkedin.  At the same time, they are proactively sourcing passive candidates via the world wide web as well as generating strong pipelines of qualified candidates.  De Anne Russell, St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, 6X Best Place to Work Winner.

So, if you agree that now really is the time to engage and communicate candidly  with your employees, here are some quick tips for participating in the free “Best Places to Work” survey:

• Discuss with employees why you are participating - Start with a strong
  communications plan focused on the benefits of participating this year.

• Communicate the process – From the survey launch to the sharing of results - good
  news or bad–keep employees appraised every step of the way.

• Provide employees with feedback when the results come in - Even if you can’t
  address all of their concerns, you can highlight the top scores and the areas that require attention.

• Analyze the results and create an action plan for improvement – The program
  provides cost-effective opportunities through Quantum and BestCompaniesAZ to compare
  and benchmark data. This information can serve as the foundation for action plans moving forward. 

• Celebrate your success – Whether you rank or not, you will capture essential information that warrants celebrating! Just by taking the survey, you are making a statement to your employees that you care and that their feedback is important.

So, we invite you this year to be open to a wealth of exciting new possibilities. By participating in the “Best Places to Work” program and establishing effective organizational communication strategies during these highly unusual times, you will have the chance to discover vital tools and information that will move your company toward best status and make your employees feel even more valued in the process.

Denise Gredler is Founder and President of BestCompaniesAZ, LLC, a local firm that provides a unique mix of branding, marketing and human resource programs to Arizona-based Companies.  You can reach Denise at dgredler@bestcompaniesaz.com or 480-545-5151. 
Greg Harris is President of Quantum Workplace, the American City Business Journals Research Partner for Best Place to Work Programs across the U.S.