The readers have voted: These Southern Nevada companies know how to keep workers happy

If you want to foster a happy work environment in today's tough economic times, you'll need to go well beyond the standard insurance-and-retirement perks package.

That was the overwhelming message from employees who nominated some 65 companies for the first Las Vegas Review-Journal/Las Vegas Business Press Best Places to Work list.

Although nearly all the workers who wrote to us talked up conventional benefits such as health care, paid time off and retirement plans, those weren't the most important factors in workers' satisfaction. Rather, employees seemed more interested in work-life balance, internal communication, recognition and other intangibles.

Take Judy Valent, a project controller at Penta Building Group, who praised her managers' unwavering support of employees in crisis.

"They treat the Penta family like a real family," Valent wrote.

Valent cited Penta's core values, which include accountability, integrity and fairness, as key perks to working for the business.

At tiny Discount Beads, which has six employees including owners Ernie Staley and Dave Cray, fairness and respect top the list of workplace benefits, according to employee Helen Orendorf. The company understands workers' personal strengths and offers job opportunities to complement those talents, Orendorf wrote.

Such sentiments ring familiar to Mary Beth Hartleb of Prism Human Resource Consulting in Henderson.

The sales-quashing recession has forced many businesses to shift away from emphasizing higher salaries, raises and pricey benefits, and focus instead on employee morale, tokens of appreciation and recognition programs. Managers host and pay for parties in their homes, give out certificates of accomplishment and distribute gift cards for purchases at supermarkets and gasoline stations.

"They're offering things people need to live day by day, especially if workers have dropped down to one-income households," said Hartleb, who scheduled an Oct. 23 seminar at the College of Southern Nevada's Henderson campus, where she and other consultants discussed how the downturn has changed the ways employers craft pleasant work environments.

Comments from nominating employees reflect Hartleb's observations.

RC Willey employee Brenda Zachary nominated the furniture retailer partly for its newsletter, which recognizes staff members who go above and beyond job requirements. She also cited frequent department potlucks as a fun side benefit to working at the Summerlin store. At Wal-Mart, employee June Itoku wrote that she's grateful for management's open-door policy, through which managers "always take the time to listen to your concerns." Casino Royale employee Sarah Macki singled out the caring, friendly, approachable and supportive management at the small Strip property.

Other companies have gone creative with their perks.

Commercial Roofers lends its yard on Naples Drive in southwest Las Vegas to the Metropolitan Police's K-9 dog-training operation, and being around the pups helps morale, noted Sales Administrator Michelle Shetrom. Shetrom also enjoys the company's emphasis on giving back in other ways: Commercial Roofers contributes to Habitat for Humanity, the Nevada Cancer Institute, Opportunity Village and Catholic Charities, and it donated tile to a Mexican orphanage. At Craig P. Kenny & Associates, workers get two hours off if they have a doctor's appointment. Plus, the law firm surveys its employees annually about changes they'd like to see. Employees enjoy company-paid trips to San Diego, Laughlin, Disneyland and Mesquite, and it's not unusual to see attorneys at the firm bring their assistants coffee, Marketing Director Kris Ellsworth said.

It's those kinds of gestures that tell employees they're appreciated, and that gratitude is more important than ever, Hartleb said.

"I hear stories all the time about bosses getting angry and saying to employees, 'You're lucky just to have a job,' " she said. "That needs to stop. What I see is that the best of the best are the ones who are still working. They're surviving the cuts. They're your 'A' players, and that's the reason you've kept them on your team. When the economy improves and they don't sense company loyalty, or they've been tolerating the unacceptable, they will be the first to leave. Now is the time to focus on retaining those people."

Starting on Page 1E, here are 10 companies that, according to employee feedback, are getting retention right, based on evaluations of training and advancement opportunities, work-life balance, communication and nonfinancial perks.

Contact reporter Jennifer Robison at jrobison@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4512.

OVERALL WINNER

• Zappos.com

What kind of company is Zappos.com?

