Judging by the frequent surveys of employees in the workplace who seem unhappy in their jobs, you’d think companies would make some serious changes. This does not account for the fact that there are perpetual “grumpies” who wish work itself would go away. There are plenty of those!
When I came across a recent list of “54 Illinois Companies Ranked Among Forbes’ Best Employers,” it piqued my interest. Noteworthy on the Top Ten list was that nine of the top ten were located in the greater Chicagoland area. That last one—State Farm Insurance based in Bloomington—was the sole outlier that qualified.
The total survey included more than 217,000 employees “working at companies within the U.S. that employ more than 1,000 people.” This is the tenth year Forbes’ has compiled its ranked list of America’s Best Large Employers and America’s Best Midsize Employers.
What does it take to qualify for such a list? The Forbes research claims what employees say they care about most includes compensation, employee development, advancement opportunities, meaningful work, supportive colleagues, flexibility, and workplace well-being—however that gets defined. Seems like a tall order.
One experienced business leader from Naperville, Illinois, says, “Not so fast!” Meet John Blumberg. John is a national speaker, thought leader on integrity, and author of four books. His last two are both titled Return on Integrity.
Count him as one who is suspect of such “best employer” lists. Here’s why. In John’s own words,
“The reason I’m often suspect is because HR professionals can be drawn into surface level initiatives to gain organizational recognition that has no real depth or sustainability. It is like teaching for the test. I’m not saying that good can’t come from this, but rarely does it.”
John Blumberg had quite a lens from which to observe. For 18 years, he worked for Arthur Andersen LLP. Based out of Chicago, it was the premier of the Big Five worldwide consulting firms.
Andersen, built over 95 years, was 87,000 professionals strong in 2001. And then…a dramatic and hard ending. The story of Andersen’s implosion is complex as John will unpack in a follow-up article. It’s important to mention this since during Blumberg’s time at Arthur Andersen it frequently made the list of Best Employers, and year-over-year was named by Accounting Professors throughout the US as the #1 Firm to begin your career.
John was at the heart and center of so many of those accolades, having started in audit as a CPA, but shifted his career from numbers to people, eventually helping direct the recruiting efforts worldwide for the firm. By 2002, Andersen bid farewell. While John Blumberg left Andersen in 1996 to pursue his dream as a professional speaker, he would tell you it was the most heartbreaking year he has lived.
As he describes it, they were “my family” and well deserving of every accolade bestowed upon them. His intuition was that the implosion of Andersen wasn’t about the firm or about the related demise of Enron, it was about all of us! That would change the direction of his speaking and writing.
I’ve known John Blumberg for more than 20 years. He is a man of devoted spiritual faith. So I asked him,
“Can a company be good without God?”
John notes:
“The focus shouldn’t be on the company being without God, but rather each individual within the company being with God. Like these surveys, we can intentionally or unintentionally create surface level veneers and fool ourselves. We can share and post all the right words, but when it comes to the quarterly pressures of metrics and measurements, the depth of substance in our relationship with God can become as suspect as some of the accolades pridefully showcased through these annual surveys.”
Blumberg suggests:
“Perhaps the better way to assess any organization is not in times of their great fortunes when ‘looking good’ can be easy … but rather in times of stress, strain, tension, and what seems to be insurmountable challenges. In those times, a leader can fully discover how their investment in their faith has shaped them and how it can sustain them regardless of the outcome.”
That would be a survey worth reading about. It indeed would have a depth worth learning from and emulating—possibly setting the right bar for what it looks like to be the best place to work!
Look for part two of my conversation with John Blumberg on integrity—coming soon!
