The Best Places to Work Fallacy

For some, work is like spending a week at summer camp.

There are plenty of games to be played.  For instance, LivingSocial in Washington, DC energizes its staff with air hockey, Skee-Ball, cupcake eating contests and ziplining.

Your daily needs are met in one place.  Google is famous for its free food in company cafeterias, no charge laundry service and exercise facilities.

And there is an environment that fosters friendships.  Tax software company Intuit hosts what it refers to as “idea jams” to bring employees together.

This the life of employees at companies on Fortune Magazine's list of Best Companies to Work For and Washingtonian’s 50 Great Places to Work.  It’s so very sweet…or is it? 

Every time I read about a company-sponsored yoga class, billiards tournament in a chill out room or free after hours car service, I think here’s a company that aspires to keep you tucked away in their four walls. 

Life is about work, right?  If you’re going to be here 60 or 70 hours a week we might as well make it more tolerable under the guise of a zany culture.

More than four years ago Strategic Communications Group (Strategic) moved to a completely open and flexible work environment.  Work where you want, when you want and how you want.

We count on each other to provide a high level of client service, meet deliverables on time and invest in professional development without the need of a daily pep talk.  We’re all responsible adults. 

Plus, we’ve structured our environment to accommodate this flexibility.  That’s why we outsourced our technology to a partner that makes our entire infrastructure available anywhere there is Internet connectivity.

Is this type of work situation right for everyone?  It’s not.  Some people dig on Foosball.  That’s cool. 

For us, finding an appropriate work/life balance and making sure we spend time with family and friends is paramount.

In the Carr Family

In Strategic Communications Group’s (Strategic) ultra-flexible environment we view work as something you do, not a place you go. 

From home…at the local coffee shop…at the park…each of my colleagues selects the environment best suited to their taste.  My responsibility is to be clear on goals and expectations, and then demand accountability in results.

Of course, there are times in business when you do need a place to go.  Our client teams meet in-person to brainstorm strategy and creative tactics, we host professional development and team networking events, and, on occasion, a client will come to us for a get together.

Strategic maintains its primary location in downtown Silver Spring, about 20 minutes outside of Washington, DC.  The office is easily accessible by both car and public transportation.

However, those who live and work in the Washington, DC area are quite familiar with the insufferable traffic that is a plaque on commerce in this region.  For this reason, Strategic opened a modest second location in Tysons Corner, Virginia about five years ago.  The location is on the other side of the Capital Beltway with the intent of limiting time on the road between meetings.

We initially subscribed to the traditional lease an office on our own approach and for about a year suffered through a small and expensive space that showed poorly.

When that short-term lease expired, we got hip to the benefits of the executive suite model and signed on with Carr Workplaces’ facility on Greensboro Drive in Tysons Corner.  It’s now been nearly four years of mostly bliss as part of the Carr family.  (Photo: lobby of Carr Workplaces' office in Tysons Corner, Virginia.)

Now, in no way is this post meant to be a love letter to Carr.  In fact, our due diligence of executive suite companies found that all offer exceptional space in convenient locations at comparable cost.

Yet, for Strategic, there have been three reasons why our relationship with Carr has been so productive:

1.  The office is professionally run and has allowed us to host clients, partners and prospective hires, always making a favorable impression.

2.  Carr is invested in the region’s business community and maintains active affiliations with the American Small Business Coalition, McLean Chamber of Commerce, Center City Consortium, among other groups.  When appropriate, we have the ability to tap into their network of relationships to support our agenda.

3.  We have built a personal relationship with our points of contact at Carr.  I’m sure the company’s executive management is competent, yet I wouldn’t know any of them if we shared an elevator.  Truth is, I don’t need to.  That’s because our requirements are met by the Carr personnel we interact with on a daily basis.  And that interaction is always positive.

(Photo: Kimberly Hossler and Annie Draper who run Carr Workplaces' Tysons Corner office.)

Impact of Economic Uncertainty on Work/Life Balance

Even though Strategic Communications Group's (Strategic) senior team has been together for more than four years, I wish I knew my colleagues better.

That's because a challenging economic environment demands exceptional management for a company to thrive or, in some instances, merely survive.

I picked up a lot of lessons learned during the post-dot com downturn in late 2001. We made several painful decisions that required us to scale back the business, such as cutting our creative department and several rounds of additional employee layoffs.

As a result of the focus, attention and discipline of our senior team the agency survived and we emerged on the other side in a position well set for growth. In fact, the most profitable year in our company's history was the direct result of business decisions made during the depth of the recession.

The last downturn also helped me grow as an entrepreneur and president/CEO. I discovered that hard work only gets you so far. To call on a cliché: success is about working smarter.

A CEO's most important responsibilities are to put the team in a position in which they are set up for success and establish clear (and realistic) performance expectations. That's it...although (admittedly) it sure can be hard to deliver on.

In 2004, Strategic went through a management transition. Our four most senior client executives joined the agency at that time and we promoted finance and marketing/sales personnel to executive positions.

I was also in transition in my personal life. My wife and I started a family and we now have two wonderful boys under the age of five. I often tell people that with children the days may seem long, yet the years fly by.

For that reason, I made the decision to scale back my work time from the 80 plus hours I was routinely putting in a week. I do my best to be home for the kids' bed and bath each night, and I simply won't miss weekend time with the family.

Strategic made dramatic shifts in our corporate culture, employee management and hiring practices. We instituted a completely flexible work environment in which staff members can work where they want and when they want, being measured on delivery of service and performance.

Our utilization is also based on a 40 hour work week to send a clear message internally: work/life balance is a priority at Strategic.

As a result, our team now skews old for a public relations consultancy. Our model is not to cowboy up a group of 20 somethings and work them more than 60 hours a week. We have families, children, community involvement and outside interests. I believe it makes us better PR professionals and healthier individuals.

Yet, all of this flexibility and work/life balance means we simply don't spend as much time together. I try to connect with each member of Strategic's senior team weekly, lunch with each on a monthly basis and we get together in-person every six weeks for a management meeting.

Is it enough though? Do we have the brutally candid relationships often required to make decisions during a period of economic uncertainty?

Put Down the Blackberry, Torossian

I’d like to think that I am passionate about public relations and business…not psychotic. I sure can’t say the same for Ronn Torossian, president and CEO of NYC-based 5W Public Relations.

Here are a few quotes from his most recent blog post, simply titled “Work Hard.”

--In today’s hungry, new-money driven world, there’s always someone willing to work harder and push more, and the simple reality of life is unless one works in a minimum wage or civil servant position, they can’t simply punch the clock.

--And, the truth is, no one will force you to check your blackberry, but I guarantee people who don’t respond to client needs during after-office hours won’t retain their clients very long. For those of you in the PR industry who compete with my firm, I’d urge all of you to not check your blackberries after 6 or on weekends, because we always will.

--I am sure the folks at NBC, CBS and other competitors are hoping ABC folks don’t check their blackberries after hours… so they get scooped for their stories in this uber-competitive media world.

This morning I arrived at the office at 9:15 AM because I wanted to see my kids off to camp. And then, I left the office at 6 PM to spend an hour with my family, reading “Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel” to my boys before bed.

I’m all for hard work and anyone who plays pick-up basketball with me on the weekend knows I have competitive issues. Yet, a healthy and productive life is about balance. It makes us better public relations professionals and, more important, more caring people.

Ronn, lighten up. And for heaven’s sake turn off the Blackberry.


Thoughts from Ronn Torossian: Work Hard
http://ronntorossian.com/?p=162