It's the kind of company that receives nice letters from workers it has just let go.

It's the kind of company that provides free soup, salads and sandwiches around the clock.

And it's the kind of company that compiled a 500-page corporate-culture handbook written by employees.

In short, it's the kind of company that "treats all its employees like royalty," wrote Shannon Roy, a recruiting assistant at Zappos.com.

From fully paid medical, dental and drug benefits to a concierge service to on-site tailoring and car washes, the online shoe retailer's employee perks have garnered it regional and national attention. Entities ranging from the Southern Nevada Human Resources Association to Fortune magazine have given the nod to Zappos.com's employee-friendly philosophies, and Chief Executive Officer Tony Hsieh wrote in a letter to employees that the company's culture made it appealing to Amazon.com, the e-tailing giant that agreed in July to buy the Henderson-based company for more than $800 million.

Behind the emphasis on workplace culture is an understanding that happy employees provide great service, said Jamie Naughton, a human resources professional whose official title of "cruise ship captain" reflects her duty to dream up fun incentives and rewards.

"If we take good care of our employees, they will take good care of our customers," Naughton said.

Keeping workers content isn't just about benefits, though. It also means cultivating their creativity and celebrating their individuality. Take that culture book: It's full of photos documenting goofy Halloween costumes (or do they come to work dressed like that every day?), eating contests and cow-milking challenges. It also features comments from some of Zappos.com's 700 workers on their personal experiences with the company.

"We believe employees should be themselves. Everyone has a weirdness to them, and we want people to embrace who they are and bring it to the workplace," Naughton said. "If everyone can be themselves, it lends itself to a creative environment. Nothing holds them back."

If all this sounds good to you, well, here's your chance: Zappos.com is hiring. It has about 50 positions open in areas including technology and merchandising.

WINNERS WITH 1,000 OR MORE EMPLOYEES

• ST. ROSE DOMINICAN/ CATHOLIC HEALTHCARE WEST

This not-for-profit hospital chain cultivates a positive workplace with a multifaceted approach that features constant employee recognition, continuing education and career-family balance.

Managers hand out "rose tokens" daily when they catch workers "doing something right," said LeRoy Walker, vice president of human resources for St. Rose, which has more than 2,000 employees. Workers can redeem the tokens for Starbucks drinks, movie tickets and dinners out. St. Rose also holds monthly Star Performer Awards, with winners and their guests enjoying a night on the town complete with limousine pickup at the hospital. There's even a yearly recognition party where housekeepers all the way up to top executives mingle.

St. Rose also aims to create a learning culture, offering and paying for continuing-education classes and even career courses for workers seeking company advancement. St. Rose's nursing-assistant program, for example, is open to all interested employees.

What's more, St. Rose discourages overtime so that staff members have family time. Employees can also change positions internally if they need different hours.

"We do see our workers as the backbone of our company," said Walker, who pointed to other perks including healing gardens and on-site massages.

• SOUTH POINT

South Point has captured the loyalty of its workers with its no-layoffs policy -- an unusual benefit in a leisure market that's lost nearly 20 percent of its jobs in the last year.

But South Point also won praise for its extensive internal communications efforts. Owner Michael Gaughan holds daylong meetings during which he goes over changes in benefits and new corporate policies. One such meeting recently reiterated the no-layoffs approach and explained how the hotel would tweak operations to hang onto its employees. And workers always know how business is going because managers constantly seek and give feedback on daily promotion responses and sales numbers, said Alan Pesin, an employee who's worked for the Gaughan family for more than 20 years.

Pesin said he's seen co-workers leave the family's hotels for other jobs, only to return later because they enjoyed the atmosphere.

"Michael Gaughan pays you, insures you, provides you with meals in the employee dining room and gives you a chance to better yourself over time," Pesin wrote. "Those are the best perks of all."

