MEDIUM COMPANIES: FINALISTS
When you run a creative business, you start with the foundation—competitive salaries, full range of insurance products, 401(k) plan. Then the right-brain thinking kicks in. At MMGY Global, the travel/hospitality/entertainment marketing firm, the add-ons help create an environment for creative thinking and collaboration: Half-day Fridays every other week to fine-tune work-home balances, relaxed dress code, impromptu ice-cream socials, cross-channel working groups, internal and external training—the little things make a big difference. The $150 million company, with nearly 150 full-time employees, spreads the wealth around with a year-end bonus plan that allows the staff to reap a share of the earnings that flow from their own hard work.
Why is Kansas City a national center for engineering? Maybe because so many great
companies in that sector are employee-owned. Witness Sega, Inc., where corporate goals and employee interests are one. Regular salary reviews and adjustments cover the compensation needs; stock ownership opportunities address deeper yearnings. Health, life and disability coverage are 100 percent paid, and family plans are steeply discounted. Summer hours meet both workload requirements (four 9-hour days, plus out at noon on Fridays) as well as personal needs for a longer weekend. Perhaps as important as any of that is independence—the latitude for employees to perform their jobs, while remaining available to help or mentor, as needed.
In an era of national credit gluttony, both personal and corporate, the BKD accounting/consulting firm is debt-free. That fiscal accountabilty yields more than just a bottom-line impact; it helps pave the road to a competitive compensation package and perks that go well beyond insurance coverage, 401(k) and competitive salaries. It allows the Springfield-based company to offer more paid time off, including an option to purchase additional days, overnight travel bonuses, reward time off, referral bonuses, wellness discounts and a matching-gift program. All are integral elements of the People First initiative, which champions a finely tuned work-life balance.
Team members at Pioneer Ser-vices are encouraged to think—and act—like entrepreneurs every day, without fear of failure. The only caveats: Their work has to be good for customers and the company and clients, as well as ethical and legal. That’s how you get to double-digit growth in five of the past six years. The 106 local employees in the military division of MidCountry Bank also enjoy standard benefits like paid vacation, sick time, profit sharing and 401(k) match, as well as smaller touches like free soda or hot chocolate, lunch-hour Pilates classes and updated equipment in the on-site workout room. A novel approach: Cash gifts upon reaching anniversary dates for one, three, five, seven and 10 years—and every fifth thereafter.
