2018 TOP WORKPLACES
D AV I D C A R S O N • D C A R S O N @ P O S T- D I S PAT C H . C O M
For profiles of all the companies featured in this section go to stltoday.com/business/workplaces
SUNDAY • 06.24.2018
How Top Workplaces are identified
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n the road to success, organizations need to know where they are. That’s the motivation behind the annual Top Workplaces survey, which gives employees the chance to rate their workplace.
“Becoming a Top Workplace isn’t something organizations can buy,” said Doug Claffey, CEO of Energage. “It’s an achievement organizations have to work for.” For the seventh year, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has partnered with Philadelphia-based Energage, formerly WorkplaceDynamics, the employee research and consulting firm, to determine the St. Louis area’s Top Workplaces based solely on employee survey feedback. Starting in January, the Post-Dispatch welcomed anyone to nominate companies as Top Workplaces. In all, 1,286 employers in the region were invited to take the employee survey. Any employer was eligible, as long as it had at least 50 employees in the greater St. Louis area. Employers could be public, private, nonprofit or governmental. There is no cost to enter the Top Workplaces program. In all, 209 organizations agreed to take the survey. Combined, they employ 78,753 people in the St. Louis area. Of those employees who received questionnaires, 44,536 responded, either on paper or online. For 2018, 150 St. Louis-area employers scored well enough to earn recognition on the Top Workplaces list. The employee survey gathers responses on 24 factors covering seven areas, including organizational health factors that measure how well employees are working together toward a common cause: • Alignment — where the company is headed and its values 4
WORKPLACE SATISFACTION The Post-Dispatch and Energage surveyed employees across the region about their job satisfaction. The importance values show how strongly each factor correlates with how employees in the St. Louis area rate their workplaces. The closer the number is to 100 percent, the more important the factor is to employees. This company operates by strong values
86.5% My manager makes it easier to do my job well
83% My manager cares about my concerns
82.9% My job makes me feel like I am part of something meaningful
82.5% I feel genuinely appreciated at this company
81.5% I have confidence in the leader of this company
81.3% This company motivates me to give my very best at work
80.5% I would highly recommend working at this company to others
79.4% New ideas are encouraged at this company
79.3% My manager helps me learn and grow
78.8% I have the flexibility I need to balance my work and personal life
78.7% I believe this company is going in the right direction
78.4% This company enables me to work at my full potential
76.2% This company encourages different points of view
74.8% This job has met or exceeded the expectations I had when I started
71.3% At this company, we do things efficiently and well
71.2% I get the formal training I want for my career
69.7% There is good inter-departmental cooperation at this company
69.2% Senior managers understand what is really happening at this company
67.7% I feel well-informed about important decisions at this company
66.8% My benefits package is good compared to others in this industry
63.7% Meetings at this company make good use of my time
62.7% I have not considered searching for a better job in the past month
61.3% My pay is fair for the work I do
TOP WORKPLACES • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • 06.24.18
59.4%
• Effectiveness — doing things well, sharing different viewpoints, encouraging new ideas • Connection — employees feel appreciated, their work is meaningful • My Manager — cares about concerns, helps employees learn and grow In addition, the survey asks employees about other factors: • Employee Engagement — motivation, retention and referral • Leader — confidence in company leadership • The Basics — pay, benefits, flexibility, training, expectations Statements relating to “Connection” and “Alignment” are consistently judged most important to employees, while statements about pay and benefits rate least important for workplace satisfaction. Smaller employers tend to score higher than midsized employers, and midsized employers tend to score higher than large employers. Employers are ranked among groups of similar size to most accurately compare results. Within those size groupings, companies are ranked, and those that score high enough are recognized as Top Workplaces. Energage also determines special award winners based on standout scores on specific areas of the survey. Why aren’t some companies on the list? Perhaps they chose not to participate or did not score high enough based on the survey results. To ensure organizations are accurately administering the survey, Energage runs statistical tests to look for questionable results. Sometimes, it disqualifies employers based on those tests. To learn more, go to stltoday.com/ business/workplaces, where there is more information about the employers on the list. To participate in the 2019 program or to nominate an employer, go to stltoday.com/nominate. stltoday.com
Is your workplace culture where it needs to be? Companies that make employee engagement a priority set themselves apart BY DOUG CLAFFEY Special to the Post-Dispatch
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op Workplaces outperform average organizations on many levels, but one key distinction stands out: Leaders of Top Workplaces see the competitive advantage of creating a workplace culture where employees are highly engaged. And they make culture a strategic priority, day in and day out.
Doug Claffey, CEO of Energage
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Every organization has a culture. Some are intentional, some accidental. Companies that claim culture is a priority but don’t back it up are just fooling themselves. Failing to focus on culture is how leaders lose their jobs and how companies cease to exist. In fact, culture is the only remaining sustainable competitive advantage. Great business strategies can be copied, but culture cannot. When an organization’s culture fails, it’s only a matter of time before it becomes public and costly. Nationwide, less than a third of employees are truly engaged at work. But it’s a different story at Top Workplaces. Of the 47,000 organizations Energage has surveyed in more than a decade, Top Workplaces achieve almost double the engagement rate. Companies that score in the top 10 percent on our surveys see engagement levels above 85 percent. Of the 209 companies surveyed in the St. Louis area this year for the Top Workplaces program, 42 had engagement rates of 75 percent or higher. Recognition and bragging rights aside, employee engagement translates into stronger retention, higher productivity and better performance. Employee engagement is the outcome of a healthy workplace culture. In today’s business environment, culture distinguishes the world’s
TOP WORKPLACES • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • 06.24.18
most valuable companies. It’s where value is created or destroyed. Leaders at Top Workplaces are intentional about defining and forging a unique culture that directly supports specific business goals. Not that all cultures are the same — even among Top Workplaces, some thrive on high energy and fun, while others benefit from quiet intensity. So ask yourself: What defines your workplace culture? How do you know? Are you happy with it? Is it helping or hindering your business objectives? Whenever I ask leaders these questions, the answers spur terrific discussions. The challenge is understanding how to measure culture and how to change it. The most tangible measure of culture is employee engagement. Great workplace cultures flourish when a team of talented people share an organization’s values and embrace its objectives. We look at these key factors in engagement: • As an employee, do you feel you are giving your best? • Do you want to stay? • Would you recommend the organization to others? Strong cultures become self-sustaining: they attract like-minded people who will thrive in that environment. That’s why Top Workplaces can be picky about who they bring onboard, whereas other organizations have to pay more money to keep people. Creating a great workplace culture requires raising the level of trust and connection among employees so they commit their best every day. Top Workplaces do this, and they do it consistently well. So when leaders at aspiring organizations ask me how they, too, can capture this advantage, my answer is this: Get intentional about workplace culture. Doug Claffey is the CEO of Energage, a Philadelphia-based research and consulting firm that surveyed more than 2.5 million employees at more than 6,000 organizations in 2017. Energage is the research partner for Top Workplaces.
