Today, Dream Town Realty continues to embrace creative, out-of-the-box thinking to transform the home buying and selling experience. What began in 1998 with one small office has grown into a firm with nearly 450 brokers and six offices serving the entire Chicago area.

Dream Town, which earned the No. 1 ranking among midsize employers on the Tribune’s 2023 list of Top Workplaces, as measured by the consultancy Energage in Exton, Pennsylvania, prides itself on being ahead of the curve in adopting and building proprietary technology.

“Our company was one of the first in the country to do an online real estate search,” said Dream Town founder and CEO Yuval Degani. “This was way before the days of Zillow, Redfin and so on.”

The website fueled Dream Town’s growth, and the company evolved as it built a marketing department that functions much like a full-service marketing agency.

“We treat our brokers as clients in an ad agency,” Degani said. “What our brokers really want is help to build their own business because they are the ones who are out there talking to their clients and being in front of their clients, and so they find a lot of value in our marketing agency model.”

Dream Town also employs life coaches who are accessible to brokers and employees. Coaching, Degani said, is different from training.

“Training is showing someone a skill and teaching them how to do it,” Degani said. “Coaching is more a personal question of why. What do I want? How do I do it? How do I approach what I need to do in my life?”

Coaching “makes everybody much happier and more efficient,” Degani said. “It’s a win-win for everyone. I got coached and I think that helped me tremendously in growing the company, and the management received coaching individually and as a group.”

The agency provides opportunities for brokers to conduct group coaching. “We call them Growth Groups,” Degani said. “That’s where 10 brokers will sit together with a coach and meet with the group once a month. And they will bring and share their genius. So there’s a big community feel to Dream Town.”

Dream Town asked its brokers to describe the firm in one word, and the word that came up more than any other was family.

“It’s pretty amazing for a company that has almost 500 people. The No. 2 word is collaborative. And think about it, we’re 500 people. We still use that word family,” Degani said.

Realtor Riz Gilani has been associated with Dream Town for 13 years. For him, it’s the culture that makes his work meaningful. “It’s such a collaborative culture,” he said. “Everybody is just willing to help. At other brokerages it was like others were guarding their information. I will get three or four people offering to help me now and sharing their opinions. It’s just nice to be with people that are so helpful.”

Gilani mentors and coaches his team, especially junior agents, to help them reach their full potential. “I remember that when I was a new agent, a lot of people helped me,” he said. “They were super helpful, super cohesive and super collaborative.”

He added that Dream Town offers corporate events for everyone to enjoy, including casual events like bowling nights and large company events such as annual parties.

Dream Town has also aligned itself with the nonprofit organization Cradles to Crayons, Gilani said.

“I’ve been involved with this charity work for years, previously with Coat Angels and now with Cradles to Crayons,” he said. “During the holiday season I would go to schools where we would outfit the kids with new and gently used winter coats.”

Kristen Vega started working at Dream Town in March 2021 and is approaching two and a half years with the marketing department as a senior graphic designer.

Originally from Charleston, South Carolina, Vega said she had always hoped to one day move to Chicago. “Working for a real estate company in a new city has been a fantastic way to get to know the area, and everyone has been so kind and helpful when it comes to tips on everything from how to make it through the winter to going over tornado protocols,” Vega said.

Not only have people been helpful with general tips for the Midwest, but the collaborative spirit is something Vega said one can find in every aspect of Dream Town.

“If one of our brokers does something that is a success, they share their knowledge with everyone,” she said. “I’ve found the same goes for the marketing department — if one of us does something that proves to be helpful and or successful, we share it with everyone so we can all be successful.”

Vega said that although her team has the option of going into the office, most work remotely.

“It’s refreshing to log in to work every morning and immediately start laughing with co-workers,” Vega said. “When we do get together for a working day in the office or to grab a staff lunch, it’s always a fun time.”

Today Ozinga, which was founded in 1928 as the Ozinga Coal & Coke company, has more than 2,000 employees in five states.

The family-owned Mokena business, which celebrated its 95th anniversary this year, ranks 37th among midsize employers on the Tribune’s 2023 list of Top Workplaces, as measured by the consultancy Energage in Exton, Pennsylvania.

Many know Ozinga for its red-and-white concrete mixer trucks. But employees know the company, which operates in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan and south Florida, for its commitment to community and its family-like atmosphere.

“Our ownership is very growth-minded,” said Joya Calloway, organizational development supervisor. “They want to make sure that as the company grows and expands that our purpose and work culture remains the same. They are really careful not to lose the sense of family as the company grows.”

Ozinga’s Diversity, Unity, and Fellowship Initiative offers informational sessions, service-learning opportunities and other gatherings that celebrate heritage months like Black History Month and Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. In December, the company will acknowledge International Day of Persons With Disabilities.

“The initiative is pretty new,” Calloway said. “I started those diversity efforts last year. It’s about celebrating our differences and coming together with our purpose in mind. A purpose of making a positive impact.”

Ozinga also celebrates employee milestones, including work anniversaries and family developments.

“We celebrate new babies,” Calloway said. That type of information is often shared on communication screens in the Ozinga offices. The screens also broadcast co-worker spotlights, where employees have the opportunity to share fun facts about themselves.

“So no one is an employee, we are all co-workers. Whether you’re a senior executive or handling the finances, everyone is a co-worker,” Calloway said.

Ready-Mix billing specialist Becca Draper recently celebrated her seventh year with Ozinga. She started at the company as a receptionist.

The mother of a 16-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter appreciates the work-life balance her job offers.

She also enjoys engaging with her co-workers and their families at the picnics, holiday parties and sporting events the company hosts.

“From the co-workers to the customers it’s like another family,” Draper said. “It’s really just a positive experience building relationships with each other.”

Draper also appreciates the service projects Ozinga employees participate in. She said her billing team recently cleaned the cabins at Shady Oaks Camp in Homer Glen and helped get the camp organized for summertime campers.

Mary Kate Burns, Ozinga’s HR compliance supervisor, has been employed by Ozinga for more than two years. “I love the faith-based environment, starting meetings with prayers and ending with prayers,” said Burns, who occasionally joins co-workers for walks around the neighborhood to get fresh air and exercise. “Each role or position within the company plays a vital role in the company’s overall success.”

Joe Garcia started working in Indiana as an assistant safety/environmental coordinator for Ozinga. He flourished in the position and was given the opportunity for advancement on the corporate side of the company.

In August, Garcia became the learning and development manager, a position that involves overseeing all aspects of Ozinga’s training and development.

“It’s an amazing company to work with,” he said. “The owners are really down to earth and very approachable. And although we are a larger company, it still has the feel of a small family-owned business.”

