Putting People First: Georgia’s Best Places to Work

High Standards: Kevin Wade, IntelliSystems president and CEO, and Cassy Stringfield, chief financial officer and human resources manager. Photo credit: Hillary Kay

Some offices have foosball tables or full-time baristas serving caffeinated beverages, while others lure employees with the promise of unlimited vacation time. Increasingly, however, those workplace perks aren’t the ones attracting employees or compelling them to stay.

Employees at some of the best companies in Georgia say their companies’ leaders show appreciation for their contributions, encourage them to learn new skills, provide room to experiment and value their individual strengths and needs.

In the most recent Best Companies Group survey of Georgia workplaces, 11 companies made the list for having a top-rated work culture.

“The employers we selected this year are on this list because they did one thing very well: build a people-first organization,” says Jaime Raul Zepeda, executive vice president and principal consultant for organizational culture at Best Companies Group. “People liked the people they worked with, meaning that the employer has done a great job of hiring culture fits that can connect with their people quickly,” Zepeda says. “The [employers] also received high marks on purpose and pride. Employees are not only connected to their employer but are proud to be working for them.”

Gabriela Marushak, program business partner with the Best Companies Group, says the survey, administered by the Boston Consulting Group, asks employers about benefits and asks employees about how they feel about their employer. To be eligible, companies must meet predetermined employee response rate thresholds. The survey administrators then gather responses and rank companies based on a weighted average of scores to the questions.

Taking Pride in Expertise

Topping the list this year, Augusta-based IntelliSystems was recognized for instilling a sense of pride among its employees. Consulting Director Peter Franklin says the company urges customers not to skimp on cybersecurity.

“They’re leaning on us to be the experts, so when we take a customer on, we’re going to implement certain security tools, and we’re constantly pushing our techs to further their credentials and gain new knowledge of what’s going on,” says Franklin, who is proud of being able to keep clients’ networks safe.

With more sophisticated cyberthreats and the growth of artificial intelligence, employees have to regularly advance their skills, according to President and CEO Kevin Wade.

“We pull out every stop. Criminals are continuing to get smarter. We’re trying to grow our toolbox to continue to be able to defend customers in that regard,” Wade says.

Technical employees advance through company-paid certifications. Meanwhile, consultants like Franklin receive training or attend conferences to continue learning and expand their networks.

“It’s been pretty nice picking up and strengthening what we already think we’re good at. We’re constantly challenging ourselves,” Franklin says.

Problem Solvers: Lynne Reeves, director of the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission’s Area Agency on Aging; Boyd Austin, the commission’s executive director; and Ethan Calhoun, its assistant director of regional planning. Photo credit: Ben Rollins

Those high standards also translate into hiring decisions.

Chief Financial Officer and Human Resources Manager Cassy Stringfield says new hires go through a rigorous process to ensure a two-way fit. With a total of 28 employees, IntelliSystems has managed to maintain a close-knit atmosphere, one where every employee’s birthday is celebrated, every personal and professional milestone acknowledged.

“It’s just very much like an open-door policy and kind of a family feel,” says Franklin.

In addition, he says he values the competitive compensation plans, retirement contribution matching and profit-sharing benefits.

Freedom to Take Risks

Holistic wealth management for both clients and employees is a brand promise at female-led financial advisory and wealth services firm SignatureFD, which has served Atlanta since 1997. The company’s leaders are proud of their employees’ entrepreneurial spirit, allowing them to carve their own “net worthwhile” path.

“It’s this idea that you are using your wealth, your resources, in alignment with the things that matter most to you,” says Chief Marketing Officer and Partner Crystal Mathis.

With both an employee and client retention rate at or above 95% respectively, the company has grown from a small but mighty team in 1997 to a shop of 122 employees today.

Mathis says leadership encourages experimentation: Employees have room to try new strategies, “fail fast” and rapidly learn from mistakes, and pivot quickly.

“One of our secret sauces as to why we’re attracting good talent is we have values in place called Six Gs – generosity, grit, growth, greatness, gratitude and grace. We reward around them. Our bonuses are rooted around them,” Mathis says. “I think the next generation really wants organizations that strongly believe in their value systems and hold true to them.”

Challenging Work, Large-Scale Impact

Problem-solving is a way of life at the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission, where no two workdays are the same and interagency collaboration is necessary to get things done.