stltoday.com
Balancing structure and freedom Effective leaders keep teams on track but loosen the reins to let innovation flow BY JACOB BARKER St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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ith unlimited vacation, sick time and the option to work from home every Friday, Jeff Winters has given his employees at Sapper Consulting more freedom than most bosses. It’s a strategy that has worked for Overland-based Sapper, which develops targeted marketing services to help clients grow their sales leads. The company has grown to 75 workers since its founding in 2013, and there has been virtually no employee turnover, Winters said. Sapper is among the 150 organizations recognized as a 2018 St. Louis Post-Dispatch Top Workplace. Sapper emphasizes practice — as in employee experience — over training, he said, and the company gives their teams the autonomy to make a decision without running it up the flagpole every time. “If you need a whole lot of structure, than this probably isn’t a great place for you,” Winters said. “If you have a decision that you need to make and you can’t get a hold of your boss… if you make a decision that has the client’s back, you’re making the right decision.” The mid-century foreman mentality that emphasized rigid worker oversight because employees couldn’t be trusted has changed, said Jim Breaugh, a professor of management at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. “It began with a time clock,” Breaugh said. “You have to punch in to make sure you’re here on time.” Now, with the internet enabling remote collaboration, workers are in10
CHRISTIAN GOODEN • cgooden@post-dispatch.com
Several employees at Sapper Consulting gather in the TV room on to watch the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May. Sapper has unlimited vacation and sick time, and workers can work from home every Friday. There are no desks or offices.
“It’s better to monitor carefully at the start and then ease up when the person earns your trust.”
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— Stuart Bunderson, a professor of organizational ethics and governance at Washington University’s Olin Business School.
creasingly attracted to the ability to work from home. And creative problemsolving is increasingly important in the high-tech economy. But what’s the balance bosses should strike between giving workers autonomy and laying out a specific list of tasks and roles? It’s a becoming more of a “contemporary question” in the new economy, said Stuart Bunderson, a professor of organizational ethics and govstltoday.com
ernance at Washington University’s Olin Business School. In the knowledge economy, employees are increasingly experts with the ability to perform tasks that a boss can no longer micromanage. “It’s just not possible to manage that process in a way that we might have managed it in the past,” Bunderson said. Knowledge work and creative work is increasingly team-based, too, said An-
drew Knight, an associate professor of organizational behavior at Washington University. Keeping those teams rowing in the same direction and reducing conflict takes a good leader. Especially in groups made up of people with different worldviews and work ethics, the best leader is one who does provide clear direction, Knight said. “Task-focused (leadership) style is superior when you are in a situation
with people who have highly diverse values,” he said. However, too much structure can stifle creativity, because employees aren’t able to nurture their own interests and unique strengths. If there’s less conflict, that could put a damper on new ideas, Knight said. Especially in startup companies, bosses need to be flexible and use both task-focused and peoplefocused leadership, which validates em-
ployees’ individual preferences. “The most effective ventures are led by entrepreneurs who do both,” Knight said. Bunderson lists three roles a group leader fills: They set the bounds of work through deadlines, budgets and other constraints. They choose which idea or approach to pursue from those generated by group brainstorming. And they’ll structure the process by which
CHRISTIAN GOODEN • cgooden@post-dispatch.com
Anne Crews (left), Rebecca Skinner and Jessica Chiodini, employees at Sapper Consulting, work at a communal table last month. Sapper, in Overland, develops targeted marketing services to help clients grow their sales leads. The company has grown to 75 workers since its founding in 2013. stltoday.com
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the team operates and interacts. “People often say that creativity loves constraints,” he said. “What you want is leadership that can set the boundaries within which innovation can occur and then you let them go.” Managers can determine which members of the team deserve more freedom based on that worker’s experience, how much they trust the person and how costly it is to fix their mistakes,Breaugh said. “It’s better to monitor carefully at the start and then ease up when the person earns your trust,” he said. Breaugh consulted for a company in town that had a policy of requiring new hires to work from the office for the first
Ryan Myers, of Sapper Consulting, makes a cup of coffee with the pour-over method at the company last month. Workers can make French press and regular drip style as well.
six months. If they received good performance reviews after that time, they were allowed to work from home. Now, with unemployment hovering at 3 percent, that perk is of growing importance. “It’s a lot easier to attract, particularly highly sought-after people, if they have some ability to work from home,” Breaugh said.
PHOTOS BY CHRISTIAN GOODEN • cgooden@post-dispatch.com
Employees at Sapper Consulting work in the main room at the Overland business firm. 12
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stltoday.com
TOP LARGE EMPLOYER
‘Dynamic culture’ stands out Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Select Properties celebrates employees and their contributions BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY HOMESERVICES SELECT PROPERTIES Address • 1650 Des Peres Road, Suite 205, unincorporated St. Louis County Phone • 314-835-6000 Website • bhhsselectstl.com Founded • 2002 Description • Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Select Properties provides real estate brokerage services. Based in the St. Louis area, the company has 10 locations and more than 600 employees. What employees say • “We have an amazing culture of support for each other’s goals, and it’s always fun to be in the office.” “This job provides me the opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of my co-workers and the community as a whole. The culture at BHHS Select Properties has a real family feel, where people care about the health and success of others.” “The flexibility is very important to me, the office atmosphere is very positive, and I love my clients!” “This is one of the few adventures I have taken in life where work does not feel like work. I truly do look forward to heading into the office every day.” PHOTOS BY CHRISTIAN GOODEN • cgooden@post-dispatch.com
Maryann Vitale Alles (left), president and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Select Properties, meets with Michael Gillani (right), of Boardwalk Lending LLC this month at the realty company’s headquarters near Des Peres. With Alles is CFO Jill Fisher (foreground left), and Joe Radetic, the president of Select Title Group.
