Best Workplace Lists Pay Rewards With Recruiting, Retention, Competitive Edge

Michael Epstein recalls listening to a well-known consultant to the accounting profession discuss the magnitude of the staffing crisis at a practice management conference. During the presentation, Epstein, MP of Fuller Landau in Toronto, was struck with an epiphany: "If staffing is my No. 1 problem, then why isn't solving that problem my No. 1 priority?"

He went back to his firm after that conference and began rebuilding his firm's culture into one that values its people as highly as it

Increasingly, accounting firms recognize that a spot on "Best Places To Work" lists provides a competitive edge in recruiting, differentiates them from their competitors, earns deferential respect among clients and referral sources - and can be as valuable as money in the bank when it comes to retaining skilled professionals by reinforcing to employees that they are part of an inner circle that others long to joui.

When FL was named one of the best places to work in Canada, "People were high-fiving, we had champagne - the effect on morale was exceptional," Epstein recalls. "Happiness [among staff) weaves its way into client happiness. Happy people equal profits." For example, Epstein sensed that the relationship with a particular client was deteriorating and met with the client for a "summit" in an attempt to turn the tide. The client noted that FL was one of Canada's 100 best places to work and said, "I have a ton of respect for you, how you treat your people. We're going to establish that [as a goal] for the next three years."

Workplace Lists Have Huge Impact For MidMarket Employers

Such lists have enormous power in local and regional markets for middle-market firms. Making the best workplace list in the South Florida Business Journal for the past two years had a tremendous influence on recruiting at Kaufman Rossin & Co. (FY06 net revenue: $36.2 million, 30 partners, 225 total staff, four offices), says Managing Principal James R. Kaufman.

"It's been more powerful than any internally generated claims or materials," Kaufman says. He was skeptical when he first heard of the list, thinking, "We're not subscribers. They're not going to give us anything." But the firm's recruiting efforts have become more fruitful in recent months, and he speculates that the list had an impact. "Since the award, we've had an easier time," Kaufman says.

"Firms that get on these lists tend to have a 'people focus,'" says Tom Porter, a human resources consultant with Aspire (www.aspireperegrine.com) in Brownsburg, Ind., and former partner-in-charge of HR at Indianapolis-based Olive LLP. "Whether they understand it or not, these firms recognize that people are the key to success, and how good a firm you have depends on how good your people are."

Appearing on a local list of best places to work can bring benefits to small firms that otherwise might not be available due to their limited resources. Beene Garter of Grand Rapids, Mich. (11 partners, 75 total staff) has been named one of West Michigan's "101 Best & Brightest" companies by the Michigan Business and Professional Association for the past four years. As a result, BG participates in half-day workshops and panel discussions for the winners, explains Mike Sabbe, BG's director of firm administration.

Through such participation, the firm improved its staff development, training and intranet resources by following the techniques of a health care organization that participated in the workshops. And a place on the list positions the firm as an authority on workplace issues: not only have BG clients acknowledged the award, but some even ask the firm how they might also score a place on the list.

How Can Your Firm Stay Off A List If Its Competitors Are On?

Savvy firms understand the competitive disadvantage of not being listed as a great employer when their competitors are. Jeff Zudeck, managing partner of the East Hanover, N.J., office of New York-based Friedman LLP, saw business weekly NJBiz's list of "Best Places to Work in New Jersey" for 2005. Several of his competitors were on the list. However, his New Jersey office -with 11 partners and 70 staff members - wasn't.

"How can they be on there when we're not?" Zudeck wondered. "That was an impetus for us to enter the contest."

A year later, Zudeck walked into the awards ceremony for firms that made the 2006 list. He knew Friedman was on the list, but the exact rankings were still a secret.

The event organizers announced the results in ascending order of rank. Zudeck's excitement grew as each name passed. Finally, Friedman LLP was announced, ranking eighth among 25 small/medium firms.

Zudeck witnessed an immediate impact from making the list, both in internal morale and in recognition in the marketplace. He also notes that job applicants now are already aware of the list when they walk in the door, and he foresees a dramatic benefit to recruitment and retention.

"Knowing they're walking into a great place to work helps [job candidates] make their decision," he says. Friedman LLP has FY05 net revenue of $38 million, 31 partners, 231 total staff and three offices.

Most lists of workplace honors, administered by such entities as the Great Place to Work Institute (www.greatplacetowork.com) or the Best Companies Group (www.bestcompaniesgroup.com), are generated using a two-part process involving input from the firm and an anonymous questionnaire completed, usually online, by some or all of the firm's staff. Another company, Quantum Market Research (www.qmrinc.com), uses staff surveys exclusively. Sometimes these companies or the publications charge no fee to participate, or a nominal fee. Other list competitions involve a fee based on the number of staffers participating in the survey and can cost upward of $1,000.

Workplace Lists Act As Powerful Guns In Recruiting Arsenal

The most tangible benefit of appearing on such a list is the marketing ammunition for recruiting efforts. Clifton Gunderson, based in Peoria, 111, specifically targets placement on best workplace lists and has been named to lists in Phoenix, Tucson and Baltimore. CG distributes news of these lists to college career planning offices and accounting professors, says Milwaukee-based Lauren Malensek, CG's chief human resources officer. Consequently, "professors have sought CG out to invite us to future recruiting events," she says. CG plans to double the number of lists it applies for - and the number of lists it appears on - each year. CG's goal is to make the Fortune list of Best Companies To Work For, Malensek says. CG has FY06 net revenue of $197.6 million, 178 partners, 1,578 total staff and 47 offices.

Such placement also helps middle-market firms compete with national firms. Weaver and Tidwell in Dallas ($32 million net revenue, 20 partners, 210 professionals, 250 total staff, two offices) was named on the Dallas Business Journal's 2006 "Best Places to Work in Dallas-Fort Worth" list. In a market with an extensive Big Four presence, a place on the list gives the firm "a tangible [recruiting] tool to differentiate our opportunity from the big guys," says CEO and MP W.M. "Mack" Lawhon.

When W&T made the list, Lawhon called a meeting of everyone involved in campus recruiting, including alumni from target schools, to stress the value of the list, hoping to leverage the competitive value on campuses where national firms dominate.

Appearing on prestigious workplace lists is most profitable in terms of staff retention. Making Fortune magazine's list of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" for the past eight years presents a built-in opportunity for "re-recruiting of our existing staff members, to thank them and celebrate with them," says Bill Bufe, partner-in-charge of HR at Plante & Moran, based in Southfield, Mich. (FY05 net revenue: $214.5 million, 192 partners, 1,421 total staff and 18 offices).

Perhaps the best-kept secret benefit of competing for a spot on a best workplace list is the constructive feedback firms receive from the organization administering the survey. Often such surveys include a diagnostic assessment of employee responses, with benchmarking data from other participants. This information may include details of the firm's strengths and weaknesses.

"It's equivalent to a significant consulting study," P&M's Bufe says. "Fortune gives us a sliced-and-diced copy of [responses], including the average of the Top 100 and our delta from that. We use that as guidance, as a prescriptive tool."