Mary Lorenz
Blog entries by Mary Lorenz 
More Lessons from the Best Companies to Work for in America
July 2, 2009
In this earlier post from Stephanie Gaspary, she discusses the attributes that make up the companies the Great Place to Work® Institute recently named the 50 Best Small and Medium Companies to Work For in America. All of these companies, the Institute’s researchers found, have eight specific things they do to create meaningful experiences for their employees, which I’ve listed below, along with concrete examples from some of those medium-sized companies that earned this honor:
- Motivate - Ultimate Software (ranked #1) CEO Scott Scherr motivates the team with frequent company and department get-togethers, where he highlights various team successes. He’s also known for using sports imagery to communicate his belief that a unified team is a powerful one: All of his employees have a copy of former NBA coach Pat Riley’s book Winner Within: A Life Plan for Team Players, and former MLB pitcher Leiter is an official company spokesperson, often attending employee meetings to share his techniques for handling high-pressure situations.
- Empower - Rothstein Kass’ (#23) Alumni Program is evidence of its dedication to providing support to employees even after they’ve left the company. Employees have instant access to resources meant to facilitate their career development both during and after their experience at the company. The company’s specially created career-building opportunities for employees and our alumni include networking events, social activities, career guidance, technical training and access to firm publications and other resources.
- Listen – At Robins & Morton (#17), all employees have a say in their day-to-day and long-term goals and responsibilities. Each employee works with his or her manager to develop a set of jointly agreed upon Performance Standards, reflecting the job responsibilities of their specific assignment, to be reviewed at the end of a given evaluation period.
- Thank - Advanced Financial Services (#19) shows its employees appreciation during a special breakfast ceremony twice a year, where the company honors those employees celebrating 10-, 15- and 20-year milestones with customized gifts, which in the past have included: a kayak, a high-powered laptop, a flat screen television, and a fantasy day at Fenway Park, a trip to Paradise Island in the Bahamas, and a John Deere lawn tractor.
- Develop – Hoar Construction, LLC (#8) proved its commitment to its employees’ professional and personal development when it established Hoar University, where instructors are experienced experts from outside the company, and each employee follows a custom job-related curriculum to develop their skills and work smarter. Employees also build personal skills through electives such as stress management, time management, negotiation, public speaking and presentation skills.
- Care – Meanwhile, Hilcorp Energy Company (#15) encourages a culture of giving by supporting our employees’ charitable efforts by initially funding their giving with $2,500, allowing them the freedom to direct their donations to the organizations they choose, and increasing their giving power by providing on-going matching gifts up to $1,000 per year. We’ve designed this program to promote each individual employee’s ideals.
- Celebrate - At Triage Consulting Group (#11), no personal milestone goes unrecognized. That includes baby showers, engagement parties, home purchases, anniversaries and athletic feats in addition to birthdays, all of which are recorded in company newsletters. Personal and professional accomplishments are also recognized every year through song and video at the annual company meeting, State of Triage.
- Share –ACUITY (#2) puts an emphasis on internal communication. Parts of the its “all-out effort to keep every employee informed and up to date,” (as stated in its online brochure) effort include publishing an employee newsletter, an Open Door policy, town hall meetings, lunches with executives and an employee self-service Web site.
- Categories: Building a Best Place to Work, Employee Engagement
NEW Video: CareerBuilder Talks Facebook, Twitter Solutions at SHRM 2009
June 30, 2009
Hey, SHRM-goers (and SHRM-not-this-year-but-maybe-nexters)! CareerBuilder just posted yet another video from the expo floor at SHRM 2009 to our virtual site. Here, you can get a glimpse into how we’re discussing our Facebook partnership and Twitter involvement – and how we’re helping others utilize these tools as employee recruitment, attraction and engagement solutions.
- Categories: Events
NEW Video Post: Top Chefs Entertain at CareerBuilder’s SHRM 2009 Booth
June 29, 2009
Check out what CareerBuilder’s special guests, Brian Malarkey, Casey Thompson and Richard Blais from Bravo’s “Top Chef”, were cooking up at our booth Sunday during SHRM 2009. (Get it? “Cooking up“? Get it? Okay, but seriously, they were actually cooking) And don’t forget to check back here later to get the recipes.
- Categories: Events
Not Hiring? Not an Excuse: Why and How Employers Need to Think About Recruiting Today
June 25, 2009
With the latest reports showing slower declines in areas such as employment, production and inventory, all factors indicate that the economy is stabilizing, and that recovery may soon be within reach. CareerBuilder recently spoke with Herb Shields, President of HCS Consulting, to discuss trends in the manufacturing industry. What we realized, however, was that the insights Shields shared on manufacturing industry hiring trends actually apply across all industries. The following excerpt, adapted from a recent article in CareerBuilder’s ManufacturingJobs Magazine, reveals what every employer should consider today in preparation for tomorrow.
Despite rising unemployment rates, job loss numbers were much lower than projected in May 2009, a sign of hope for many economists. “The free fall that the job market was in does finally appear to be tapering off,” economist Stuart G. Hoffman recently told The New York Times.
- Categories: Employee Attraction, Employer Advice
America’s Workers Got Talent: Uncovering Employees’ Untapped Potential
June 24, 2009
Last month, I mentioned the virtue of uncovering employees’ hidden talents, and now I have even more evidence to support the argument for doing so: This Business Insider piece about the ordinary jobs Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and the like held before becoming some of today’s most powerful CEO’s. It just goes to show that you never know where the next great business success story is lurking…like maybe in your very own office. (Whaaa?)
Chances are your employees also believe that they’re future chief executives just waiting to emerge…A recent study from Accenture reveals that American workers feel they have more to offer their employers than what their current jobs demand of them. If that’s true – if you’re not enabling your employees to meet their true potential – that means you’re missing out on opportunities to get better business results.
- Categories: Employee Engagement, Employee Retention
Need More “R” in Your ROI? Optimize Your Recruitment Strategy.
June 18, 2009
When you look at your recruiting strategy, are you getting the most out of your investment? Are you sure? Unless you’re comparing the number of applications you receive to others in your industry, you might not know the whole story. (Cue “The More You Know” music, fade lights over NBC primetime star, and cut to shooting star Flash image…)
Honestly, though, how do you know if your recruiting process is as effective as it could be if you’re not measuring it against anything? You might have a system in place to measure the effectiveness of your recruitment strategy – perhaps by looking at metrics like number of hires and applications – but if you’re not benchmarking your metrics against the industry, how do you know how you compare to competitors for talent?
- Categories: Employee Attraction, Employer Advice
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