“We believe our company culture is the main differentiator that will lead us to greatness,” said Monica Novomisle, chief people officer for Kraft Heinz North America. “The growth of our people is a critical metric of business success.

Over the past four years, the food manufacturer has been transforming its operations and its corporate culture, Novomisle said. Kraft Heinz has doubled down on diversifying its ranks, and it’s committed to championing employees and helping them develop. The company has also created engagement councils comprised of employees at every level who gather real-time feedback and tackle issues head-on.

“Every person at Kraft Heinz owns creating and bettering our community, and it’s working,” Novomisle said.

Kraft Heinz appears for the first time this year on the Tribune’s list of Top Workplaces, as measured by consultancy Energage in Exton, Pennsylvania. Kraft Heinz ranks 21st among large employers. The company employs more than 3,300 employees in Illinois, including its headquarters in downtown Chicago, a research and development center in Glenview, and across manufacturing and operations. The company has three manufacturing facilities and three primary distribution campuses in Illinois.

This year, Kraft Heinz has hired approximately 550 people across Chicagoland, Novomisle said. The company has been investing in areas that will fuel its continued growth, including R&D and the innovation and digital teams.

At the same time, the company strives to maintain a sense of community.

“We’ve been vocal about making our big company feel smaller,” Novomisle said. “Volunteering together and working in our communities together helps give us that ‘small feel’ while making a difference.”

The company holds an annual Packathon for Rise Against Hunger that brings together employees at two dozen sites across the globe to pack meals. In 2022, employees packed 700,000 meals. This year, the company set a goal to pack 1 million meals for children and families in need.

The company also offers an athletic charity program where 25 employees from across the globe competed in the 2023 Bank of America Chicago Marathon, raising money for the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

“As a company, we’ve stepped in to sponsor our runners, covering all the costs, race fees, fundraising minimum and travel expenses,” Novomisle said.

Abby Kalsto, senior marketing analyst for Lunchables, has been employed at Kraft Heinz since graduating from college in 2020.

“It’s been a dream of mine to go back to school and get my MBA,” Kalsto said. “Kraft Heinz has given me the financial freedom and balance to focus on my part-time MBA program at Northwestern Kellogg School of Management. It means so much to me to have an employer who supports my personal and professional growth.”

But for Kalsto, the best part of working at Kraft Heinz is the autonomy. “Every day I come to work and I’m able to make decisions that create a positive impact in consumers’ lives,” she said.

During Patty LaValle-Jones’ three-plus years with Kraft Heinz, the director of procurement and transformation has noticed the company’s endless pursuit to be better.

“The company urges us to bring our diverse knowledge and experiences to work each day,” she said. “We are encouraged to find our voice and to speak up, challenge the status quo and drive solutions.”

LaValle-Jones said Kraft Heinz has invested in her development by providing executive coaching and various types of training. The company also offers tools and resources that employees can leverage for mental and physical well-being, she said.

The company offers LiveWell, a program that helps employees manage their physical, financial, social and emotional health. This year Kraft Heinz added two apps as part of the LiveWell program: “Daylight,” which treats anxiety, and “Sleepio,” which treats insomnia, Novomisle said.

Kraft Heinz also has a “work from anywhere” program, which gives employees the ability to work outside the company’s offices for up to six weeks each year.

“We all play many roles as individuals personally and professionally, and finding that balance has been easier by leveraging Kraft Heinz’s culture of flexibility and our more recent six weeks ‘work from anywhere’ benefit,” LaValle-Jones said.

Adis Sulejmanovic, head of demand planning, has been with Kraft Heinz for a little over five years. He finds that the most exciting part about the organization is its “We” culture.

“Our principles inspire collaboration, aim for excellence and guide our journey of continuous improvement,” he said. “We play to win, and we do it by investing in our people, being dependable to our partners, serving our customers and giving back to our communities. It is also energizing to be part of the history of an organization that has been feeding the world with world-class iconic brands for well over 100 years.”

“Magid has been very intentional in creating a workplace culture that attracts top talent,” she said. “Part of it is that our CEO, Greg Cohen, takes a lot of time to make sure that team members are aware why Magid is a great place to work. He does a great job bringing clarity regarding Magid’s vision and making sure that we all understand how we connect to it.”

“He is very involved with meeting with our director team and our senior leaders and emphasizing the importance of leadership, which is key to making sure that as we get talent we are able to keep talent,” Williams said.

Magid, a manufacturer and distributor of personal protective equipment, is a fourth-generation, family-owned business that is ranked No. 47 among mid-size employers in the Chicago Tribune’s 2022 list of Top Workplaces, as measured by the consultancy Energage in Exton, Pennsylvania. Magid does serious work — providing innovative safety products to protect workers in hazardous environments. But it also likes to have fun and understands the importance of work-life balance.

“The No. 1 key to our success is our strong team,” Cohen said. “We currently have the strongest team in our history, and that is what truly drives Magid’s success. An integral part of our business model is helping our team members develop, grow and succeed.” The company offers tuition reimbursement, internal training and support for outside training programs.

“We like to say that safety isn’t just a job, it’s our legacy. Since 1946, my family has been passionate about keeping workers safe. Years later, we are still a family-owned business, and that passion and care for helping others has carried on and grown with our organization,” Cohen said.

“When I walk around Magid and speak with employees, it’s clear that our team is proud to work at a company where they know they’re making a difference every day. We aren’t just making and shipping products. We’re helping our customers keep their workers safe.”

Because Magid is in the personal protective equipment business, it was able to provide first responders and health care workers with the PPE they so desperately needed, donating over a quarter-million dollars of products to various organizations throughout the pandemic.

Magid also partnered with large companies like Google, Amazon, Tesla and Bechtel to make joint donations of large quantities of PPE.

Beyond that, Magid team members volunteer with Feed My Starving Children and Habitat for Humanity, and participate in fundraising activities throughout the year, such as the Allstate Hot Chocolate 5K and a variety of food, toy and clothing donation drives during the holidays.

“Founder’s Day is when we celebrate significant anniversaries and milestones,” Cohen said. “Some people have spent their entire careers here and it is a special experience to celebrate those members who have contributed to the business 30-, 40-, 50-plus years.”

Magid has found that providing a fun, engaging workplace makes employees more motivated, productive and happy.

“Two words we often hear when our team members describe working at Magid are family and fun,” Cohen said. “We work hard to achieve our mission of protecting workers, but we take time out to have fun and appreciate each other, too. We celebrate holidays and events together, we celebrate each other’s achievements, and we encourage our team members to take care of themselves, build relationships and support one another.”

