Being a Great Place to Work takes Work
Intertech has been named a Great Place to Work for the 14th time by the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal. We also were included in similar lists in the Star Tribune and Minnesota Business magazine earlier this year. These honors mean a lot because they validate my original dream of creating a great place to work where great people do great work for great clients!
Sorry, I know that’s a lot of “greats” but it truly sums up the vision and reality of Intertech today, thanks to hard work by a lot of incredible people. If you’ve read my book, “The 100: Building Blocks for Business Leadership,” you know about the multiple strategies we use to make sure Intertech remains a great place – for employees and customers.
My book, of course, offers my personal perspective and philosophy on business management. For today’s blog post, I thought it might be interesting to share the verbatim feedback of Intertech employees. These comments are gleaned from employee feedback shared (anonymously) in the survey used by Minnesota Business magazine in determining the winners of this year’s “Best Place” competition. To keep it simple, I’ve organized the feedback into five primary categories. I hope this candid employee feedback helps you as you think about building your own positive work culture.
Recognition/Make a Difference
“I can make a big difference in how the company succeeds by my work. I enjoy my role here.”
“There are a lot of opportunities for anyone willing to keep an open mind and seek out the space they would like to conquer.”
“Management listens to my ideas.”
“Many things make me feel appreciated at Intertech, from personal thank you notes from Tom to our ACE program.”
“There are opportunities to learn new things, get experience by working with smart people and make important decisions for clients.”
“We have a yearly meeting to have the employees try to help grow and change the company by figuring out new ideas to try. If you have an idea for something new, they will hear you out and see if it is something that would add value.”
Professional Development
“Internal and external training is paid for by the company.”
“I have latitude to try new things.”
“I have freedom to influence my career.”
“I am able to continuously learn and challenge myself each day.”
“This position has allowed me to increase my work skills.
“The training has been good.”
Respect/Trust
“They just trust me to get my work done.”
“I am not micromanaged.”
“I am free to handle my customers and have company support when I need help.”
Work-Life Balance/Flexibility
“Intertech is VERY flexible, which allows me to still be in the supportive family role I want to be in at home.”
“The days and hours are flexible, and the workplace environment is healthy and encouraging.”
“The flexibility is much more than I could have hoped for.”
“I routinely receive input supporting the importance of family life. As long as I fulfill my obligations, I am given a great deal of flexibility in work hours, location, time off, etc.”
Great People
“My colleagues are absolutely top notch!”
“From peers to management, everyone is truly top notch.”
“The people are great, not only in professional excellence but in personal goodness.”
“Fun people and environment.”
“My co-workers are accountable and I can depend on them.”
And my personal favorite anonymous employee comment:
When asked “What does Intertech do efficiently and well,” an employee wrote:
“There are too many things to choose from! From … training to consulting, we are all committed to excellence and it shows!”