Employees enjoy learning from each other and figuring out new ways to serve the community. The commission, a multi-county organization consisting of 15 Northwest Georgia counties and 48 municipalities, began operating in 1961 and serves many aspects of the community, from preserving and protecting natural and cultural resources, to providing services for the aging population and expanding infrastructure. It is guided by its council of 50 members from the region, including the chief elected official of each member county, one mayor from each member county, and a nonpublic official from each county (appointed by the county) in addition to three residents from the region (each appointed by the governor), and two non-public members (one appointed by the lieutenant governor and the second by the speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives).

Executive Director Boyd Austin says although the agency has taken on different names and grown to include more counties over the years, it has remained steadfast in providing location-based services, and that sense of purpose is why employees have stayed as long as they have.

“We’ve had retirements in the last few years of people who have been here in excess of 40 years,” he says.

Lynne Reeves, director of the commission’s Area Agency on Aging, says it was the commission’s purpose and mission that attracted her to join when she initially started as a contract worker 10 years ago. Not only did she feel that serving older adults was meaningful work, but she found that each day offered new opportunities and challenges.

“The employers we selected this year are on this list because they did one thing very well: build a people-first organization.” – Jaime Raul Zepeda, executive vice president and principal consultant for organizational culture, Best Companies Group

“It was just using your creativity and having the ability to think: ‘How can I serve someone?’” she says.

Reeves also appreciates the commission’s ability to meet the emerging demands of its community and workforce, with technology having become an integral part of the job.

Personal laptops and a migration to an Internet-based phone system have offered the ability to work remotely when needed. Such scheduling flexibility is a coveted workplace perk, according to Best Companies’ Marushak.

“We see an increased desire in flexibility for employees. They want to be able to maybe leave an hour early one day to go attend a kid’s recital at school,” she says. Flexibility has also helped the commission in serving its communities better, and the job often requires travel. Virtual meetings with other government agencies facilitate and expedite service delivery. Having broadscale impact is why Assistant Director of Regional Planning Ethan Calhoun boomeranged back to his role with the commission after a short stint away.

“It’s just a bigger-picture organization. You get to really accomplish a lot of work. We’re not dealing with as many day-to-day operations and issues as local governments or other types of organizations,” Calhoun says. He cites the commission’s successful $1.5 million grant application for the city of Dalton and the Dalton-Whitfield Joint Development Authority through the Rural Workforce Housing Initiative Program. The grant mostly covered residential development, which was outside of Calhoun’s wheelhouse of city planning. However, since he had attended Dalton State College, he used his knowledge and contacts in the area, collaborated with local entities and drew upon the expertise of the commission’s senior staff to write a winning grant application.

“While we do have some bread-and-butter grants and some things that we’re extraordinarily confident with preparing applications for, we’re always willing to get outside of our comfort zone and do something new,” Calhoun says.

Looking ahead, Reeves notes that employees will need to continue to develop greater business acumen to source more private funding or promote the commission’s services through digital marketing.

“One of our secret sauces as to why we’re attracting good talent is we have values in place called Six Gs – generosity, grit, growth, greatness, gratitude and grace. We reward around them. Our bonuses are rooted around them.” – Crystal Mathis, chief marketing officer and partner, SignatureFD

Agility and Authenticity

Georgia represents one of the larger markets across the country for OneDigital, which is headquartered in Atlanta. The company has grown its Georgia workforce in the last five years from 403 to 483 employees, and it serves as broker and consultant for 1,590 client partners in Georgia.

Collaborative Leadership: April Husted, senior managing principal of OneDigital Georgia. Photo credit: Ben Rollins

April Husted, senior managing principal of OneDigital Georgia, joined the consulting firm through an acquisition about six years ago. She was optimistic about the acquisition because of OneDigital’s stable leadership and reputation as a nimble consulting firm.

“We’re 25 this year, and that gives us the opportunity to be the newer, less stodgy and bureaucratic and siloed version of what we do, which is very liberating,” Husted says, comparing her firm to older ones. “OneDigital’s ability to flex and accommodate and morph with the times and the outside business pressures created a unique environment.”

Building professional relationships through the acquisition was seamless. Long-standing teams opened their network to her, she says.

“You could call anyone anywhere in the country at any time, and they could know you or not know you and help you just the same,” she says. “It’s a very free-flowing, collaborative, non-hierarchical and transparent team.”

Unique Environment: OneDigital employees recently attended an all-day team meeting at Painted Pickle, which included a friendly pickleball competition. Photo credit: Contributed

Key to the company’s culture is a recognition of each individual’s strengths, challenges and specific situations. Thus, employee resource groups have flourished, giving employees a forum to engage with people facing similar opportunities and challenges.

Husted indicates such engagement makes OneDigital shine. She says when employees feel heard across various generations, life stages, demographics and abilities is “when we’re at our best.”