He added, “A healthy work-life balance is a top priority at Magid, and so is physical well-being. We provide opportunities for camaraderie like indoor and outdoor walking tracks, a game court with basketball, pickleball and Ping-Pong, and even an occasional yoga-at-your-desk session.”

Caring for people within the organization and outside of it in the larger community leads to a higher level of purpose for Magid. This takes shape in numerous ways.

“We take care of our community with holiday drives to donate clothing, food and toys,” Cohen said. “We sponsor blood drives, group volunteering sessions and have even partnered with Chicago Scholars to offer opportunities for youth from under-resourced communities. It’s in these moments where Magid’s strong company culture can best be seen. After over 75 years in business, we strive to be a place where people can be themselves, have fun and give their best to help the company grow.”

Sarah Anderson, senior director of marketing and product management, has climbed the corporate ladder at Magid. She started as a product manager about 10 years ago.

“Over the years, Magid has made significant investments in my professional development,” she said. “It is a huge reason why I have stayed so long with the company. Magid helped me realize my potential by offering me ample opportunities and training programs to enhance my professional and leadership skills.”

She added, “One of the things that we are working toward is leading our industry with innovative safety solutions, and through that, one of the processes we take is in-depth discussions about our customers so that we can create products that keep our workers safe. That mission is very inspiring for all of the employees here.”

The importance of having a strong organizational culture can’t be emphasized enough. A group called The Forum! meets regularly to foster a high-performance culture.

“Upper management and I meet with representatives from every part of the organization and anyone in the company can submit concerns, requests or opinions,” Cohen said. “The representatives are tasked with bringing issues to the group and we answer each one in writing and send it out to the entire Magid team. Over the years, we’ve used this feedback to make changes as small as adding straws to the cafeteria to as big as implementing our first work-from-home policy.”

Brenda Richardson is a freelance writer.

Lou Malnati’s, which serves pizza in four states with over 60 locations, ranks 19th among large employers on the Tribune’s list of Top Workplaces, as measured by the consultancy Energage in Exton, Pennsylvania.

In an era where job hopping is the new normal, Lou Malnati’s employees say they have developed a sense of belonging at a company that was built on family values, a strong work ethic and teamwork.

Jim D’Angelo jumped plenty of hurdles as he worked his way up at Lou Malnati’s. He started as a dishwasher and table busser when he was 15 and is now chief operating officer.

“I’m in a company that’s like a family,” he said. “What better two things could you ask for: a place that’s like home and a place where you’re continually growing and having the opportunity to become more.”

“What we fully understand is the path to our guests and in turn to our success is through our people,” D’Angelo said. “Many of us didn’t start off by thinking this was our career path,” he said. “But there’s something you find here, which is usually a team you’re working on, the family you start to become. And you combine it with opportunity and it becomes a viable option for you.”

“I like to say that we are really a people business and we just happen to sell pizza because people are really our differentiator. They are definitely at the center of our world,” D’Angelo said. “And we’re in the hospitality business, so obviously the guest voice is critical to us also. Our employees are No. 1 because they are the ones who actually take care of our guests.”

D’Angelo sees the company, which recently had its 50th Lou Malnati’s cancer benefit, as a place that’s making a difference in its community. “We’re trying to do more than just be a pizza company or even be a people company, but also support something as big as cancer research, which has affected so many. Once a quarter, we are working in the community for greater causes. We do that as a team to make sure our team knows those things matter to us and we have the voice of our employees.”

Mindy Kaplan, senior director of communications and leadership, has been with the Northbrook company for 18 years. “The first 15 years of that I was the senior director of marketing,” she said. “We really believe in growth and different opportunities within the company. I started to pursue leadership development for our team members, internal communication and things that I was way more passionate about than crunching numbers and analytics.”

Sally Glunz, who has been the director of sales for about 10 years, started working 36 years ago as a server at Lou Malnalti’s Lincolnwood location when her kids were young and she wanted something to do. About five years later, she wanted to work full time.

“So I started working where we ship our pizzas anywhere in the country,” she said. “I started as a customer service rep, answering phones and taking customer orders. I became a manager pretty quickly and eventually became the director of our e-commerce and catering and then oversaw the field team as well.”

Glunz managed the company’s e-commerce for 20 years before shifting to sales, private events and customer service. “I still am heavily involved in our e-commerce where I work with all of our vendors featured on our Taste of Chicago website, where we ship our pizzas anywhere in the country along with other Chicago iconic foods,” she said.

“I love the people and have developed relationships over the years,” Glunz said. “We work hard, but we also like to have fun. Lou Malnati’s is like my family, having been there for so long. I love developing new people and making customers happy.”

In addition to managing the sales team, Glunz sells and develops relationships with catering customers. “Our catering is a drop-off catering business,” she said. “I travel downtown to River North, Gold Coast, South Loop, West Loop and Michigan Avenue, which is our newest location in the city.”

Glunz sometimes rides along with a driver to assist with a delivery. “Doing this allows me to understand what it’s like for the store to prepare the food for a large catering order and get the delivery out the door in a timely manner,” she said. “Accompanying a delivery driver on an order helps me see what our drivers have to deal with when parking downtown, entering a building and bringing the food up to a high-rise within a 30-minute delivery window. I also work with our catering clients. I go on sales calls and meet with the customers.”

Town hall meetings are an important element of communication for the office staff, and the company offers a variety of opportunities for employees to gather for fun and service. Lou Malnati’s hosts an employee picnic each year that now takes place at six different locations. Before COVID, the event was one big picnic.

“During Thanksgiving, we assemble 1,500 baskets of food for the homeless in our warehouse the week before Thanksgiving,” said Debbi Archbold, who has been with Lou Malnati’s for 45 years and works on the finance team. “Sometimes there could be up to 100 people helping out.”

She added, “We have a big celebration in January for the whole office, which includes our catering department, Taste of Chicago team, marketing department and finance. I had my 40-year anniversary five years ago. There was a big celebration, it was pretty cool.”

Dawn Schwab, who has been with Malnati’s for 32 years, is a server in Buffalo Grove and recently joined the sales team in the corporate office. As a working mother of four kids, she said she is beyond grateful that Malnati’s has never made her feel like she had to choose between her family or career.

“Malnati’s let me have flexibility in scheduling when somebody got sick, somebody was born, somebody needed to be moved to college,” she said. “I was very fortunate in that aspect as well as in the flexibility that I’m offered when my family needs it.”

Schwab also appreciates the family atmosphere. “It just gives you that warm feeling that you know you always have someone to go to,” she said. “And I like that we always come together when there’s a need, whether it be a benefit or a fellow employee needs something. We’re always there as a family to support and help out.”