BY BRIAN FELDT St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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aryann Vitale Alles starts her day the same way each morning. She calls all Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Select Properties employees with birthdays that day to personally wish them a good day. 18
Alles has been making the calls to the nearly 600 Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Select Properties employees since she became president and CEO of the company in 2013. That’s roughly 3,000 phone calls in the last five years. “I make the calls every morning, even if I’m out of town or on weekends,” she said. “It’s just a habit now. It takes me all of a few minutes, but it’s been really fun to be one of the first calls they get in the morning. Most of them know it’s me by now. I thought about calling each employee on
TOP WORKPLACES • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • 06.24.18
their work anniversary, but that would have doubled it to 1,200 calls a year.” That extra personal touch is what many employees point to when talking about Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Select Properties, which has its headquarters in Town and Country, as a great workplace. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Select Properties is the winner in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Top Workplaces large company category. Alles said the company also goes out of its way to celebrate weddings, anni-
“Management seems to really care about our success not only in the real estate business but in life in general.”
versaries, births of children and other special moments from employees’ lives. “People throw culture around a lot these days, but it really does start with our culture here,” Alles said. “We really try to make it so that everybody feels like they’re a part of it.” Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Select Properties was founded by Alles in 2002 as Prudential Select Properties. In 2013, when Alles took over as president and CEO, the agency converted to the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices stltoday.com
TOP LARGE EMPLOYER
Nate Carr, (left), COO at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Select Properties, talks with Brett Murray, (center), a marketing specialist, at the office this month, as marketing strategist Denise Rivers works nearby.
brand and has since grown to nine offices across the St. Louis area. Patrick Bost, director of office advancement for the company, said a competitive benefits package, positive work environment and flexible schedule are reasons he likes working at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Select Properties. “It’s basically 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., but if something comes up or you need to get something done, it’s never a problem,” he said. “It’s things like that that you don’t typically get in the corporate world. The culture is dynamic, and they really embrace diversity and are supportive of it.” Bost said employees “regularly hold barbecues or potlucks to bring employees together,” which can be a challenge in a decentralized workplace. And the company brings in catering on a regular basis and has even hosted wine-tasting events. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Select Properties is also active in the community. The agency has consistently ranked among the top contributors nationwide to the Sunshine Kids Foundation, a Houston-based nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting children with cancer through group activities. “We’ve donated over the course of our company history over $1 million,” Alles said. “That’s a big deal for us, because there are lots of other companies in that network that are bigger than us. We’re a giving company.” Raising money for the Sunshine Kids, Bost said, is stltoday.com
The break room at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Select Properties near Des Peres is decorated with slogans from a recent visit by a motivational speaker. Workers regularly hold barbecues or potlucks to bring employees together.
TOP LARGE EMPLOYERS 500 or more employees Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Company Founded Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Select Properties 2002 Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 1914 Edward Jones 1922 Drury Hotels Co. LLC 1973 National Information Solutions Cooperative 1964 Daugherty Business Solutions 1985 First Community Credit Union 1934 Monsanto Co. 1901 St. Louis County Library 1947 Pattonville School District 1930 SSM Health Rehabilitation Network 1996 Maritz Holdings Inc. 1894 Keeley Cos. 1976 Commerce Bank 1865 Missouri Baptist University 1964 Pinnacle St. Louis: River City Casino and Ameristar St. Charles 2007 Aldi 1976 Cushman & Wakefield 1917 Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner 1873 White Castle System Inc. 1921 Parkway School District 1954 Graybar Electric Co. Inc. 1869 Wentzville R-IV School District 1953 BJC HealthCare 1993 Francis Howell School District 1881
another way Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Select Properties connects its employees scattered throughout the region. “We’re always trying and coming up with new ways to do something different and bring the team together,” he said. “Each office has a little bit different of a culture and joining together to help the Sunshine Kids brings us all together.”
Ownership Private Nonprofit Partnership Private Nonprofit Private Nonprofit Public Public Government Public Private Private Public Private Public Cooperative/Mutual Private Partnership Private Public Private Public Nonprofit Government
Headquarters St. Louis St. Louis St. Louis Creve Coeur Lake Saint Louis St. Louis Chesterfield St. Louis St. Louis St. Ann Mechanicsburg, Pa. St. Louis St. Louis St. Louis St. Louis Las Vegas Batavia, Ill. Chicago St. Louis Columbus, Ohio Chesterfield Clayton Wentzville St. Louis St. Charles
RUNNERS UP The organization that came in second among large employers is the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Founded in 1914, the nonprofit St. Louis Fed has 1,195 employees in the St. Louis area and plans to hire 150 in the coming year. Edward Jones came in No. 3. The Des Peres-based Fortune 500 financial services firm is owned by 18,550 limited partners, with 6,235 employees in the St. Louis area.
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TOP MIDSIZED EMPLOYER
Work hard, play hard at ARCO Every five years, employees get a paid month off, plus $5,000 in spending cash ARCO CONSTRUCTION CO. Address • 900 North Rock Hill Road, Rock Hill Phone • 314-963-0715 Website • arcoconstruction.com Founded • 1992 Description • ARCO has become a leader in the design/build industry with offices in 11 major markets. The company, which is the 17th largest design/build general contractor in the United States, provides clients with turnkey project delivery from site selection to building turn over. What employees say • “I feel like I have the ability to learn and make decisions on my own, but have the resources available to me when needed. People around me are always willing to help whenever they can.” “My co-workers and supervisors are all on the same page and are striving to achieve one common goal as one team. We go above and beyond for our clients, and the feeling when we succeed at doing so is very rewarding. There is not a day I wake up that I am not excited to go to work.”
PHOTOS BY CHRISTIAN GOODEN • cgooden@post-dispatch.com
“There are a wide range of responsibilities that keeps work fresh and never boring. We have real impact on the direction of the company and are allowed to make change if needed.”
Nolan Gromacki (left) and Kyle Cage, mechanical engineering interns at ARCO Construction Co., work at the designated “intern island” last month in Rock Hill. From the moment an employee is hired, they’re paired with a mentor who helps them learn the ropes.
BY SAMANTHA LISS St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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one-month paid sabbatical at a construction company?
That’s one perk available to ARCO Construction employees, and one reason why it’s one of the best places to work in the area. 22
Every five years, employees are encouraged to take a one-month paid leave, or what is called a sabbatical. Employees are encouraged to travel, and the company chips in $5,000 to help fund the trip of a lifetime. “We have associates who have been on five sabbaticals,” said Kristen Gusewelle, benefits manager at ARCO. ARCO, which took the top spot in the 2018 St. Louis Top Workplaces midsized category, is a general contractor. A big
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local project it’s currently working on is the Topgolf entertainment complex in Chesterfield. The company has a work hard, play hard culture, Ginger Dolle, director of talent acquisition, said. They want employees, who they call associates, to love where they work and feel empowered to learn and grow with the company. “You’ll never hear someone say that’s not my job. People are always willing to
roll up their sleeves and help out,” Dolle said. From the moment an employee is hired, they’re paired with a mentor who helps them learn the ropes. The company is very committed to its onboarding process and helping the employee learn quickly so they can manage projects on their own sooner. The company believes that a strong training process from the beginning helps improve the overall product the stltoday.com
TOP MIDSIZED EMPLOYER
company delivers. “It makes our entire group successful,” Dolle said. Employees say they appreciate the opportunities they are given right out of the gate. “I am developing extremely rapidly and I am given as much opportunity as I want to shoulder,” one employee said through an anonymous survey taken of company employees. Another said, “ARCO allows you to really create your own opportunity and show what you can do without micro-managing. They really trust you and help you be the best employee you can, which feels great.” In addition to the sabbatical, employees are able to rent the company’s ranch — at no cost — in Steelville, Mo. The ranch is typically used for training but is available for employees and their families to enjoy. Among other amenities, employees can take the canoes and kayaks out onto the pond. ARCO is also serious about helping families budget for college and awards scholarships to employees’ children, up to $28,000 per child. The company also has a generous bonus program, plus profit sharing that can earn employees 15 percent of their annual salary. To encourage a healthy lifestyle while at work, ARCO brings in fresh fruit every week and provides discounted gym memberships to employees. ARCO is a private company that was founded in 1992 and its headquarters is in Rock Hill. The company has 14 office locations across the U.S. and in recent years it has more than doubled in size in terms of revenue. “In 2014, revenue was approximately $770 million. Revenue now is approximately $1.5 billion,” Dolle said. The company currently has 760 employees, and 167 of those are based in the St. Louis area. Over the next year, the company is looking to hire more employees, including project managers, field superintendents and those in accounting and finance and IT.
