Best Companies to Work for in Colorado ’09

Page 7

Medium

Best Company winner
Rally Software
www.rallydev.com

Ryan Martens, founder and chief technology officer, and Tim Miller, CEO, of Boulder-based Rally Software in a Smart car. By encouraging alternative transportation, Rally reduced its CO2 emissions from commuting by 17 percent and awarded the employee who most dramatically reduced carbon emissions.

When asked what differentiates Rally Software from other software companies, CEO Tim Miller said, “Our corporate culture.”

“A lot of software companies are deeply passionate like we are and trying to change the world like we are. But I think we have a broader mission,” he said. Rally expects employees to “create their own realities” and grow professionally and personally in any way they want.
“Growing personally is often not directly related to work, but it makes us better people,” Miller said. “And when we make ourselves better people, we become better employees. … We’ve built a sense of loyalty and culture that allows us to survive and thrive even in tough times.”

Rally stresses a work-life balance and backs it up by offering its 143 Colorado workers flexible schedules, the option of telecommuting when needed, time off to meet family commitments and 1 percent of employees’ paid work time to volunteer for the organization of their choice.  

Behind all the feel-good philosophy is serious business.

Founded in 2002, Rally is a growing company that recently opened offices in Raleigh-Durham, N.C., and London – and banked $10.6 million in gross revenue in the latest fiscal year. There is no such thing as 9-to-5 there; Miller spoke of an employee who recently spent 17 days on the road, talking to customers eight hours a day.
“When you’re working in a high-tech-startup, with aspirations to get big and one day go public, you’ve got to be driven and passionate,” he said.

That’s why the company doesn’t just hire anybody who’s qualified for the job. Nearly 6,500 people applied for jobs at the company last year; 86 were hired.

In keeping with Rally’s Agile software development methodologies — in which solutions evolve through collaboration among self-organizing, cross-functional teams — all employees are involved in the hiring process, Miller said. “Anybody can say no for any reason,” he said. “We reject a lot of highly qualified candidates through that process, but the ones that make it through really tend to shine.“ 

Scientific thought is highly valued. “We don’t just make decisions,” Miller said. “We create theories, ‘I think if we do this, we will see that.’” And if something doesn’t work, workers shut down the test or try a different theory, he said.

“We need to be able to react and respond to the market and the conditions and obviously the financial crisis,” Miller said.
So far, so good.

“I’m continually amazed that we get better,” Miller said. “I was told that it’s easier to have everybody be happy when you’re a smaller company.” Now a medium-sized company, Rally as a whole is still pretty sanguine. 

In a time when “flat is the new up,” Miller said, “We’re still growing, and we’re still hiring. I’m thrilled we can continue to be the great company we are.”

2008 rank No. 2 in small category
— Mary Butler

Best Company winner
PCL Construction Enterprises Inc.
www.pcl.com

The PCL College of Construction strongly encourages employees to act as instructors at in-house training courses. Harry Levine instructs the president of PCL Construction Services, Inc., Al Troppmann, and Matt Boyd.

Diana Canzona-Hindman knows from experience that her employer, PCL Construction, walks its talk. Its policy of unlimited sick time and flexible workdays is real, she learned, when her mother was diagnosed with throat cancer.

At most companies, “When you’re a woman coming up through the ranks, you have to be at work no matter what your family situation,” said Canzona-Hindman, PCL’s human resources adviser. But her supervisor “didn’t bat an eyelash” when she requested time to take her mother for hospital visits. And Canzona-Hindman said she won’t forget the company’s generosity. “It just made me work harder,” she said.

The 103-year-old PCL was born in Saskatchewan but today has offices throughout Canada and the U.S., including locations in Vail and Denver and 233 Colorado employees. Today with gross revenues of $6 billion, PCL strives to maintain the vision of its founder, Ernie Poole, said Michael Maymir, PCL human resources and professional development manager.

“Poole’s Rules,” posted on the company website, begins with “Employ highest grade people obtainable.” Maymir said his coworkers are simply “outstanding.”

“I think part of that comes from the fact that we are employee owned,” he said. PCL employees receive dividend checks annually in February or March, and for some workers who’ve been with the company for many years and have a substantial number of shares, that check can exceed his or her salary, Maymir said. Employee ownership at PCL, Maymir said, creates a vested interest and drives the company culture in a very positive way. People could take advantage of the company’s unlimited sick time policy, for instance, but they don’t, Maymir said.

While PCL respects its history, it has evolved into a diversified business that erects large buildings, as well as roads and bridges — a fact that has helped it weather the recession and continue to add to employee programs. Eighteen months ago, it launched a $300,000 employee wellness initiative, including onsite health screenings, smoking cessation programs and even $200 “exercise reimbursement” checks per employee for everything from yoga classes to gym memberships.

2008 rank: No. 3 in small category
– Mary Butler

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