The Best Company In The World To Work For

Fortune magazine released its annual list of “100 Best Companies To Work For” and there is a new king at the top of the list. North Carolina based software maker SAS tops the list this year with some impressive stats as well as some very unusual perks that no doubt make employee satisfaction a key component of why the company has made this list for the past 13 years and is now number 1. However, this begs the question what truly makes a company great to work for? We have all worked at good companies and bad companies at some point in our career. But only a few have worked at truly Great companies. What makes a company a great place to work?

To answer this question lets first take a look at some of the organizations that have made the Fortune List this year and their highlights. Number 1 SAS boasts a laundry list of benefits - high-quality child care at $410 a month, 90% coverage of the health insurance premium, unlimited sick days, a medical center staffed by four physicians and 10 nurse practitioners (at no cost to employees), a free 66,000-square-foot fitness center and natatorium, a lending library, and a summer camp for children. From the outside looking in one may wonder why SAS would spend this kind of money on perks for its 11,000 global employees? Co-Founder and CEO Dr. Jim Goodnight says its all about the culture, a culture of “trust between our employees and the company”. Goodnight is the only CEO the company has had in its 34-year history, and his point about culture is key to why SAS, and other companies, are such great places for employees. Turnover is the software industry’s lowest at 2%. And in case you number crunchers are wondering, SAS is highly profitable and ranks as the world’s largest privately owned software company, so the cost of these perks is a key contributor to their financial results.

Many companies struggle to understand the importance of company culture. You can’t have a culture if you don’t have values, and I don’t mean just a list of values that get e-mailed by HR so you have at tick in the box. Big companies have learnt over time that what makes their organizations a success is the underlying culture that the management and its leaders portray each and every day, in every interaction, every minute. But its not just big companies that get this, some small and medium sized organizations are renowned for their company culture and the environment they host for people.

In the late 90s I was fortunate enough to join a small Pittsburgh-based start-up company in their new European offices. When a recruiter called me to see if I was interested to interview there, I went into it thinking “I’m not interested in this little company, I have no clue what they do, but I need to get some interviews under my belt if I want to find something new.” It was a naïve way to think but then again I wasn’t even 27. I had 5 interviews one after another, and I was blown away. Let me stress I had NO CLUE what these guys did, something called reverse auctions online that helped companies buy things. I was a business consultant and had nothing to do with supply chain. But these people blew me away. They loved their company, they loved what they did, they were all on a mission to change the world, and they were all scary smart. By the end of interview five I would have quit my job and gone to work for them regardless of the terms they offered. That’s how energizing they were.

One element that made FreeMarkets a special place was its culture of “Jobs Without Ceilings.” This company had been around for 4 years at that time and had been through a lot of ups and downs. Employees were very loyal and hung in there with the entrepreneur owners because of the strong employee-focused corporate culture. Recently I spoke to one of the founders of the company and we discussed the powerful ‘DNA’ they put in place. He highlighted that early on, they decided the company would offer what they called “jobs without ceilings,” They wanted to build a business that would keep on growing and creating opportunities for everyone. The focus, in other words, has always been on the employee. They didn’t just come to work to make investors wealthier, although they certainly deserved, and received, an incredible return on their investments (FreeMarkets broke Nasdaq records at their 1999 IPO). FreeMarkets always focused on providing opportunities for employees to grow and excel, and this dedication to people excellence was key in steering a successful IPO and eventual sale of the company. And the employees benefited significantly from this experience, many have gone on to do great things themselves.

The key to successful companies is not just in perks and benefits, important as that may be, but always comes back to three things – a great product or service, visionary leadership and a culture of people. When companies understand what matters to their people and respect this need, an incredible culture of performance is born. Remember, people want to be significant, they want to know that they matter, they want to grow and they want the opportunity to make a contribution. These are 3 basic needs (the need to be significant, the need to grow and the need to contribute) that companies, big and small, must understand in order to get the most of their workforce.

The other key element to this culture of people is the feeling of support. People that feel there is support from their company feel more enabled and assured to press ahead with challenges. This is about catering to man’s need for certainty. One key common trait amongst the top performing companies that employees consider best place to work is accessibility to senior management. The proverbial ‘open door policy’ is a very real thing at these companies, and people are encouraged to use it. It helps people know that their management and leaders are there for them. Thy got your back. Employees that are confident their company is there for them perform at higher levels.

As you read through some of the companies on Fortune’s 100 list, you will get a sense for the culture of these places and why employees are drawn to them. The sense of purpose and security that the culture drives is key, and in return employees perform at the highest of their abilities. The other day I was speaking to an old colleague and friend of mine, Griffin.  His company is privately owned, and fairly small, but Griffin kept talking about how great the culture is and how you feel supported and empowered in what you do. Then he mentioned a key benefit the company offers all employees – a 2-for-1 401k match. This is pretty unheard of and makes very little financial sense to administer, but what struck me was the message this benefit/policy drives in the company. It says we stand by our people, we support you, and we want you to save money for your future because we care about you and your family. This is a powerful thing and when taken with perspective the benefits of the program for the company far outweigh the cost.

Put your people first and you will see results. This next decade in business is going to focus on how companies leverage their people through the right culture, which includes benefits, rewards and opportunities. Do you work at a great company? Have you worked at a bad company? Tell me a little about your experiences and lets learn from each other.