RUNNERS UP Accounting firm Anders Minkler Huber and Helm LLP came in second place among midsized companies. Founded in 1965, the firm’s Anders Charity of Choice program combines fundraising activities and volunteer efforts to support one local charity each year and has raised more than $275,000 for multiple charities over the past 13 years. Coming in No. 3 was Wood Brothers Realty, which represents buyers and sellers and manages property for residential and commercial customers. Founded in 2011, Wood Brothers Realty has 150 employees. stltoday.com
Lindsay Kneale (left) and Jordan Peery, both project managers at ARCO Construction Co., play a game of table tennis at the office in Rock Hill last month. To encourage a healthy lifestyle while at work, ARCO brings in fresh fruit every week and provides discounted gym memberships to employees.
TOP MIDSIZED EMPLOYERS 150-499 employees Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
Company ARCO Construction Co. Inc. Anders Minkler Huber and Helm LLP Wood Brothers Realty Orchard Farm R-V School District CarShield TJ Wies Contracting Inc. Brown & Crouppen Law Firm Distribution Management Inc. Hillsboro Area Hospital Inc. St. Louis University High School Cornerstone Mortgage, a division of Guild Mortgage Co. PARIC Corporation Burns & McDonnell Engineering Co. Inc. Brown Smith Wallace LLP Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC USA Mortgage, a Division of DAS Acquisition Company LLC Windsor C-1 School District Royal Canin USA HOK Donald Danforth Plant Science Center Abstrakt Marketing Group Carboline Co. Jefferson R-VII School District Safety National Casualty Corp. Youth In Need HDIS Two Men And A Truck Core and Main National Medical Billing Services Marygrove Midwest BankCentre Artur Express Inc. Scott Credit Union Charles L. Crane Agency Co. CBIZ Network Solutions LLC Buckingham Strategic Wealth Nextstep For Life Inc. MICDS Medical Transportation Management Inc. CliftonLarsonAllen Ungerboeck Systems International Inc. Niche Food Group Festus R-VI School District Accenture Brewer Science Inc. Premium Retail Services Inc. First Busey Corp. ELANTAS PDG Inc. School District of Clayton Archdiocese of St. Louis
Founded 1992 1965 2011 1959 2005 1994 1979 1972 1916 1818 1960 1979 1898 1972 1869 2001 1922 1968 1955 1998 2009 1947 1950 1942 1974 1986 1984 2004 2003 1849 1906 1998 1943 1885 1988 1994 1980 1859 1995 1953 1985 2005 1949 1989 1981 1985 1868 1919 1910 1826
Ownership Private Partnership Private Public Partnership Private Private Private Nonprofit Nonprofit Private Private Private Partnership Private Private Public Private Partnership Nonprofit Private Public Public Private Nonprofit Private Private Private Private Nonprofit Private Private Non-profit Private Public Parent company Nonprofit Nonprofit Private Partnership Private Parent company Public Public Private Private Public Private Public Nonprofit
Headquarters St. Louis St. Louis St. Louis St. Charles St. Peters Lake Saint Louis St. Louis St. Charles Hillsboro, Ill. St. Louis San Diego St. Louis Kansas City St. Louis Clayton St. Louis Imperial St. Charles St. Louis St. Louis St. Louis St. Louis Festus St. Louis St. Charles St. Louis Lansing, Mich. St. Louis Chesterfield Florissant St. Louis Bridgeton Edwardsville St. Louis Maryland Heights Clayton Mapaville, Mo. St. Louis St. Louis Minneapolis O’Fallon, Mo. St. Louis Festus St. Louis Rolla, Mo. Chesterfield Champaign, Ill. St. Louis Clayton St. Louis
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TOP SMALL EMPLOYER
Midtown keeps emphasis on people Owner says adding quality employees has fed his company’s tightknit culture MIDTOWN HOME IMPROVEMENTS Address • 130 North Central Drive, O’Fallon, Mo. Website • midtownstl.com Phone • 636-336-1300 Founded • 1990 Description • Midtown, which is family owned and operated, provides full-service interior and exterior home remodeling services in Missouri and Illinois. What employees say • ”I am valued at this company. Everyone is treated the way they want to be treated.” “Employee input is considered and encouraged.” “I am always learning new things at Midtown. I will continue to grow!” “I enjoy the opportunity to succeed and seeing the final, complete project.”
PHOTOS BY CHRISTIAN GOODEN • cgooden@post-dispatch.com
“I have the ability to make as much or as little as I want, with a great team to help me get the job done.”
Sean Melson (right), director of marketing with Midtown Home Improvements, holds a meeting with employees last month in O’Fallon, Mo. The company now employs around 54 full-time workers.
BY BRYCE GRAY St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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s the company’s owner, president and longesttenured employee, Pat Melson has been on hand to witness plenty of change in his nearly 20 years at the helm of Midtown Home Improvements in O’Fallon, Mo. For one, business these days is booming, to the tune of more than $19 million in annual revenue — a roughly tenfold increase compared to when Melson be28
gan in 1999. That growth has also brought more and more people into the fold over the years. The company now employs around 54 full-time workers based out of its O’Fallon office — up from about nine when Melson started — and last year it opened another branch with approximately 20 employees in the Kansas City area. To some, it may seem difficult for a company to keep its core values and identity intact in the midst of such rapid growth. Melson, though, doesn’t believe that the company has simply maintained its good reputation and tight-knit-feel despite that growth, but rather says its expansion has actually reinforced those at-
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tributes as quality individuals are added to the company. “I think the people have caused the growth of the company, quite frankly,” says Melson. “As the company grows, it becomes easier, because the culture feeds itself.” He and others within the company say one of the hallmarks of that culture is investing in employees, whether by encouraging personal growth alongside achievements at work, or through a steady stream of time and resources dedicated to training. “Training is key,” Melson explains.“The better a person does their job, the better a person likes their job.”