• CAMDEN PROPERTY TRUST

Camden has more than $6 billion in real estate assets, but the value of its apartment-community portfolio pales in comparison to the worth of its employees, said Cindy Scharringhausen, the company's senior vice president of human resources. It believes its workers are irreplaceable -- and that's why the 1,800-employee Camden goes heavy on the perks.

Its Camden University trains employees in areas ranging from stress management to professional growth; workers who complete the program receive 3.5 percent raises. Founders Ric Campo and Keith Oden have given $400,000 in scholarship money to children of employees in the last three years. The company also keeps furnished apartments in resort destinations such as Las Vegas and Orlando, Fla., and rents them out to vacationing employees and their families for $20 a night. And it paid out several hundred thousand dollars to employees who lost their homes after Hurricane Ike struck Texas in 2008.

"If people have a great work environment and care about each other, they'll be happier and they'll provide better customer service," Scharringhausen said.

Camden, which has about 450 employees in Las Vegas, also won recognition from Fortune magazine in 2008 and 2009 as one of the country's 100 Best Companies to Work For.

Winners with 100 to 999 employees

• MARTIN-HARRIS CONSTRUCTION

At this general contractor, professional and personal growth carry equal weight with owner Frank Martin. Martin recently sent 50 of his employees to a green-building certification seminar, and his company covers half the tuition and all of the book costs for staff members who take continuing-education classes in construction. He also wants his employees to advance through the company and test different functions to see what they enjoy most. The goal is to retain workers by letting them experiment to find the position or function they enjoy most.

"They allow me the freedom to grow and make decisions that directly affect the outcome of the project," wrote Yvonne Murphy, a project engineer, about the best part of working at Martin-Harris.

Martin and other managers also take a personal interest in the family lives of their staff. If a worker shows up at the company's annual picnic on Martin's Deer Springs ranch northwest of Las Vegas without his family, he's sent home to retrieve them. Martin has watched workers' children grow from infancy to adulthood, and he rings up those kids periodically to chat with them about life.

In a bid to keep their corporate family intact, senior managers and executives at Martin-Harris in June 2008 rolled back their pay to January 2007 levels to avert layoffs. The economic slump proved too deep to prevent cuts -- the company shrank from 1,000 workers to 350 -- but Martin-Harris even offers perks to the newly laid-off. Employees who drive company cars can hang onto their vehicles for a month after their departure while they find new transportation, and Martin has helped place employees in new jobs.

• ARCATA ASSOCIATES

Even as this engineering and information-technology contractor expanded from a single Las Vegas location to operations in 10 states, its executives worked hard to retain the environment of a smaller firm. One example: President and CEO Tim Wong meets one-on-one with every new employee to talk about the company's history and goals.

"It means a lot to people to know they're not just a number and that they really have a connection to the owners of the company," Wong said.

That connection goes beyond the initial meeting with Wong. He powwows regularly with individual employees for suggestions on how to improve the 450-employee business. He sends company newsletters twice a month and recognizes employees' achievements twice a year. Employees participate too, running a peer-recognition program that grants colleagues cash bonuses. Other perks include training, profit-sharing and a cut of financial incentives Arcata wins from the government for exceptional performance. The company also insists on promotion from within.

"Our philosophy is that we're doing what we can to support everyone in the field," Wong said. "The corporate office does not run Arcata. It is there to support customers and employees at all of our offices. It's not about us at corporate; it's about employees in the field."

Workers seem largely to have gotten the message. Asked what he liked best about working for Arcata, employee Anthony Vasconcellos had a simple answer: "Communication. My president cares about people."

• NEVADA HEALTH CENTERS

Sure, the benefits are great at Nevada Health Centers. It offers cross-training in multiple jobs, flex time and 100 percent coverage of premiums for medical, dental, vision and life insurance. Its retirement plan also matches 7 percent of employees' contributions -- a rarity amid a recession that's seen many businesses cut 401(k) matching.

