Published November
2001
Terra
Resource Group keeps employees happy
By
Bryan Corliss
Herald Economy Writer
A lot of companies
give lip service to the idea of treating their employees right. You know:
People are our No. 1 asset. We’re all part of the team. Our people make
the difference. Yeah, sure. Whatever.
Five years ago, Terra
Resource Group had a problem, said Jenifer Lambert, the company’s Vice
President for Business Development. The temporary-services company’s No.
1 client wasn’t treating the workers Terra sent over all that well. People
were getting hurt on the job. Office staffers calling about complaints
got blistered over the phone.
So Terra axed them,
severing the relationship with its main customer, because its people weren’t
nice to deal with.
“The values weren’t
a match,” Lambert said. “There are a lot of good quality companies to
do business with. We’re not going to waste time and money and energy”
on those that aren’t, she added.
The incident shows
that Terra is serious about being “the kind of company that I like to
come in to every day,” said Betty Neighbors, the President and founder.
That’s probably why
Terra was judged one of Washington’s best small companies to work for
in a recent survey done for Washington CEO magazine, which also had separate
categories for large and midsize companies, and for nonprofits.
“Terra rocks!!!!”
one employee wrote on an anonymous survey form. “This is easily the best
company for which I have worked,” wrote another. “I love my job and trust
my employers and would not consider leaving.”
The surveys were
distributed and compiled by Watson Wyatt Worldwide, a human resources
firm. Employees judged the companies they work for on a 1 to 5 scale over
nine broad categories, including leadership and benefits.
Terra consistently
scored almost a full point higher than the national average — a point-and-a-half
in some categories. Workers gave the company an average score of 4.91
for career development and training, 4.90 for working environment, 4.87
for communication and 4.84 for decision-making.
In six of the nine
categories, workers rated the company’s performance higher than Terra’s
own managers did. Only one other small business — The Seneca Real Estate
Group of Seattle — had higher average scores in the survey.
Terra is very much
a family business. Neighbors started it in her home in 1983 while she
was home with her three children. Originally it was a typing service,
which grew to add an answering service, and eventually became a temp agency
when Neighbors’ clients began calling to ask if she could fill in at their
offices.
She couldn’t, but
she found others with office skills who could.
As the business grew,
Neighbors’ husband, Steve, came on board as its Chief Executive. Lambert
is their daughter. Her husband, Greg, is Vice President of Operations
for their branches in Everett and Seattle.
Workers say they
feel like part of the family, too.
“The difference is
that this family always supports and encourages each other to be the best
they can be,” one wrote in the survey.
Communication is
good, they said in the survey, because workers have regular meetings with
supervisors where they talk about life on the job — and outside it. The
workers said managers listen to their suggestions, so they feel involved
in decision-making.
The work environment
is fun, others said. Managers haul out baskets of toys for staff meetings.
Quarterly meetings feature food and entertainment. Exceptional performance
is rewarded with prizes — skiing or shopping trips or cruises.
Workers also praised
Terra’s “dual-track” career program, which allows them an alternative
to traditional promotion through the ranks into management. Frontline
workers who take on additional duties and get advanced training qualify
for higher pay, Neighbors said.
As a result, one
employee wrote on the survey that the “work pace is fast, much gets done
with healthy competition and a spirit of teamwork.”
Keeping workers happy
keeps the company profitable, Lambert said. Terra is having one of its
best-ever years, even in the midst of an economic slowdown that has led
some national temporary-service agencies to shut down local offices.
And research shows
that companies that do keep workers happy end up being happy with their
bottom line, said Jackie Armborst, a consultant with Watson Wyatt.
“There are some employers
who have employees who are exceptionally happy,” she said. “This is just
the kind of thing we’re seeing in forward-thinking companies.”
But it’s not just
about the money, Lambert said. It’s about creating the kind of place where
they like to work.
“If it’s just about
generating income for us, we could get other jobs,” she said.
Neighbors agreed.
“We could just own a car wash.”
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