That enthusiasm is perhaps most striking with the company’s canvassing team — a unit faced with the daunting task of carrying out door-to-door marketing campaigns to court potential customers across the entire St. Louis area. “Honestly, we have fun,” said Luke Roth, the company’s canvassing director, sitting in a room with street maps covering the walls and different colored markings showing when and where canvassers have gone. “We have a very growth oriented environment, but at the same time we don’t take ourselves too seriously.” The fun is paying off.Canvassing netted 68 percent of the company’s total revenue last year — evidence, Roth says, that Midstltoday.com
TOP SMALL EMPLOYER
TOP SMALL EMPLOYERS
Mark Diomedes, a warehouse manager with Midtown Home Improvements, moves fencing equipment last month. Much of the company’s training is focused on attitudes and mindsets.
town’s old-fashioned, “face-to-face” approach helps distinguish it in the eyes of customers. But Roth knows canvassing is tough work that requires a thick skin, and demands as much mentally as physically. That’s why he says much of the training his team members receive is focused on instilling positive, growth-oriented attitudes and mindsets. “It’s mostly training on how a person thinks — how to think positively,” said Roth. That mentality can be contagious. “Honestly, it gets you fired up,” said Ermin Rizvanovic, an IT consultant with the company, commenting on the intensity that the canvassers and others bring to the workplace. “I’m ready to go out there and knock on some doors, and that’s not even my job.” Rizvanovic, though, says he has found plenty of rewarding opportunities through his own work on the IT side. Even as a new employee only a few months into the job, he says his opinions and contributions feel uniquely valued, sharing an example of how the company heeded his suggestion about signing up to use a new program that streamlines human resources work. “I’ve had plenty of jobs, and I’ve never had a boss who would really listen to what I say and take it into consideration,” he said. Rizvanovic moved to the area from Kansas City to take the position with Midtown. He says the social dynamic of the workplace has helped make for an easy transition after the move, mentioning that impromptu four-square games are known to break out in the parking lot during good weather and that he played volleyball with some co-workers the night before. “I wouldn’t have been able to transition, moving out here from Kansas City, if it hadn’t been how it is,” he said. “It does feel like a family.”
RUNNERS UP This year’s runners up as top workplaces in the small companies category included the advisory firm Renaissance Financial Corp., which placed second, and the nonprofit Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod Foundation, which ranked No. 3. stltoday.com
50-149 employees Rank Company Founded 1 Midtown Home Improvements 1990 2 Renaissance Financial Corporation 1994 3 Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod Foundation 1958 4 College Nannies, Sitters and Tutors 2010 5 Slalom 2001 6 NCADA 1965 7 RedKey Realty Leaders 2012 8 Safelite AutoGlass 1947 9 John Beal Roofing 1947 10 Sapper Consulting 2014 11 Baker Pool Construction 1968 12 Aegis Strategies LLC 2010 13 Golden Oak Lending 2001 14 Stone Technologies 1996 15 Travel Travel Kirkwood Inc. 1987 16 Gainsight 2009 17 Flat World Holdings 2006 18 Little Fishes Swim School 2008 19 Colliers International 2010 20 Tiger Plumbing, Heating, Air Conditioning & Electrical Services 1993 21 Design Aire Heating and Cooling 1904 22 Midwest Elevator Company Inc. 1998 23 Hoffmann Brothers Heating, 1989 Air Conditioning, Plumbing, Electrical & Appliance Repair 24 West County Radiological Group Inc. 1969 25 1904labs 2016 26 Veterans Care Coordination 2011 27 Coolfire Solutions 2010 28 Assistance Home Care 2011 29 Sunrise R-IX School 1952 30 Budnick Converting Inc. 1952 31 Connectria Hosting 1996 32 McClure Engineering 1953 33 Delmar Financial Company 1966 34 Academy Air 1953 35 Experitec Inc. 1934 36 Southwestern Hearing Centers 1947 37 EPIC Systems Inc. 1995 38 Maune Raichle Hartley French & Mudd LLC 2007 39 The Lipton Group Inc. 1957 40 Thouvenot, Wade & Moerchen Inc. 1946 41 Multiply 2016 42 OneSpace 2015 43 Mosby Building Arts Ltd. 1947 44 Technology Partners Inc. 1994 45 Cat5 Commerce 2004 46 Mid America Logistics 2007 47 Lutheran Church Extension Fund-Missouri Synod 1978 48 Rossman School 1917 49 GFI Digital 1999 50 CI Select 1985 51 Buildingstars International 1994 52 Horner & Shifrin 1933 53 Sunset Transportation 1989 54 Clearent LLC 2005 55 MetroGistics 2010 56 American Poolplayers Association Inc. 1979 57 Contegix 2004 58 PohlmanUSA Court Reporting & Litigation Services 1990 59 Dielmann Sotheby’s International Realty 2005 60 Provident Inc. 1860 61 Crescent Parts & Equipment 1944 62 Marketing Direct LLC dba Wunderman St. Louis 1997 63 Associated Bank 1861 64 Rodgers Townsend 1996 65 Fry-Wagner Relocation & Logistics 1908 66 Deli Star Corporation 1987 67 Elite Orthopedics LLC 2015 68 Amitech Solutions 1999 69 Villa Lighting Supply Inc. 1972 70 BDO USA LLP 1910 71 St. Charles Convention Center 2005 72 Vetta Sports 1988 73 Cambridge Engineering Inc. 1963 74 Stray Rescue of St. Louis 1998 75 Brighton Agency 1989
Ownership Public Private Nonprofit Private Private Non-profit Private Parent company Private Private Cooperative/Mutual Private Private Private Private Private Partnership Private Public Private Private Private Private
Headquarters O’Fallon, Mo. St. Louis St Louis St. Charles Seattle St. Louis St. Louis Columbus, Ohio Maryland Heights St. Louis Chesterfield Scott AFB St. Louis Chesterfield St. Louis Chesterfield O’Fallon, Mo. Brentwood Toronto Collinsville St. Louis St. Louis St. Louis
Private Private Private Private Private Public Private Private Private Private Private Private Private Private Partnership Private Private Private Private Private Private Private Partnership Nonprofit Nonprofit Private Private Private Private Private Partnership Private Private Private Private Private Nonprofit Private Public Public Public Private Private Private Private Private Partnership Government Private Private Nonprofit Private
St. Louis St. Louis Lake Saint Louis St. Louis St. Charles De Soto Columbia, Ill. St. Louis St. Louis St. Louis Earth City Chesterfield St. Louis St. Louis St. Louis St. Louis Swansea St. Louis Swansea Kirkwood Chesterfield Chesterfield Fenton St. Louis St. Louis Maryland Heights St. Louis Maryland Heights St. Louis St. Louis St. Louis St. Louis Lake Saint Louis St. Louis St. Louis Clayton St. Louis St. Louis St. Louis Green Bay, Wis. St. Louis Earth City Fayetteville, Ill. Chesterfield St. Louis St. Louis Chicago St. Charles St. Louis Chesterfield St. Louis St. Louis
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Standouts among this year’s Top Workplaces FROM STAFF REPORTS
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he following special award recipients were chosen based on standout scores for employee responses to specific survey statements. Employees rated these statements on a seven-point scale from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree.” Top confidence-boosting leaders are:
Among employers, special recognition goes to: Drury Hotels Co. wins the Direction award by scoring highest on the survey statement, “I believe this company is going in the right direction.” Hillsboro Area Hospital Inc. wins the Managers award, scoring highest for “My manager helps me learn and grow, makes it easier to do my job well and cares about my concerns.” Sapper Consulting wins the New Ideas award, scoring highest for “New ideas are encouraged at this company.” College Nannies, Sitters and Tutors wins the Doers award for having the highest score on the statement, “At this company, we do things efficiently and well.” NCADA wins the Meaningfulness award, scoring best for “My job makes me feel like I am part of something meaningful.”