But what really makes Nevada Health Centers a great place to work, according to Chief Operating Officer Michelle Agnew, is its mission. Its 33 clinics serve needy patients regardless of their ability to pay, and the federally funded nonprofit also provides mobile dental services for the underprivileged and works with patients at Child Haven. Its employees typically make less than others in the medical field, but a sense of purpose has partly helped keep turnover at 4.5 percent, compared with an industry average of 35 percent to 40 percent. The nonprofit also values all of its 366 employees, Agnew said.

"It doesn't matter what position they hold. Whether they're a physician or a janitor, they're equally important to our organization," Agnew said. "No matter what level you are, you have a voice. If it weren't for our employees, we wouldn't have our jobs, and we wouldn't be able to serve the community."

WINNERS WITH FEWER THAN 100 EMPLOYEES

• GEOTECHNICAL & ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES

You know that postvacation pile of work sitting on your desk when you come back from a break? Well, that pile doesn't exist for workers at Geotechnical & Environmental Services. That's because the civil-engineering company cross-trains employees to handle workloads for resting colleagues.

That's just one of many benefits at the 45-employee GES. The company also encourages workers to take vacations of up to three weeks, even during busy times. It pays for health insurance, health-club dues and continuing education, and it offers employees first-time homebuyer help. Employees win raises whenever they achieve a new professional certification, and the company believes heavily in promoting from within. Five out of six of its managers moved up from positions within the business. Its quarterly "star" banquet and awards allow employees to recognize their colleagues.

But it's GES' monthly "dashboard" that merits the highest praise from employees. The dashboard details the company's profitability, billability, client satisfaction and multiplier calculations. One employee said it's the closest he's seen a company come to open-book accounting.

The idea, President Greg DeSart said, is to attract workers interested in supporting their peers.

It's worked for Amber Cole, an administrative assistant.

"Everyone is very positive and helpful, and in my time with this company, I have never seen anyone with a frown," Cole wrote. "I feel blessed every day to be with a company where everyone works together and wants to grow."

• EL BURRITO MEXICAN RESTAURANT

For David Duran, owner of this Summerlin eatery, staff members are as much friends and family as they are employees. Several of his 18 workers have been with the family business for 10 to 15 years -- unusual longevity in a volatile industry with considerable turnover.

"My employees mean a lot to me. I know I can trust them, and when you build that trust, there's a lot less stress on the job," Duran said.

Duran builds trust partly through listening to his workers, who've made suggestions large -- changing decor such as wall paintings -- and small -- swapping out the after-dinner mints that the restaurant hands out to patrons.

El Burrito also uses a tip-sharing policy that ensures every member of the busing and wait staff leaves with money in his or her pocket every night. Giving busboys a greater share of gratuities has the added benefit of encouraging the cleanup staff to do a little extra, Duran said. On top of clearing and resetting tables, they'll handle water refills and distribute diners' checks as needed. It's part of a bigger philosophy centered on training workers in multiple aspects of the restaurant.

"The longer people work here, the more they'll learn," Duran said.

• MARK SHERMAN CPA

This accounting firm offers some of the benefits of a large company and the flexibility of a small one. It pays for twice-annual workshops and continuing-education classes in accounting. Employees enjoy quarterly bonuses, two weeks off at Christmas and bagels or doughnuts every Friday. Workers also get flex time for family. As one wrote, owner Mark Sherman treats his eight-person staff more like partners than employees.

Sherman spent some time in the hiring-and-retention wilderness before he struck upon his formula. He'd bring on new staff, only to find pitfalls such as an inability to follow instructions or a focus on earning money rather than doing a good job. So he retained a California company called Sterling Management Systems to help him screen workers. Just 1 percent of applicants survive testing.

The new approach is working: Sherman says his staff hasn't missed a corporate goal since he instituted the program three years ago. He advises that other companies looking to take care of both business and their workers consider the same strategy.

"The primary thing most businesses need to focus on is statistics," he said. "If you don't set quotas for what you want to accomplish and track performance, and if you don't track where you were and where you're going, you can't give anyone anything."