Small Businesses That "Get It"

Wow! In the September 28th Wall Street Journal, there was a special section highlighting the Top Small Workplaces in 2009. What a great read. These small businesses "get it" when it comes to human resources and providing a positive workplace environment.

Some of the companies do creative things with benefits. Some of the companies pay close attention to culture and value communication and openness. Others value a learning environment. The leaders of these small businesses understand that people are more than a resource to control, they are the lifeblood of the company's future. Here are some of the company practices that really caught my eye as cool:

Advanced Technology Institute, an R&D non-profit organization, focuses on talent management. The president named the Chief Financial Officer as the "Chief Talent Officer." Hopefully this individual has an HR background or access to the expertise. It's pretty powerful, though, to marry up the money guy with talent management. Powerful combination and says something about organizational priorities. I also liked that this organization includes organizational history and values in its onboarding program.

Anthony Wilder Design/Build Inc. impressed me with their employee development efforts to have employees "think and act like owners." They provide training to their employees in financial decision-making and help each employee understand how their job affects the bottomline. Again, pretty powerful stuff. My employer, the Naval Surface Warfare Center, wants its employees to understand how their jobs ultimately affect the warfighter - our customer.

Likewise, Railroad Associates Corporation provides technology that allows employees to see budgets and scheduling information to support better decision-making. The goal is to create an ownership mentality.

This "sense of ownership" resonates with me. If an organization's employees' own their actions and can connect them to the organization's goals and performance and can see the value in doing so, this creates a great win-win situation. While definitely a challenge, what a great objective for leaders to envision and work towards!

Bailard Inc., an investment firm, is big on transparency. So big, in fact, that they don't have doors on offices. This promotes openness and allows for better sharing of ideas and colloboration. This, in turn, supports the development of junior staff members.

All of these high-performing organizations have made choices about values and priorities. Leaders have provided organizational cultures that support corporate goals and motivate and excite employees to do their better to attain those goals. It is really impressive to see the insights these small business leaders have and there is much to learn from their successes.