Patrick
Cornerstone Mortgage, a division of Guild Mortgage Co., wins the Ethics award, for scoring highest on “This company operates by strong values and ethics. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Select Properties wins for Clued-in Senior Management, scoring for “Senior managers understand what is really happening.”
Buddy
• James Bullard, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, in the large employer category. In anonymous survey responses, one employee said: “It is very evident that he is greatly concerned about maintaining a healthy economy for the citizens of this country.” Another employee said: “He cares about the employees, and he cares about St Louis.”
• Patrick and Buddy Wood, owners of Wood Brothers Realty, in the midsize employer category. One employee said: “They are always available — even after hours — and there’s a lot of us! I never feel like there isn’t anything I can’t ask for their assistance.” Another employee said: “Buddy and Pat are extremely knowledgeable and helpful. I appreciate their honesty and the fact that they are always available whenever I need them.”
• Matthew Levison, owner, Delmar Financial Co., in the small employer category. One employee wrote that Levison is “always trying to improve things.” Another said: “He is innovative, and down to earth with his employees ... not to mention, willing to make anything happen as long as it makes sense.”
Aegis Strategies LLC wins the Communication award, scoring highest for “I feel well-informed about important decisions at this company.” Anders Minkler Huber and Helm LLP wins the Appreciation award, scoring the best for “I feel genuinely appreciated at this company.” Technology Partners Inc. wins the Work/Life Flexibility award, scoring the highest for “I have the flexibility I need to balance my work and personal life.” Edward Jones wins the Training award, scoring the highest for the statement, “I get the formal training I want for my career.” ARCO Construction Company Inc. wins the Benefits award, scoring the highest for “My benefits package is good compared to others in this industry.”
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Grads get work tips with star power Make yourself indispensable, top speakers say, but be sure to keep listening
PHOTO COURTESY OF WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America, at Washington University last month. She called on graduates to “go back to your hometowns” and “make positive change.”
BY JENA MCGREGOR Washington Post
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ere’s some of the best advice offered by this year’s commencement speakers that graduates — or anyone — can apply to their work and careers:
Oprah Winfrey, chair and CEO of OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, spoke at the Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism at the University of Southern California. Winfrey shared 34
some clear advice for graduates’ time in the workplace: “The number one lesson I can offer you where your work is concerned,” said the media titan, “is this: Become so skilled, so vigilant, so flat-out fantastic at what you do, that your talent cannot be dismissed.” She also countered the typical “do what you love” advice that fill so many graduation speeches with something else. “You need to know this: Your job is not always going to fulfill you,” she said. “There will be some days that you just might be bored. Other days you may not feel like going to work at all. Go anyway, and remember
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that your job is not who you are. It’s just what you are doing on the way to who you will become. With every remedial chore, every boss who takes credit for your ideas — that is going to happen — look for the lessons, because the lessons are always there.” Chobani CEO Hamdi Ulukaya, the founder of the popular Greek-yogurt business, which has been caught in partisan sparring over Ulukaya’s history of hiring refugees, spoke at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School about the growing societal expectation that CEOs speak up on social issues.
“We are entering a new era, when the center of gravity for social change has moved to the private sector,” he said on May 13. “It’s business, not government, that is in the best position to lead today. It’s not government hiring refugees, it’s business. It’s not government cutting emissions, it’s business. It’s not government standing up to gun violence, it’s business.” But he also had some advice for the business school grads. “It’s great that you are a Wharton MBA. But please, don’t act like it,” he said. That advice came from his employstltoday.com
ees, he said, after he asked them what he should say in his speech. What they meant was not to treat people like the stereotype of the heartless, number-crunching business school grad. “Don’t let it get in the way of seeing people as people and all they have to offer you, regardless of their title or position,” he said. “Acknowledging the wisdom and experience of a forklift operator or security guard with 30 years on the job doesn’t diminish your own experience. Acknowledging the sacrifice of others that enabled you to be in this position does not diminish the sacrifices you made on your own.” Abby Wambach, retired professional soccer player, spoke at Barnard College’s commencement May 18, describing rules she’s used to lead her team. Be energized by failure, support people from the sidelines and champion the power of the team, she said. But even people who play on a team, Wambach said, need to know when to “demand the ball,” stepping up when the time calls for leaders to take over.
Wambach recalled the story of playing with Michelle Akers, a women’s soccer star from the 1990s, when she was just 18, and the team found itself down three goals. After a game of coaching and leading her younger teammates, Wambach said, Akers demanded that she get the ball. As she put it: “At this moment in history, leadership is calling us to say: ‘Give me the effing ball. Give me the effing job. Give me the same pay the guy next to me gets. Give me the promotion. Give me the microphone. Give me the Oval Office.’ “ There are times, Wambach was saying, that leaders — particularly female leaders, who are often coached to stay in line and be grateful for the opportunities they receive — should take charge rather than playing a supporting role. Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America, the former State Department director of policy planning and author of the widely read piece in the Atlantic about women’s careers, may lead a Washington think tank. But in her commencement
address at Washington University in St. Louis in May, she called on graduates to not move to the nation’s capital, advising them to “go back to your hometowns, state capitals or bustling regional cities.” It is there, she said, that they can “make positive change.” Slaughter was blunt: “If you’re an aspiring businessperson or entrepreneur, go to where the real estate is cheap and the community is strong, where new tech sectors are springing up by reinventing traditional businesses from manufacturing to media,” she said. “If you’re an aspiring architect, go renovate your hometown’s downtown, putting beautiful old buildings to new uses.” Aspiring journalists, she said, should “go reweave the fabric of local civic life by creating or joining new models of producing local news.” Siddhartha Mukherjee, Pulitzer Prizewinning author of “The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer,” spoke at the University of Southern Califor-
nia’s commencement ceremony in May. Mukherjee’s beautifully written keynote speech was focused on listening. It is a task, he said, that is a “uniquely human capacity” and takes three forms — being empathetic with others, listening to the past and listening to nature, “eavesdropping on the universe, learning its natural laws, its geometries, its rhythms, its constancies, its mind.” Though he does not deliver advice in the usual “do this, not that” format, the takeaway message was still powerful, warning that “it is impossible to ignore that we have stopped listening to each other. Or, for that matter, that we have stopped listening to natural laws,” he said. “The word ‘listen’ can be rearranged into ‘silent,’” he noted, saying “silence is the absolute prerequisite of listening.” “The premium placed on self-curation, on individuality, on identity — Who are you? What are you? — has created a perpetual echo chamber of self-actualization from which there is seemingly no escape.”
