Today, I’m going to take a moment to shamelessly talk about how proud I am of my own organization and our workplace culture.
Since founding Perspectives in 1981, we have been fortunate to consistently attract and retain an amazing team of talented professionals to support our organization. We’ve been able to do that because we do for ourselves what we do for our customers: provide the resources, leadership and counsel necessary to create an exemplary workplace.
This morning, the When Work Works project (an ongoing initiative of Families and Work Institute, the Institute for a Competitive Workforce and the Twiga Foundation) validated our efforts by awarding Perspectives the 2009 Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility.
This is exceptionally exciting to us because it’s the third year in a row that Perspectives has been awarded the honor.
As many HR and C-suite executives know, the Sloan Awards honor organizations nationwide that use workplace flexibility as a strategy to increase workplace effectiveness and yield positive business results. As a winner, Perspectives ranks in the top 20% – the 80th percentile – of employers nationally in terms of flexible work programs, policies and culture.
One reason we have been so successful is that we wholeheartedly believe our employees are our most important asset – it’s a belief that is central to everything we do. We believe that employees are our No. 1 customer, and that if we treat them right they’ll treat our customers the same way. We continuously work to do that well.
We also believe that transparency and openness, and a team and collegial environment where people are given permission to speak their minds and are encouraged to do so, are key to creating a positive workplace.
There are other factors too, like training, support for issues that impact life (like adoption, elder care and other stress points,) and access to wellness programs – which we deliver onsite in our building. It’s an overall strategy that has served us well.
Our efforts have been recognized repeatedly over the past few years by a slew of honors that have been awarded to us, including the Sloan awards and the 2009 Best Places to Work in Illinois Award by the Best Companies Group. That means a lot to us. Not just because it’s a nod to what we do, but because it encourages us to keep finding new ways to make workplaces work.
Tags: Alfred P. Sloan, Award, Best Companies Group, Best Places to Work, business, business excellence, employees, Families and Work Institute, Institute for a Competitive Workforce, training, Twiga Foundation, Wellness, When Work Works, workplace, workplace culture, workplace flexibility, workplace policies
Leave a Reply