In terms of benefits and practices, here are three fundamental themes that we can identify as common to the success of the ‘100 Best’:

 
1. Paying, for solid performance, above the average for their industry or market niche.  In today’s world it’s not very likely that we’ll attract and hold good teammates while offering below-standard compensation.  It’s a buyer’s market now for employers, given the high unemployment of this moment, but this will not always be the case.  Getting the best is only half the equation, keeping them is the other.  This isn’t a difficult factor to quantify… if you don’t already know it you should.  Our first question or rating is, do your team members make more than average, position for position, in their job classification?      

                                                                      YES___   NO___  How do you know?_____________________

2. Next, and a little more complex, is the matter of creating a sense of “ownership” in the team, either through actual or implied ownership.  Most of the Fortune companies we’re comparing ourselves to here are publicly traded, and can easily use stock and stock options to give a sense of actual ownership and participation in the benefits accrued through profitable growth to their employees.  Most businesses in the small to medium size range are privately held and unable to easily do this.  In this case, we must be creative and use other means to accomplish the same end… an attitude of ownership and long-term commitment more than anything else.  ESOPs, phantom stock or options, and incentive-based ‘performance pay’ are all used by privately-held companies to create the sense of ownership that’s so critically important.  It’s not the mechanism that makes the difference here.  Many companies offer stock options and no one cares, particularly because they don’t desire to own part of the business or historical company leadership has demonstrated that such options aren’t trustworthy or worth much!  Employees don’t “buy in” emotionally.  No, it’s a matter of credibly using such mechanisms to create and encourage a shared attitude.  The bottom line is, whether or not we currently have this feeling in the workforce, that they’re “owners” and that what they do is important to the future success of their ownership.  Does your team have this attitude?

                                                                     YES___  NO___  How do you know?_____________________

3. Third is an exceptional commitment to training.  The ‘100 Best’ average over 40 hours of training per employee per year.  “We consider training to be an investment rather than an expense” is a typical comment from ‘100 Best’ leadership.  Today’s top employees know the value of education and training and appreciate the opportunities that accrue from working for a company that sees it as important and proves it by its actions.  In this context we are talking about training that increases the job-related skills and are prerequisite to promotion.  If such skills also broadly enhance their life and family, so much the better!  The best employees know that their job security and market value relates to staying ‘ahead of the curve’ in applied knowledge related to their field.  Companies that invest in them to help them grow and stay at the forefront are good places to work.  Do you invest 40 or more hours per year in training your employees on average?  

                       YES___ NO___ What’s your number? ___ How do you know?___________________ 

Would effectively doing the three things on the previous page make a difference in the bottom line?  Done in a way that’s integral to an overall operating plan and set of core principles, of course!  Employee turnover is very expensive, often approaching a year’s salary for position being churned.  Reducing the rate of turnover offers a big pay back on compensation, training, learning curve and customer relationship costs.  Also, recruiting the ‘best of the best’ from among the available talent pool is made much easier when our reputation is as great place to work, where team members work for more than just a solid paycheck!

One further thought.  Christian companies should, by definition, be great places to work.  If we’re diligent and successful in learning and applying genuine Biblical principles (e.g., servant leadership) in our companies, our reputation as a great place to work will spread.  We may never get big enough for Fortune magazine to notice, but The One who really knows the score will, and so will those He wants to work with us.