Happy Employees. Happy Customers.
Now hiring experienced service technicians and installers. Call 314-739-1600 to join the Design Aire family. www.designaire.net stltoday.com
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Challenges of working from home Telecommuters can feel isolated — even guilty — but clear boundaries can help BY MASHA RUMER Special to Washington Post
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elecommuters used to get a bad rap, seen as folks who lounge by the pool with a trashy magazine and a margarita on a Tuesday afternoon.
But technology is making working from home a viable option for many industries. A Gallup poll found almost half of employed Americans, or 43 percent, spend some time working remotely. “Flexible scheduling and work-from-home opportunities play a major role in an employee’s decision to take or leave a job,” the report said. Today, more than 60 percent of organizations allow some type of teleworking, compared with a mere 20 percent just two decades ago. Not everyone is on board with telecommuting or even knows how to define it. A company where I once interviewed touted a “very flexible work schedule.” When I asked if this meant employees sometimes worked from home, the hiring manager said no. “We’re all in the office before 8 a.m. and try to leave by 6 p.m. But if you need to go to a doctor’s appointment in the morning or something, we’ll let you, and you can make that time up later. We’re very flexible.” WordPress.com, owned by Automattic, recently closed its physical San Francisco office because hardly anyone showed up in person. On the other hand, in 2013, Yahoo ended its work-from-home policy, and so did IBM last year, for thousands of its staff. Telecommuting has lots of perks, especially for parents. We get to spend more time with family while staying on a career track, retaining an income and holding on to the jobs we love. No more two-hour commutes, no more of that pumping soundtrack echoing through the fluorescent-light-flooded conference room and the entire office. Remote work, however, isn’t without challenges. 40
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Freelancer Jaimyn Chang works in the solitude of his home office in Raleigh, N.C., in 2017.
TOP WORKPLACES • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • 06.24.18
stltoday.com
We’re great at holding
ISOLATION It’s incredibly important for people — a part-time schedule, I found that liand take heed especially you, parents brary sing-alongs and playdates often — to interact with other people. Work- conflicted with work calls and deading from home can be surprisingly iso- lines. Although introverts are said to generlating. Some days, it may be possible to have not spoken to a single human, de- ally do better with remote work, extrospite a ton of work correspondence and verts can manage, as long as they schedother “humanlike” contact, which may ule social activities after hours and even have, in retrospect, been just a scroll during the day: lunch or a coffee meetthrough Facebook and texting about ing, a trip to the gym with a neighbor, dinner plans with a spouse. Even with socializing after the kids are in bed. GUILT Even if you’re exceeding goals at your a support program for new mothers rejob like nobody’s business, you might turning to work from maternity leave. feel the need to overcompensate. It’s “Or perhaps, I should not take a fiveeasy to forget that office people often minute break to run downstairs and put take lunches and coffee breaks, too, and the laundry in. When I hear that little that these things are not only OK, but ‘sh’ word in my head, I know guilt is in the picture. Acknowledging it . . . helps also necessary. “Working from home can be laden it to move on. No need to compare yourwith all the ‘shoulds’ and ‘should nots’ self to someone else’s situation.” Develop a work schedule and stick to one could possibly imagine, thoughts I guarantee never enter our heads at the it. Making super-detailed task lists at office, [like] I should respond to every least a day in advance helps me recogemail within 12 seconds so everyone nize accomplishments and cut down on knows I’m working,” says Lori Mihal- gratuitous guilt. (I like the TickTick app ich-Levin, founder of Mindful Return, for its “checkoff” feature.) ALWAYS ON When you work from your home, you always available. It’s crucial to create realistic boundarwork all the time and everywhere. No, really. It’s incredibly hard to draw ies, preferably informing your partner, boundaries between your personal too. Even if these rules will be broken, space and workspace, and the same goes which they will. Some examples are for your time. You’ve probably worked stashing the phone and computer away in the kitchen. Taken conference calls in from the time you pick up the kids to the preschool parking lot. Typed emails when you put them to bed and designatin the grocery store and during dinner, ing times when you are offline, barring checked email in the middle of the night an emergency or a deadline. — and maybe in the bathroom. You are IDENTITY tied to the physical manifestation of an office, colleagues and even work clothes. In absence of that community, I found it’s important to retain hobbies, get involved in organizations and stay socially connected to avoid feeling like an untethered balloon. Admittedly, it isn’t an easy feat in between deadlines, dishes and diapers. Though working from home is practical and rewarding, it requires discipline and self-awareness to ensure that our work works for us.