Lou Malnati’s offers employee benefits that go beyond the usual health insurance and 401(k) plans. Perks range from group dental plans, a vision reimbursement program and paid holidays and vacation days to workplace wellness programs and rewards, safety rewards, and a college tuition benefit and scholarship.

Brenda Richardson is a freelance writer.

Companies relying on commercial insurance programs were — and still are — plagued by challenges such as a lack of control over premiums and little emphasis on helping reduce the cost of risk.

Captive Resources, which earned the No. 1 ranking among mid-size employers on the Tribune’s 2022 list of Top Workplaces, as measured by the consultancy Energage in Exton, Pennsylvania, decided to try a new approach. It developed a member-owned group captive model that allows companies to become stakeholders in their own insurance company. For group captive members, the result is greater control over insurance coverage, premiums that are based on actual loss experience, a safer workplace and the potential to earn dividends for better-than-expected loss performance.

“Typically, when buying traditional commercial insurance, it’s often guaranteed cost, meaning, regardless of what my losses are and the company (that) pays them, I have no chance of getting any money back — no investment income on the money, Captive Resources CEO Nick Hentges said. “We take the opposite approach.”

“We allow the people who participate, the insurance buyers, to participate in risk, and most of their losses are less than anticipated,” Hentges said.

Through effective risk control programs, Captive Resources provides group members purpose and direction. Professional consultants partner with the member and Captive Resources. Services include an industry best practice risk control assessment, action planning to prevent and control losses, hazard surveys, training and more.

Together with Mike Foley, co-CEO and president, Hentges is responsible for the overall representation of the Itasca-based company to its clients and shares direct responsibility for the strategic planning and day-to-day operations of the company — including production, administration, risk control, claims, human resources, finance, legal, information services and travel.

Captive Resources owns and occupies a six-story building, but the pandemic put flexible work arrangements, especially working from home, in the spotlight. “We have a beautiful place for everybody to work and then COVID hit, and we immediately went to remote work or work from home,” Hentges said. “We’re back to two days a week in the office and three days a week working from home. If people want to work more from the office, they can. We don’t limit anybody’s time in the office.”

The company requires that employees are in the office on Mondays for team meetings and in-person interactions.

“We allow them to pick one other day that they are in the office,” Hentges said. “We try to make that second day a consistent day so we can know when people are coming and going to help plan any additional in-person meetings as needed. But there is some flexibility to that as well.”

He added, “That routine seems to work really well for our folks, and we just haven’t seen any letup in the service to our clients or the performance of our colleagues. So we’re pretty happy with it. We are able to attract really good folks who want to spend more time at home, but we are also able to keep our culture. We think it’s important that people see each other and get to know each other and build those relationships as well.”

Chief human resources officer Rose Frieri said Captive Resources fosters an open and transparent culture. “We keep colleagues apprised of our company’s overall performance and important initiatives, and we openly ask for opinions, ideas and concerns,” she said. “We recognize new ideas and always respond timely.”

Frieri explained that the company’s business model requires candid and ongoing communication to help ensure the highest level of service to clients. “We believe we owe the same frequent and open communication to our colleagues,” she said. “This begins in the interview process, and all colleagues are continually encouraged to express their opinions and especially their ideas.”

Sandra Springer, senior vice president of marketing added, “It is our collective intellect that helps to distinguish Captive Resources as the leader in group captives. Having said that, we have created and nurtured a culture that embraces this basic tenet of openness and communication. And once new colleagues become immersed in that culture, they feel comfortable speaking up.”

Attracting, retaining and motivating the very best talent begins by providing excellent compensation, outstanding benefits and flexibility to attract, reward and motivate colleagues.

“We also feel that recognition is key,” Frieri said. “We let our colleagues know how important they are to the success of our clients and to our company, and that they are truly appreciated. Every colleague knows they are a very important member of our team, and consequently, they feel personally connected, not only to the company but to one another.”

She pointed out that the company strives to provide fair compensation, noting that the pay for employees is fair and above average. “We evaluate regularly to ensure our increases meet or exceed the industry,” Frieri said. “We have many positions that include incentive-based pay and in recent years have provided numerous bonus opportunities for our colleagues to share in our success.”

Captive Resources regularly sponsors charities and participates in initiatives such as an annual food drive benefiting the Itasca Community Food Pantry, to help those at risk of hunger. The company participates in area blood drives to aid others when they need it most.

It also supports the Grabowski Scramble Golf Tournament, an annual event that helps fund innovative research in the fight against brain cancer.

Colleagues have united multiple times to assist the nonprofit Feed My Starving Children, providing about 50,000 nutritious meals for children worldwide. Captive Resources also was part of the Illinois Unified Relay Across America for the 2015 Special Olympics World Games in Los Angeles.

Other charitable activities have included making fleece tie blankets and gathering donations for care packages given to cancer patients by Phil’s Friends, and raising over $100,000 for the Northern Illinois Food Bank to help those struggling during the coronavirus pandemic. Colleagues also donated 125 pounds of candy to Operation Gratitude for distribution to deployed troops, local military units, veterans and first responders.

Brenda Richardson is a freelance writer.

“Everything we do is supported by our four fundamentals as a casino: fun, service, integrity and respect,” said Corey Wise, senior vice president and general manager of Rivers Casino. “That is shown through things we do through employment, how we hire, how we recruit and how we treat our team members here. And at the end of a day, we are a casino. We do want to have fun.”

Rivers is ranked No. 6 among large employers in the Chicago Tribune’s 2021 list of Top Workplaces, as measured by consultancy Energage in Exton, Pennsylvania.

The 147,000-square-foot facility houses over 1,000 of the newest slot machines on the market, along with over 70 table games, numerous dining options, a multipurpose sports bar, a nightclub and meeting space. The casino, the state’s busiest, launched its BetRivers sportsbook in March 2020 and is in the midst of an expansion that will increase the number of gaming positions.

The company offers a competitive benefits package that includes health care, dental, life and disability insurance and immediate 401(k) vesting. Lunch meals at the employee dining room only cost a dollar.

“We wanted people to get their sustenance and be well taken care of when they are here, and our team members take great advantage of that benefit,” Wise said. “All levels eat together in our employee dining room.”

Tuition reimbursement has benefited employees over the years. And for employees who like to work out regularly, the company will pay for gym memberships.

The company’s workplace culture has had a big impact on Lily Dining’s overall job satisfaction and, in the long term, her career path.

She started out in 2012 as a food and beverage supervisor and was able to transfer to her current cocktail server position in 2018. That move has allowed Dining to direct more energy toward her teenage daughter, who has a disability.

