T4G opens up its workplace
Organization Award-winning company gives employees freedom to perform
The traditional corporate structure with the boss at the top and employees below is outdated, says Paul Barter, a senior executive of an award-winning company.
What employees need to thrive in their area of work, and what bosses need to ensure growth at the bottom line, is a series of performance measurements, says Barter, vice-president of strategy with T4G Limited.
When employees have those benchmarks, including profitability, billable hours and client pools, they have the freedom to work from locations of their choosing - at home or on the road - as long as they get the work done.
It is this organizational structure, which allows employees to better balance professional and personal priorities, that helped put T4G on a list of Canada's best places to work.
"You need to set a strategy on a regular basis and then put measurement systems in place that allow people to see how they are performing against those goals. And you let them do their job," says Barter.
"This takes the workload off of senior executives and it empowers employees."
The Great Workplace Institute of Canada named T4G, an information technology company with offices in Saint John, the 29th best place to work in the country.
The ranking, based on employee surveys, considers the strength of the relationships between workers, between workers and their jobs, and between workers and management.
A large portion of T4G's employee satisfaction stems from the company's organizational structure, says Barter. More than half of the company's 215 employees are mobile, working from home or client offices.
And the company conducts weekly, not quarterly, performance reviews. If employees under-perform during an extended period of time, senior executives meet with them and map out a plan.
"The traditional paternalistic idea that work is a location was true when you had a factory and you had to be standing in particular place turning a wrench at a particular time," says Barter. "It's not true any more for the lion's share of the economy."
T4G's relationship with its employees its made stronger because of its commitment to corporate social responsibility, says Barter.
The company now has its own United Way campaign and charity foundation called the Future Focus Campaign, which commits to raising funds equivalent to two per cent of the firm's revenue.
"You'll see some corporations put their hand up and say we'll do one or two per cent of net income. But we're committed to two per cent of revenue. For a $30-million company, you're looking at a commitment to raise $600,000 for kids' charities," says Barter.
These "softer" corporate characteristics loom large in an employee's perspective of their company, he says. T4G also holds social events and invites employees and their families to ski resorts, for example.
"When we talk to people who want to come to our company, or when we talk to existing employees, the traditional things are important to them, like money," says Barter.
"But they also very much value softer things, like our commitment to corporate responsibility and the environment, and flexibility in their working location."
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