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'Secrets' of Georgia's top companies
Acclaimed employers cite focus on people
Want to know what makes a company a great place to work? It's not the product, the stock price, ritzy offices, the latest technology or even a successful marketing effort.
Does an annoying yet somehow lovable duck with a one-word vocabulary ring a bell?
But it wasn't the duck that put Columbus-based Aflac insurance company on both Fortune magazine's Best Companies to Work For and America's Most Admired Companies lists this year. It was the way the company values people.
"Our founders, John, Paul and Bill Amos, had a belief that if you just take care of the people, the people will take care of the business. It's the fundamental guiding principle for the company today," said Sharon Douglas, vice president and chief people officer in the human resources department at Aflac.
Scratch below the surface of the top workplaces and you'll find companies that "get it" that people are the most valuable resource, noted Patrick Flood, chairman and CEO of HomeBanc Mortgage, which has been moving up the list for the last three years.
"People think Microsoft is an IT company, but if you talk to their key people they say they're an intellectual capital company. Synovus describes itself as being in the people business," he said. "Our mission is to enrich and fulfill the lives of our employees, customers, shareholders and the community. We love our people. We love to engage them and bring them to their best."
Linda Matzigkeit, senior vice president of human resources at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta - the first pediatric hospital to make the list - described the organization's culture as one of trust, pride, camaraderie and teamwork.
"We all have a common purpose here," she said. "Our motto is that 'we take care of our people, so they can take care of kids,'" she said.
Although United Parcel Service is a much larger company with a different mission, senior vice president of human resources and public affairs Allen Hill similarly describes the corporate culture as "collegial."
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"There's a sense of partnership here - that everyone has skin in the game, and we trust each other to live up to his word," he said.
While it's one thing to say that people are a first priority, what counts is how companies act on those words. Each of these Georgia companies has found innovative ways to invest in, develop and reward its people.
"Our employees say we're a great place to work because we walk the talk. This is a very nurturing environment," Matzigkeit said. "We do a lot of focus groups and surveys.
We really listen so that the policy changes and programs we put into place are based on employee needs, not just flavor-of-the-month trends."
The three-hospital system gathers new hires together after 90 days for a "new employee reunion" with the executive team to ask how they're doing. "We get a lot of great feedback from those sessions," Matzigkeit said.
Twice a year, hospital administrators hold town hall meetings with staff, and they work a clinical shift. "We change beds, mop floors, do whatever needs to be done. It's a wonderful way to connect with the clinical staff and see their challenges," she said.
To help employees achieve work/life balance and to promote wellness in a fun way, Children's launched Club M.E.D. (motivate, explore and discover) last year, with an array of exercise, hobby and nutrition classes. Participants lost weight, worked out, made friends and had fun. One employee won a trip to a real Club Med location.
Children's invests almost 4 percent of its payroll annually in learning. Knowing that nurses can't leave the bedside, the company takes the education to them on "teach carts."
Because the system is projected to grow by 5,600 to 8,000 employees by 2010, it needs strong leadership. Children's is addressing this need by developing its own leaders and promoting from within through its Center for Leadership, a new model for the health care industry.
"I get to do innovative HR and work in a place that makes a difference. I can't think of a better place to work," Matzigkeit said.
Ken Janke, senior vice president of investor relations, feels just as strongly about Aflac."This company has a sound business model that has generated tremendous growth and benefited a lot of people. That's why I've stayed for 21 years," he said.
Aflac was named Georgia's Company of the Year by Business to Business Magazine (2005) and was one of Fortune magazine's Top 50 Employers for Women and Top 50 Companies for Minorities (2006).
"All the awards are interrelated and stem from the philosophy of doing the right thing for everyone," Janke said. "If you're doing that, people recognize it."
Employee Eric Holt became the first person in his family to own a home, thanks to knowledge he gained from a company lunch-and-learn class. Brenda Mullins earned a college degree with a company-funded Paul S. Amos Scholarship; she now is second vice president of diversity and employee services. Aflac has the largest on-site child care center in the state (580 children) and sponsors after-school dance and language classes.
"We encourage our employees to keep learning, and we hang our hat on treating people the way we want to be treated," Douglas said. "We ask, we survey and then we implement change."
Call centers have unusually high turnover rates, but, by holding employee/management focus groups and making changes, Aflac decreased turnover in its call center by 40 percent between 2001 and 2002. During Employee Appreciation Week in May, the company pays for workers to take their families to Stone Mountain Park or Six Flags.
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The week ends with a half-day off and a "big team event" at the Columbus Civic Center.
Good communication with employees, customers and investors is what maintains a small-company atmosphere despite tremendous growth, Janke said. "When there's a gap between expectations and what actually gets done, company leaders take responsibility.
The culture here promotes addressing issues up front and telling the truth."
"Honesty, or living up to what you say you'll do," is one of the three pillars of United Parcel Service's success, Hill said. The other two are a history of employee ownership and promotion from within.
Like many top managers, Hill came up through the ranks, starting as a part-time package loader in college and eventually getting his law degree. The Tuition Reimbursement Program allows employees to "earn and learn" their way into various careers. Many choose to stay with UPS because of the opportunities.
It's satisfying to work for a company that "plans not for the next quarter, but the next quarter-century, with goals and achievements made in economic development, social responsibility and environmental stewardship," Hill said.
"Brown" has a "green" fleet of 50 hybrid electric vehicles and others that run on alternative fuels, and the company is known for its community service. Encouraged to volunteer and give back, UPS employees last year gave $47.4 million to United Way.
"As a service organization, our two greatest assets are our people and our reputation," Hill said. "People take pride in working here."
Forty years ago, UPS developed the Community Internship Program as a response to changes in American society. It takes potential managers out of their comfort zones for a month. They travel to rural or urban communities afflicted with poverty, drugs or crime and immerse themselves in community projects.
"Being an effective manager is all about relating to people, and having had the experience of walking in someone else's shoes makes them better leaders," Hill said.
PATRICK FLOOD
HomeBanc Mortgage
Looking for a chief people officer four years ago, Flood of HomeBanc Mortgage was surprised to find how many HR managers didn't report directly to the CEO, although financial, IT and production managers did.
"The most important thing we do in business is selecting people. Companies who can attract, hire, train, develop and encourage their people will be the future winners," he said. He believes that companies that are "built to last through the generations" have a well-defined culture and hire based on it.
Flood describes HomeBanc as a faith-based company with strong values, where people are encouraged to serve their customers and one another.
"We have a corporate chaplain in each region, because people come to work and bring a lot of other aspects of their lives with them," he said. "Our chaplains ... [have] visited hospitals, performed weddings and funerals, and provided all kinds of counseling.
They touch people's lives."
HomeBanc employees get seven corporate holidays in addition to normal business holidays and vacations.
"We add a day on Mother's Day weekend or the Fourth of July to give employees more time with their families. It sends the message that people really are our No. 1 priority," Flood said. So does the Associate Emergency Fund, which helps employees in times of crisis and forms connections in a company that is geographically dispersed.
Employee surveys, a monthly video to cover company news and business goals, CEO roundtables and ongoing job and leadership training support open communications.
"When you act on the feedback you get, people are more comfortable giving it," Flood said.
The difference between successful and unsuccessful companies has to do with trust, Flood believes. "Do employees trust that the leadership cares about them? If you build on a platform of trust, you can do a lot of things. If you don't, you're going to waste a lot of energy in strife.
"One of my business heroes is Jimmy Blanchard, [chairman of the board] of Synovus, who took the time to advise us on creating good workplaces. The secret, he said, is to put the love, care and consideration of people above everything else."
