SMALL COMPANIES: FINALISTS

It is not, company officials assure us, a typo when Ascend Integrated Media says it offers unlimited paid time off and vacation. That is indeed the policy, an innovative approach that works at Ascend because common sense prevails—all that’s needed to meet even the most unusual of time-off needs is the approval of the supervisor directing the work flow involved. Of course, a perk like that is tough to top, but Ascend does its best with flexible work schedules, Beer Fridays once a quarter, flexible savings accounts, quarterly Beer Fridays, a 401(k) plan with counseling from a certified financial planner, company foosball tournaments—and did we mention quarterly Beer Fridays? Those are just starting points for the stress-bashing perks that help the Overland Park-based staff of 52 produce nearly 600 print, digital, mobile, tablet and multimedia projects for more than 60 clients every year.

 

The guys on the nameplate at Bartimus, Frickleton, Robertson & Gorny do the heavy lifting with the law books, and their ability to produce favorable client outcomes underwrites a suite of benefits that could make employees of lesser law firms swoon. Let’s start with the 100 percent firm-paid health insurance, plus additional funding of flex-spending programs that yield virtually zero out-of-pocket costs for 22 full-time employees.

They also offer adoption assistance and dental and long-term disability insurance, as well as birthday checks, flex schedules, healthy year-end bonuses and the office favorite, Friday Lite—starting the weekends early. There’s also an office gym, healthy food and beverages supplied at no cost to employees, and a give-back attitude that comes right from the top: Partner Steve Gorny, in fact, once ran across the state of Kansas for a charity fund-raiser.

 

Tie your employees’ success to the experiences of satisfied customers and voila!—a more customer-friendly work force. It works for Delta Dental of Kansas. The company’s Balanced Scorecard is a performance-review system that factors in traditional financial measures, employee learning and customer satisfaction. That focus has helped fuel strong organizational growth and drive employee engagement; surveys show that 90 percent of employees are proud to work at Delta Dental, that they believe performance expectations are clearly stated, and that all employees contribute to the company’s overall success. Delta Dental also offers long-term care, long-term disability and group life insurance, all 100 percent company-paid, a medical plan with annual eye exam, tuition assistance, gym membership reimbursement and flexible work schedules. The company has 105 employees across Kansas, 12 of whom staff the Kansas City office.

Paul Weber knows advertising, but when he launched this company as Entrepreneur Advertising Group, he turned to the experts in human resources to build the foundation for employees. Working with the Kauffman FastTrac Program, the Women’s Business Center and UMKC’s Small Business Development Center, EAG has fashioned a set of HR practices that few small businesses can match. Result? He’s hiring from the big firms, not serving as their farm system. It starts with annual bonuses based on profitability, layered over a competitive pay and benefits package that includes health, vision, dental and long-term disability insurance plans, a fully-vested retirement savings plan with company match, and—this is an ad agency, after all—an “eclectic” workplace environment, a contemporary, collaborative open space in the Crossroads district that encourages productivity among its staff of 10.

 

Though just 10 strong in its Kansas City office, Smith Seckman & Reid delivers the kinds of benefits often found in a big company. The Nashville-based electrical engineering firm offers an ample lineup of perks, including tuition-reimbursement program—and covers half the cost of books for it. A generous paid time off accrual schedule tops out at 25 days a year for employees who have served at least 15 years, in addition to eight paid holidays—the six national majors plus an extra day each at Christmas and New Year’s. The 401(k) program—with a 25 percent company match, up to the IRS maximum—is bolstered by both a profit-sharing program and a companion employee stock-ownership plan. A cafeteria plan of insurance benefits includes health-savings accounts, dental, vision, life and accidental death-dismemberment coverage, short- and long-term disability plans and an employee assistance program.

 

Put the right people in the right seats. It’s a formula for success at companies of any size, but an absolute must when you have a total staff of seven. So Searcy Financial Services does just that by matching skills and personalities to company initiatives, supplementing those strategic matchups with one-on-one coaching sessions that provide direction, remove obstacles and address concerns as they arise. It also offers badly needed flexibility to help maximize staff productivity, which means remote access using iPad, iPhone and cloud-based programming. Two employees, in fact, are long-distance telecommuters. Atop that structure are top-quartile pay levels, benchmarked against industry standards every year, inflation-adjustments and merit raises, tuition reimbursement for licensing and credentialing, 401(k) plans with a company match of up to 4 percent of compensation, profit sharing and additional bonus opportunities, and unlimited, uncapped earning potential for sales associates.