“The managers are very flexible and will work with us,” she said. “There’s a point where you don’t want to bring in your personal life, but at the same time you can talk to them and just explain. The door is always open.”

Dining added that Rivers shows appreciation for a job well done. She said, “If I go above and beyond, managers will come up to me and say ‘good job, a guest complimented you.’ Paperwork goes to HR and they put out a huge email to all the managers so they know who did a good job. And they see you in the hallway and say congratulations. Word gets around.”

Rivers takes a fun approach to team building. The company’s 10-year anniversary was celebrated with a series of activities, including Rubik’s Cube contests, recognition awards and family photo opportunities.

The theme “come on, get happy” reflected the company’s appreciation for the team members.

“We consider Rivers Casino a big family,” said Christine Rury, vice president of human resources. “Always top of mind is behavioral health and their mental well-being.”

Rivers’ Fun Committee consists of managers, supervisors and team members. The group’s quest is simple: create fun events for employees.

“They come up with some creative ideas when they are planning the events,” Rury said. “It might be a pet-rock decorating contest or just something to keep people engaged and have fun. And the ideas are from our team members, what they want to do.”

Free shuttle buses are available for commuting employees. “They make it very easy for people who don’t have cars,” Dining said.

Pasquale Marino takes pride in working as a table games supervisor at the bustling casino.

“What I love about my job is I get to interact with my team members and guests,” he said. “I’m a very good listener, and that goes a long way in the business of a casino.”

Working in such a positive atmosphere motivates him to perform to his highest ability.

“You’ve got to have a great positive attitude,” Marino said. “If you have a positive attitude in the casino, you are going to attract a lot of positive vibes from everywhere. People are just jumping up for joy when they hit a jackpot.”

He added, “When someone has just hit a nice number on the roulette table, it is just great to see them having such a good time. And that’s what we’re here for, making sure that our guests are having a great time.”

Devin Maddox, vice president and general counsel at Rivers, said the organization recognizes that charity starts at home.

Rivers helps employees bear the cost of sending their children to college by providing a scholarship program. The Rivers Casino Foundation aids employees and their immediate family members. So far, over $4 million in scholarships has been given to team members.

“A lot of our team members are so happy that a big weight is off their shoulder in regards to the amount of money that Rivers Casino gives,” said Marino, who plans to put in an application for his daughter. “It’s a tremendous benefit that the company has for our employees.”

Rivers strives to live up to its commitment to recruit and retain a more diverse workforce.

“What we want to do is make sure each and every team member feels appreciated and accepted for who they are as individuals,” said Maddox, who also spearheads the diversity, equity and inclusion task force and the Rivers Casino Charitable Foundation. “We recognize them, we celebrate them, we honor them and their contributions based on their uniqueness, their background, their culture, their experiences in life.”

The company partnered with the DuSable Museum of African American History in Chicago to donate money for their Black History program.

“We had volunteers from the casino, our team members, go there to help usher and support those programs,” Maddox said.

The company worked with the Center on Halsted to celebrate LBGQT pride by having team members help serve food to senior citizens. Rivers also celebrates Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Women’s History month.

Maddox said, “Those are just some of the things we’ve done to recognize diversity here.”

The Rivers charitable foundation also donates over $1 million a year to nonprofit organizations in the Chicago area.

One wouldn’t expect anything less from a company whose slogan is winning together.

Brenda Richardson is a freelance writer

“The instructor said, ‘We will figure it out, and you’re going to be great,'” Crouse said.

Fast forward six years and the mother of three young children has earned a reputation as a sales coach for agents, and, as a top performer, she has a say in business planning.

“I was able to elevate my career through john greene because of the training and expertise,” Crouse explained. “They really highlight the fact that it is a full-time effort, but as long as you’re working hard, you are able to put together a strong foundation and therefore a business.”

With many agents employed as independent contractors, john greene Realtor’s culture of collaboration and innovation directly contributes to the success the company has enjoyed.

“The culture and environment has really been beneficial because we do encourage everyone to be their own Realtor and run their own business, but we need to lean on each other,” Crouse said.

John greene Realtor is ranked No. 1 among small employers on the Chicago Tribune’s 2021 list of Top Workplaces, as measured by consultancy Energage in Exton, Pennsylvania.

Scott Parker, sales manager and vice president of sales and marketing, said collaboration is vital for agents to meet their goals. Monthly sales meetings encourage open and transparent communication.

“We want our team out there and productive, so we really try to minimize in-person meeting time,” Parker said. “We put a lot of onus and emphasis on ourselves as a management and leadership team to make sure that those meetings are not only productive but encouraging and motivational. And people actually want to show up.”

While some industries suffered economically amid coronavirus lockdown orders, real estate was deemed an essential business, and technology investments over the years left john greene Realtor well prepared for challenges related to coronavirus fears.

“We are a company that is very proactive in our investment in the resources and tools that we give to our agents to provide an elevated client experience,” Parker said. “And so a lot of that technology was already on the shelf. It was just simply a matter of adoption and coaching and training our agents to pivot quickly in a virtual world.”

Tigi Tasso, director of training, said there were a few weeks early on in the pandemic when the agency was unsure of what direction to take. “That gave us time as agents to really regroup and to say, OK, let’s make sure our skill sets are good,” she said. “So we took a lot of time in that downtime to improve skills. And as soon as they said we are an essential business, we had such high demand at that point because so many people, when they stayed at home in their homes, they looked around and were like, well, now that I’m spending so much time here, it doesn’t really work for me.”

John greene Realtor has 206 Chicago-area employees. The company’s strong culture of celebration, especially when agents meet their goals, builds momentum and ingrains the idea that success leads to more success.

“Everybody has a different milestone,” explained Tasso. “We never want to forget the small stepping stones that get you there. It might be celebrating an agent’s first or last transaction. We have people who are retiring out of the business as well. It might be maybe you weren’t a top producer, but this is the first time you listed a home over $500,000 or whatever that milestone is.

We try to look at all the milestones and not just from top producers.”

Team-building activities help foster workplace ties. Even in its naming conventions, Parker said, “We don’t call our staff staff; we call our staff agent support. And that is because that is a very intentional decision that everybody who works for our company is here to support our agents and our mission to create an elevated real estate experience.”

Monthly gatherings celebrate agents’ success in achieving productivity goals. “We’re a culture that really celebrates success,” Parker said. “We have monthly get-togethers when we achieve our goals that all agents are welcomed and encouraged to attend.”

Company founder John Greene is an avid horseman and polo player, so every year the agency invites current and past clients out to a professional polo match.

After a year of staying at home and social distancing, the company declared August 2021 its reconnect month.

