How the Best Stay on Top, Land the Best Young Talent and Keep Growing in Tough Times
Friday, November 7th, I had the great pleasure of presenting for the partners and managers of EKS&H, the largest Colorado-based accounting and business consulting firm in the Rocky Mountain Region. I was hired to speak at their fall quarterly leadership retreat and help them improve their game when it comes to attracting, developing, and retaining top young talent. But as the winner of the Denver Business Journal's coveted "Best Place to Work" award 4 out of the past 5 years, EKS&H leaders already know a thing (or fifty) about creating and maintaining a dynamic workplace culture that holds strong appeal to in-demand, hard-to-find, young accountants. (Ever feel like you're preaching to the choir?)
EKS&H headquarters in Denver are impressive, to say the least. With a vast array of employee amenities that include a state-of-the-art fitness center, a retro-fitted break room offering free movies and snacks, and private 'Harry Potter' rooms that enable working mothers to nurse their newborns, this 30-year-old burgeoning firm goes well beyond providing a comfortable environment for young professionals; they make coming to work fun. In fact, fun is a core value for EKS&H, and even though fun is something rarely used in the same sentance with accounting, EKS&H isn't shy about how engrained it is in their culture. (You ought to hear about the chaos and mayhem that breaks out in their offices on April Fool's Day.)
The meeting [on] Friday was unpredictably fun. For starters, even though it was held at a ritzy metro country club with a strict dress code, they encouraged attendees to wear jeans. Bob Hottman, the 'H' in EKS&H, got everyone relaxed and laughing from the very beginning. As a result, I had no trouble getting people to volunteer, interact, and express their thoughts and ideas. Throughout the entire morning, I heard explosive laugher and saw top industry professionals exchange friendly hugs and kind words. It was abundantly obvious that these people really care about each other and treat one another like family.
In my program preparations, I noticed something that I'm not sure many have; perhaps even Bob Hottman. The EKS&H website offers downloadable PDF brochures; one for prospective clients, the other for prospective employees. Both are full-color and follow the same printing specifications. However, the one for new recruits is two full pages longer than the one used for marketing purposes. I'd bet this is a reflection of an unwritten philosophy to value their own people as much-or even slightly more-than their best clients.
That commitment is what causes EKS&H's people to go 'All In' every day. And it's this 'All In' kind of service and commitment that keep EKS&H clients deliriously happy and spreading the word.
By Eric Chester and courtesy of Generation Why? Whysblog
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