Over the years, my goal has to been to retain our people at LaSalle Network because they are really good at what they do and we want them to stay. My theory is if we hire great people and retain them, we’ll grow and evolve as needed.
So far, this theory has worked out to be true. We have been an Inc. 5000 company for nine years in a row, and are obviously growing. However, growth without a great culture doesn’t seem like much fun. We believe, like many other companies, that we have a great culture, but how do you really ever know?
How to measure company culture
I know many CEOs who look at turnover rate as a way to measure a company’s culture. If turnover is low, then it’s a great company. But if you have bad people that never leave, or you don’t ever upgrade talent, then is it really a great place to work? Even the best companies hire the wrong people from time to time – it’s how you treat them that counts.
The LaSalle Network difference
At LaSalle Network, we believe that people come first. Giving an employee a gold watch on their 25 year anniversary with the company is passé. Acknowledging what people do every single day is what matters.
One way we do this is by celebrating “re-birthdays”, or the anniversary of an employee’s start date. The celebrating – clapping, singing and gift-giving – is fun, but the real purpose of a “re-birthday” is to thank employees for their hard work in the last 365 days. Companies that show appreciation and create strong bonds with their employees are the ones that have strong company cultures.
Go beyond the games
While ping pong tables and kegs are great fun, they’re not a culture creator on their own -- they’re a gimmick. At LaSalle Network, we hope to create situations where our employees want to have fun celebrating their successes and the successes of their peers, not just take breaks from accomplishing their goals and blow off steam.
When you’re dealing with culture, it’s important to get holistic. It can’t be a message that is printed on a banner once a year in a company (although that’s a step in the right direction). It has to be something people are living with and experiencing daily. When you do that, you have a culture that really and truly is unique. It’s about passion, caring and accountability.
What this award means to us
To have our own staff evaluate our company and cause us to win Glassdoor’s Best Places to Work award means they are happy. We have turnover and we hire the wrong people sometimes. However, we treat people fairly, hold them accountable and we have a ton of fun doing it.
At the end of the day, our team enjoys the sense of community we have at LaSalle Network and they want to grow as individuals and as professionals here. We live in a world where employees turn to the internet for opinions and views on the world. When they are looking for the inside scoop on a company, today, they turn to Glassdoor! To be acknowledged on Glassdoor’s list of Best Places to Work is both humbling and motivating.
To be the only company on the list in Illinois also makes me proud. And, to be the only staffing and recruiting firm to make the list makes me feel honored. We want our employees to love working here, so it’s nice to know that they do.