“The fundamental part of our culture is being together,” said Tasso. “We’re a team. We help each other.”

During reconnect month, agents participated in company walks where they met at local park districts or forest preserves. Other activities included fireside chats around a campfire, zip lining, happy hours, meeting at local coffee shops and showing appreciation with food truck catering.

“We try to support small businesses as well as bring our team together to be able to enjoy a space,” Tasso said.

Fresh ideas often come out of the company’s social gatherings. “What’s really fun about it is people who have been in the industry for 15 years and people who have been in the industry for one year both have something to give,” Crouse said. “And I’m seeing the experienced agents love hearing what new cool things the new agents are doing. And of course, new agents love hearing how the veterans are making it through, too.”

In addition to a savings investment plan and paid vacation and sick time, the company has an innovation fund for employees. In a format similar to the TV show “Shark Tank,” if agents pitch an idea that they think will help improve their personal business or the company’s business, john greene Realtor will take the proposal under consideration and vote to fund it. All the company asks is that employees who make pitches track the progress of their ideas and report back on their findings, positive or negative, and then if the idea is successful, share their knowledge with others in the organization.

The agency believes in keeping customers as clients for life. “The mentality wasn’t sales, sales, sales,” Crouse explained. “It was how do you become valuable to your friends and family? And that mentality really did well for me.”

The sheer expertise at the agency is what Crouse said keeps the job interesting.

“What I love about john greene Realtor is the wide variety of professionalism that is in those four walls,” she said. “We have multiple aspects of real estate in the office — residential, commercial, land and industrial. And all of it really works well together. But what I love even more is the individuality of all the agents. If you specialize in investment, you’ve got a place, and now you’re known as a john greene Realtor with a specialty there. I really enjoy seeing so many of my colleagues grow their business based on what is important to them.”

Brenda Richardson is a freelance writer.

Mental health. Physical well-being. Diversity. Inclusion. Isolation.

The list of challenges facing organizations and their employees in 2020 is unlike any that people currently in the workforce have encountered. Agile employers have answered the adversity by listening to stressed colleagues and undertaking initiatives to keep employees focused and engaged, maintaining and even improving their organization’s culture.

Finding creative ways to keep a corporate culture thriving goes far in nurturing a sense of community as companies look ahead to business as usual — pandemic and beyond.

It’s important for companies to understand the opportunity they have, said Kate North, vice president at Colliers International’s Workplace Advisory, which helps organizations develop work-from-home and workplace strategies.

“Smart organizations that are thinking about health and ‘How do I engage my employees’ hearts and minds during this period of time?’ are going to be the heroes as we start to move through this into the next chapter,” she said.

Faced with the reality that this work-from-home experiment could last indefinitely, Chicago’s Top Workplaces are adopting new strategies and re-imagining how work gets done. They also are reflecting on their values and culture and the practices that promote that culture.

Promoting diversity and inclusion

The renewed momentum of the Black Lives Matter movement fueled by the death of George Floyd has resulted in more companies focusing on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and with renewed urgency. ORBA, a Chicago-based public accounting firm, formed a diversity and inclusion committee to identify ways the firm can foster an environment where all employees feel included and respected.

“The committee actually was something we had planned to roll out in the next year or two, and it just got a swift kick in the butt with everything happening in America,” said Sarah Wonnell, ORBA’s human resources director. “We sent out a message shortly after the initial riots in Chicago saying we are troubled and saddened by everything that’s going on, and we want to create a space where people can feel included and accepted no matter what type of diversity you are.”

The committee sent out a survey asking employees what diversity, inclusion and inequality means to them, and what would they like to see.

“We don’t want it to be a group that is the lecture police,” Wonnell said. “We want it to be something that helps teach and celebrate our differences and how to have conversations that if you feel that you’re being excluded or if you feel that you were having an adverse reaction because of it, that these are how to have the conversations. Our doors for upper management are always open as well as members of the committee.”

How companies lead their employees right now is the ultimate test of organizational values and will define corporate footprints for generations to come, said Erin Thomas, vice president and head of talent acquisition and diversity, inclusion and belonging at Upwork, an online talent marketplace.

“There is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to creating an inclusive and psychologically safe culture,” said Thomas, who suggests companies create intentional spaces to uncover the experiences, sentiments and needs of employees of color.

Being the only woman in the room is still a common experience in much of corporate America. Last year, ORBA created a Women’s Alliance group to advance the personal and professional development of women throughout the industry.

“As an industry, we see that males and females come into accounting evenly,” Wonnell said. “But as they progress in their careers, we see the female numbers shrink industrywide. We wanted to make sure that we do everything we can to be supportive and to help people be successful in their career, whatever they want that to be.”

Chicago law firm Perkins Coie also received an outpouring of concern about civil unrest. The company conducted a workshop for Black employees to talk about the trauma of racial violence and what it’s like to be Black in America.

“We had four small group sessions and then offered them for one-on-one if employees wanted to set them up on their own,” said Jennifer Bluestein, Perkins Coie’s chief talent officer. “We’ve also rolled out additional self-service tools like Headspace, an app for meditation and wellness. In the first two weeks, 20% of our personnel downloaded it.”

Onboarding employees remotely

It’s not uncommon for companies to hire and offer orientation for new workers remotely during the pandemic. Technology is driving the process. Online applications, video interviewing and virtual onboarding are being combined to enable swift, effective hiring.

GoHealth’s onboarding program was in the planning phases before the company, a health insurance marketplace, went remote, but it was expedited during the lockdown.

The firm added more than 200 agents over the summer in Chicago and other locations, and GoHealth rolled out a series of live virtual training courses for new hires.

“It gives them the opportunity to learn about our business and what we do and what different departments do that impact our overall business model,” said Christa Gochenaur, human resources director. “And it gives them that opportunity to interact with leadership, other new hires and engage with peers that they wouldn’t have the benefit of meeting in their day-to-day business.”

GoHealth also paired each new hire with an employee who became their corporate cultural tour guide.

The company shipped laptops to new hires to avoid having employees visit the office to pick up equipment. “We’ve had a few state requirements where we had to fingerprint people, so they had to show up to designated spots in Chicago and Lindon, Utah,” Gochenaur said. “But a huge percentage of our employees right now have never set foot in the office.”

Asahi Kasei Bioprocess America, a Glenview-based manufacturer in the virus filtration market, has hired 16 employees during the pandemic, eight of whom never visited the facility or met anyone in person before receiving job offers. Most new hires go through an onboarding process that is customized for their role and typically consists of a series of one-on-one or small group meetings via video conferences over a two-week period.

