I am happy to report to my readers that Bridge Worldwide, my day job, was named the #9 Best Small Business to Work For in America by the Society for Human Resource Management. This is the same organization that lists the Fortune Best Companies to Work For. And I am very proud both as an employee and executive at Bridge. From the day I first joined Bridge, I learned that the best hard-core business strategy for a successful advertising agency is to make it a great place to work.
I joined Bridge Worldwide two years ago last week and it has been an amazing learning experience in how the power of people can drive a company to success. Before, I was a Brand Manager at P&G with 6 direct reports. If the plant kept turning out cleaning product, our jobs were pretty safe. At Bridge, an advertising agency, I inherited a group of more than 30 and quickly learned that if people don't show up, or show up unmotivated, the work will clearly suffer. My learning curve continues to be nearly vertical as I help drive our team through high growth and manage some bumps and bruises along the way.
To be clear, being a great place to work is NOT about short hours and foosball. What most of us love about working at Bridge is the people. We work hard and play hard together. We talk about family and life a lot. We always know that we need to get better and improve. And we are continuously growing as individuals, work groups and as a company overall.
I enjoy interviewing new hires and hearing about how they came to Bridge because they knew it is a special place. I love the chance to impact skills by teaching, and I love being molded as well by my direct reports. I love seeing one of my people come up with a great idea or leading a big meeting for the first time without my direct involvement. Through the fire of a new business pitch to the pain of an angry client, our people pull together to help each other succeed.
A great example of the result of our culture happened on Friday. One of my Account Supervisors left the company to prepare for full-time motherhood, and she sent a note that said Bridge was the best place she ever worked. It really made my heart smile to hear this, as it shows that we are not just building a great business, but building a place where people actually love coming into in the morning.
Getting back to the Challenge Dividend, I love that organizations like the Society of Human Resource Management and Fortune make the effort to establish rankings for "fuzzy" things like the best places to work. It gives our company a way to challenge ourselves to improvement, a way to measure ourselves against competitors for quality people and great clients, and a "trophy" to hold up to celebrate a job well done. Perhaps best of all, like in sports, the rankings start over every year - and we must push ourselves to make it an even better place.
Next year we're determined to be #1, by enjoying our jobs even more.
UPDATE: As a loyal reader pointed out, yes we are hiring!!
And I hear that Bridge Worldwide is hiring...check it out here www.bridgeworldwide.com
Posted by: Jay | October 11, 2006 at 08:39 AM