You’ve probably worked in pajamas. Maybe you thought, I’m just gonna power through and get this thing done, and then I’ll put on my nicest “outside” outfit, do some downward dogs and feel spiritually whole again. Except you look at the clock and it’s already time to pick the kids up in three minutes. And the significance of the day’s activities may have not sunken in the same way as it would in a more traditional environment. Our professional identities are often stltoday.com
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Fostering more real talk about race Frank discussions can bring better understanding than any anti-bias training BY JENA MCGREGOR Washington Post
A
ccenture North America CEO Julie Sweet remembers the day, in July 2016, when she realized a message to her employees wasn’t going to be enough. It was after the shooting of Philando Castile in Minnesota by police officers and after the shooting of Alton Sterling by police in Baton Rouge, La. “We were hearing from our African-American and Hispanic-American employees about how hard it was to come to work — I remember one said the silence was deafening,” she recalls. And then Dallas happened, where five police officers were shot by a gunman. Though she sent out a message to employees, “I felt like it wasn’t enough. You can be diverse and hire a lot of people, but you are not inclusive if people don’t feel like they can talk about the tough issues like race at work that affect their lives.” Within two weeks, she convened a virtual and physical meeting hosted via webcast and then led discussions in at least eight major cities, inviting all the firm’s employees to have a candid conversation about race. A young African-American woman talked about the doubts she had about herself, and whether her hiring might have been about statistics, despite the company’s meritocratic culture. A white employee asked peers about the “Black Lives Matter” movement. One black team leader described how nearly every other time he went on a business trip to Texas, he was pulled over by police — and then had to show up at a client’s location and pretend everything was normal. “For me, that was a pivotal moment,” said Sweet, one that reminded her “how much I didn’t know.” Such open-ended conversations — lacking of scripts or PowerPoint slides — surfaced far more real talk about race than the typical bias training or sensitivity program, Sweet said. Accenture is just one company that, since 2016, has tried to make race less of a taboo topic in the office. In 44
TOP WORKPLACES • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • 06.24.18
J.B. FORBES • jforbes@post-dispatch.com
All Starbucks throughout the country closed early on May 29 for diversity training. stltoday.com
the aftermath of unrest in Ferguson, as protests or shootings in cities such as Charlotte, N.C.; Baton Rouge and Dallas occurred, and as the Black Lives Matter movement took hold, companies such as PwC, Duke Energy and Nationwide Insurance found their employees pushing them to do something, or say something, about the explosive and inescapable conversation taking place in the country about race. Some have continued the forums, branching out into other tough-todiscuss topics. Others held talks in response to the 2016 protests but haven’t repeated them. A few have added them after their CEOs signed a pledge started last year by such organizations as PwC, Accenture, P&G and the Executive Leadership Council, a group that advocates for increasing the number of black executives in corporations. Nicole Sanchez, CEO of Vaya Consulting, said she has had more interest from clients about having frank dia-
logues about race — rather than merely talking about diversity and inclusion — “in the last six months than I probably did in the previous 25 years.” Some companies, she believes, “have tried everything else and have just said ‘let’s go for the big elephant in the room.’” She credits the Black Lives Matter movement for helping to force the issue. When done well, Sanchez said, a direct conversation about race can have outsized effects. But if there’s little skill in facilitating the conversation, or if minority employees are made to feel like it’s their job to educate their peers, it can backfire. (Recall the Starbucks #RaceTogether campaign as a corporate effort to talk about race that failed.) “There’s nothing scarier for Americans to talk about in mixed company than race,” Sanchez said. “It is extremely dangerous to throw people who are already vulnerable into a con-
versation where someone doesn’t have control.” At PwC, U.S. chairman Tim Ryan, who initiated the idea of the CEO pledge, said he too sensed a need to do more than email employees after the events in 2016, holding small and large group sessions across the firm. One black professional referred to his suit as his “cape,” Ryan said. Some white employees asked if they should use the term “black” or “African-American.” And several others pulled out their business cards and said they always carry them with them when traveling. “If I do get pulled over, I can pull it out and say ‘I belong,’” Ryan recalled one saying. “We’ll teach unconscious bias training. We’ll have a course for AfricanAmerican associates hoping they’ll stay longer,” said Shannon Schuyler, PwC’s “chief purpose officer.” But instead of thinking “we can program our way out of it, this is about having unplanned
talk. How do we make this a part of our daily conversation and not this silver bullet solution?” Executives know there’s more to do. Sweet said that in a February meeting with her top 20 executives in Boston, one African-American operations team leader asked the group how many of them had been to see the movie “Black Panther”? It was just after opening weekend, but when only one on the team said yes, she was struck by the divide, given it was such a major cultural event that in the black community. “It was this moment of just awareness that the gap is bigger than we think,” she said, noting that some executives have started hosting diverse groups of employees in their homes, or taking team members out for lunch without a work-related agenda. “We just need to spend more time with each other. There’s no program or policy that’s going to help us understand that.”
REPETITION IS NO COINCIDENCE Honored to be recognized as one of St. Louis’ Top Workplaces for the 5th consecutive year.
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Stay on your game as you age With hierarchy flipped toward younger workers, make it your job to keep up BY MARY KANE Kiplinger’s Retirement Report
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eresa Ghilarducci is an economics professor at the New School for Social Research in New York and the director of its Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis. She has written extensively on money and retirement, including her newest book, “Rescuing Retirement,” with Tony James, president of the Blackstone Group.
In this lightly edited conversation with Associate Editor Mary Kane of Kiplinger’s Retirement Report, Ghilarducci discusses staying on the job as you age and facing uncertainty in your 401(k). Older workers often are encouraged to stay in the workforce, even past retirement age, to fund their retirements. But what is the workplace reality for older employees, and how should they handle it? It’s difficult to kind of stay in the game. Things get harder to do, and it takes longer to learn new things. Raise your hand when it comes to training. Being open and waiting for an opportunity is too passive. Seek ways to train yourself. It could be a weekend class, a weeklong seminar or a course. You build into your performance review that you want to learn new skills. If you weren’t that kind of person before, you actually have to change your strategy. How pervasive is age discrimination, and how can older workers, both women and men, deal with it? Looking for work is just one aspect of age discrimination. Even more important is how you are treated at work, the raises you might get, the promotions, your risk for layoffs. Data show women’s pay, even if they keep their jobs, falls faster than men’s. Inflation erodes it, and you might not get the extra hours or the promotion. Share your pay scale with your male and female colleagues. It will make for moments of awkwardness, but it will pay you back in pay fairness and pay raises. Men, too, face downward mobility at older ages. They are more likely to have to stay in the labor force longer if they have a sick partner. Generationally the numbers of baby boomers in the workforce will make pay trans46
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Mark Ahlemann (center) passes out papers to participants during a breakfast networking session in 2014.
parency and age discrimination more salient, but only if we stick together. Is it harder for older women to find jobs and to succeed at the office? I give this advice to my mother and to every other woman I know who needs a job: Never refer to your age in a joking manner. We have no idea what effect we are creating when we say things like, “I’m having a senior moment.” Don’t let yourself be called old. Don’t talk about your gray hair. I tell people I’m 60. I happen to be 60. And that’s it. Men start to have these same kind of characteristics when they feel they are slipping in their late 60s, but it’s usually 10 years later than women. What are some of the challenges older men face in staying in the workplace? There’s an old way of thinking about seniority and hierarchy at work. It was structured so the kind of knowledge older workers had was quite valuable, like managerial knowledge and the knowledge of how the
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machines worked. That kind of specific knowledge is not as important now. Technology has sped up and changed the process, and now the hierarchy is flipped. The younger workers may have the knowledge and skills needed to stay in the game. I think that’s harder for older men than older women. They once had the hierarchy and status. Women never really had it, anyway. You describe 401(k) plans as part of a broken retirement system. Does the recent stock market volatility prove your point? It’s a hashtag 2008 moment again. The recordsmashing highs of the stock market did not help people’s retirement accounts. What goes up comes back down. People feel like their balances are high, but they need to be reminded they need other forms of retirement security. We still need to make Social Security and Medicare strong. And it really is political leaders who need to do that. stltoday.com