“All of our customers are racing each other to find vaccines or treatments for COVID-19,” said company President Christopher Nordhoff. “… We’ve been hiring like crazy, and it’s really been challenging for our HR team to fill so many open positions during a pandemic because we haven’t always been able to welcome them into the facility, and hiring managers are working from home themselves.”

Promoting a work-life balance

The fear of not knowing what could happen next can take a toll on workers’ mental and physical health. Organizations are promoting well-being strategies to improve employee health and, in turn, the bottom line.

At the team level, Upwork’s Thomas recommends employers humanize the workplace with more meaningful interactions.

“Leaders should be proactive and specific when asking how they can best provide support to employees,” she said. “Ask specific questions about employee well-being: “‘How are you, really?'” Or ‘Are you getting enough sleep?'”

Thomas suggests team leaders ask what they or their organization can do to support employees’ unique needs. For example, what additional resources do people need right now? Or is there something the company can do to make life easier?

“Employees need leaders to give them explicit permission to take time to care for themselves and their loved ones and find ways to cope with the traumas this year has doled out,” she said.

She said managers should continue to prioritize work tasks so employees can focus on what is most important.

Switching hats from work life to home life can be difficult for some employees.

Some organizations are encouraging employees to take off for the lunch hour, and no meetings are allowed.

Perkins Coie rolled out policies such as reduced, flexible work schedules and 30 hours of paid emergency time off for employees to tend to personal issues related to or resulting from the health crisis.

“If you need time off because of this emergency, whether that’s to get your elderly parents groceries because they can’t go out or you’re sick or you don’t have day care or whatever, or you’re stressed out, you have this extra 30 hours now,” Bluestein said

Some employees began taking time off for therapy. Others use it to care for children or parents. Some workers have requested time off during the day to run errands and grocery shop without having to worry about crowds, Bluestein said.

To help avoid burnout, North knows of one organization that decided to restructure the day.

“We thought about how people do focus work in the morning and then meetings are in the afternoon,” she said. “Other organizations are saying, ‘What if we all take off for the lunch hour and there are no meetings allowed, and we encourage everybody to take lunch or go for a walk?’ Then they have an internal Yammer communications tool where they can then blog about what they did to restore.”

LaSalle Network, a staffing, recruiting and culture firm, came up with some creative ways to keep employees connected and engaged.

“We did a virtual roast of the CEO, me, where we let the staff, whether you had been here a year or 15 years, you were eligible to do a roast of me to celebrate our 22nd year in business,” said CEO Tom Gimbel. “We also had a couple of barbecues in public areas where people could come in shifts of no more than 10 or 15 people, and I cooked hot dogs for people, one in the suburbs, one in the city.”

Not all jobs lend themselves to remote work. Brian Buesing, an associate scientist at Asahi Kasei Bioprocess, said he was at his workplace about 80% of the time during the summer working on research projects.

“The company took strides to minimize the number of people in the office at any time,” Buesing said. “The skeleton crew that was in the office was adhering to strict masking guidelines, and some increased cleaning practices helped keep the office as germ-free as possible. Management also made sure that all employees and contractors had unlimited paid sick time during this period. Folks who had a slight fever or a sore throat could stay home without needing to take a financial hit.”

He said there were a few instances where someone had family members who were exposed or tested positive for COVID-19, and those employees’ departments would work from home for a short while to help mitigate any spread.

Juggling children and work

The pandemic has opened a window into the world of working from home with young children.

Some workplaces have responded by setting flexible work hours and providing child care services. For instance, Chicago financial services firm William Blair is providing discounted tutoring and nanny resources.

Plante Moran, a public accounting and management consulting firm, formed a parents committee to come up with creative opportunities to support working parents.

Executives at LaSalle Network set up individual chats with working parents.

“We said, ‘We understand that you’ve got to balance family with your kids not in school and no day care and work, and we’re here for you,'” Gimbel said. “‘All we ask is that you be honest with us and share with us what you’re feeling.’ I think that getting it out in the open and that it was OK to talk about it was really a game changer.”

Despite working from home with two rambunctious young boys, Alison Fetzer, an audit manager at ORBA, has managed to make it work. “It’s definitely been an adjustment,” she said. “We had a pretty good rhythm of getting them to school or getting them to day care, going to work and then coming home. And then when the pandemic started, the kindergartner went remote and we stopped sending the 3-year-old to day care.”

On top of that, Fetzer’s husband, a commercial pilot, has been home more as airlines weather the pandemic.

“There’s been this new reshuffling in sort of figuring out how to have everybody in the house,” said Fetzer. “It was a great opportunity to spend more time together, and then as it progressed, I think it got more challenging. But I think we’re getting these rhythms down.”

Occasionally, Fetzer’s 6-year-old son will pop up in Zoom calls when she is talking with co-workers.

“What has been different about the pandemic is now everybody has to juggle it, whether they were the colleagues who have adult children, pets or roommates, you know they are home too,” she said. “More people, I think, are getting an insight into this dance that working parents do to make sure that everything gets done.”

An opportunity for reinvention

Facing the challenges of the COVID-19 landscape, there is an opportunity for companies to build a more sustainable and resilient future.

“When the only real clarity we have is that the future is uncertain, companies have the opportunity to shape a future of work that is highly human,” Thomas said.

“Current and prospective employees are paying attention,” she said. “When the economy rebounds, they’ll remember how you treated them and will be choosy about where they spend the majority of their waking hours.”

Brenda Richardson is a freelance writer.

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It’s a question that takes on increased urgency at a time of historically low unemployment, when attracting and retaining talent becomes more challenging.

Job hopping is losing its stigma, said Tom Alexander, CEO of Holistic, which uses data and analysis to help companies attract and retain employees.

“At Holistic, we always say that we’re living in the age of the employee and it’s just started,” he said. “In the past, you’d see that the employee worked for the company, but now, as much as the employee works for the company, the company works for the employee.”

In other words, successful workplaces are responding to their employees and investing in their organizations to keep workers happy. Maybe it’s seeking their ideas and acting on them. Or offering a shorter workday on Fridays, and not just during the summer months. Or making an effort to keep road warriors connected with the home office.

Moving from ’employee’ to ‘staff’

One company, Plante Moran, a Southfield, Michigan-based professional services firm whose largest office is in Chicago, took a step toward fostering an inclusive environment by getting rid of a word in most companies’ vocabularies: employee. Instead, it uses the word “staff.”

“Employee tends to have more of a connotation around ‘I just work here,'” said Eshe Dotson, director of talent selection, development and inclusion. “We are trying to build an environment and continue to maintain an environment where individuals feel like they are part of the growth, they are a part of what we do and how we do it because you are seen as an integral piece of what we do and not just ‘I work here.’ “

Plante Moran also supports workers who may want to explore internal opportunities by offering a fellowship program. Developed as a three-year commitment, fellowships are offered in various areas of the firm — from core services such as management consulting, wealth management and private equity to operations like recruiting and technology. Nearly 150 staff members are participating in fellowships.

“Let’s say you’re in audit, and you have some interest in what the management consultant practice is like, and you just want to get an understanding of the work that they do,” said Regan Hall, inclusion and diversity leader. “You could actually get a fellowship in that other area to learn what they do, to learn the culture in that particular practice area, to learn the capabilities and what’s working in that industry and what that practice area is all about.”

Encouraging candid feedback

Just as market research companies send out surveys to customers asking for feedback, workplaces that create a culture of honesty boost employee engagement, which can lead to better results for the organization.

Philippe Weiss, president of Seyfarth Shaw at Work, a legal compliance and consulting services company in Chicago, said his firm is observing how employers are seeking constructive and candid feedback that might be critical to their bottom lines.

“We’re in a unique time because companies are doing all that they can to be as creative as possible, tracking the wages and work-life balance and the perks that others are offering,” Weiss said. “But it may not be enough just to sort of offer as much as you can and dangle it in front of an employee, because a lot of other companies are doing the same thing.”

At Flexera, a global software asset management company based in Itasca, candor is one of the firm’s core values.

The company uses an internal chat forum called Candor Corner where employees can voice their opinions and ask leaders, including the CEO, candid questions. “We take it seriously,” said Elizabeth Lages, senior vice president of people and culture. “Employees can post on Candor Corner anonymously or they can share whoever they are, ask any questions, and we tackle that head-on.”

As a result of the feedback received, the company offers stand-up desks and it reduced the minimum amount an employee needs to put in the employee investment program.

Emily Graziano, who has worked as an employee engagement specialist at Flexera since June, said she was pleasantly surprised to hear about Candor Corner when she was hired. She follows the chat forum to see what’s on employees’ minds.

“I had never encountered anything like that before in any of the organizations I worked for,” she said. “I think it speaks a lot to the company’s values. … It just affirmed that everything that I was told in my interview and in the research I had done on the company, everything they talk about with transparency and being honest and open was true.”

Similarly, Plante Moran’s Speak Up! program encourages employees to share ideas for improving the firm, especially those that generate cost savings, gain efficiencies or enhance client service. Each year, the company recognizes the person with the best suggestion and the employee who made several significant suggestions.

Jessica Wargo, a senior associate in the firm’s international tax services area, is a fan of Speak Up!

“It’s a great way to give staff a venue for speaking up on even little things that are a kind of thing that you would typically just say to a co-worker like, ‘Hey, I really don’t like this, I don’t think it works very well. I wish we did something different,'” she said. “And having people who are taking that seriously to the extent that we actually give an award at our firm conference for the most impactful suggestion of the year to come through that program, I think that’s really great.”

Supporting work-life balance

At Clarity Insights, a data and analytics firm, staying connected with employees takes extra work. About 70% of its consultants are road warriors traveling to client sites Monday through Thursday.

“Just like how we drive customer excellence and retention on the client side, we do the same for our employees,” said Lakshmi Parmeswaran, Clarity Insights’ chief talent officer.

“Most of the leadership team who are leading the consultants have been consultants in a prior life, so we’ve also experienced what it’s like to miss a flight, to be away from family,” Parmeswaran said. “We understand where they are coming from, so a lot of the decisions that we make are based on the input that we get from our employees directly.”

Company President Neil Huse and the executive team collaborate on a regular basis with consultants, frequently making on-site project visits to keep them feeling engaged and supported. Huse also takes employees out for dinner where they can ask questions in a group setting.

Caitlin Willich, an associate partner at Clarity Insights, has been on the receiving end of that approach.

“I’ve spent the better part of 31/2 years out on the West Coast first, flying every week and being client-facing. And then the past three-plus years, I’ve spent out East,” she said. “I’ve had projects where I’ve worked long hours, and the company has sent me and my husband a gift basket as a way of saying we appreciate you. It’s sort of a culture that started from day one, and we continue to pay it forward. We do the same thing for our team.”

When businesses support a work-life balance, they create a competitive advantage for themselves, experts say. Plante Moran’s WorkFlex Committee serves as a resource for employees with ideas related to improving that balance.

One example that came out of the committee: To ease family stress during tax season, Plante Moran offers free on-site child care on tax season Saturdays at many of its offices.

Nurturing workforce diversity

Successful workplaces also understand that just as a diverse customer base is valued, so too is an organization steeped in diversity.

Companies are seeing diversity and inclusion efforts pay off in terms of financial performance, but much more work is needed to drive diversification, according to research by McKinsey & Co., a strategy consulting firm.

At Chicago-based S&C Electric Co., a global provider of equipment and services for electric power systems, the case for diversity is strong. The company seeks out and embraces each employee’s unique contributions.

“Out of our 2,000 team members in Chicago, more than 60% of them are diverse, whether it’s gender or race background,” said Aurelie Richard, chief human development and strategy officer. “We range from 19 years of age to 85 years of age, so we have to offer a very wide range of benefits, and we have to be very flexible in the way we think about what benefits make sense for what part of our population because we obviously want to be appealing to a very wide range of profiles.”

S&C operates several affinity groups that aim to support members’ personal and professional growth, including ones for new professions, for women and one with the acronym IDEA — for Inclusion, Diversity, Engagement, Awareness.

“These groups really are safe places for our people to go and to exchange and to discuss what needs they have, what celebration they want to organize in the company,” Richard said. “It’s proven to be pretty successful and powerful because this is not something that is led by the leadership. It’s something that’s actually led by our people.”

Paul Pabst, manager of engineering services in the Power Systems Solutions group at S&C Electric, is a member of the New Professionals Group, which has monthly activities such as attending sporting events, dining out after work or going into a community to help others. “It really gives me a chance to talk to other peers within the group and company on a nonwork basis,” he said.

Pabst, 35, has worked at the firm ever since he was a 19-year-old student at Purdue University and landed an internship at S&C Electric. After he graduated from college, he interviewed at several companies.

“S&C Electric Co. still stood out to me,” he said. “Since 2007, I’ve been a full-time employee in the group that I’m in right now and progressed my way from entry level all the way up to manager.”

Fostering such a sense of belonging and purpose in the workplace is essential, said Erin Thomas, managing director at Paradigm, a diversity, equity and inclusion consulting firm in Chicago. “Any company that is not thinking about this or actively working on cultivating both is going to be left behind in an increasingly competitive market for employers,” she said.

Brenda Richardson is a freelance writer.