Each year when we’re filling out the FORTUNE “100 Best Companies to Work For” application, we sit down, look at the questions, and determine what we want to share that may be different from the previous year. In contemplating a question focused on “caring,” Diane Verdun, one of our HR managers, had this to say: “I can’t imagine anybody having a personal crisis where their team didn’t rally around them. It just wouldn’t happen here.”
And it’s true. I’m a perfect example. A few years ago, I had to have major surgery. The way the firm rallied around me was amazing. Then Managing Partner Bill Hermann even called my wife and told her to make sure I took all the time I needed to heal before I returned to the firm.
After I returned, I met up with a FORTUNE 500 colleague. He said, “How was it when you were gone?” I told him that I was impressed but not surprised by the outpouring of support I received. My colleague was in awe. “You know how it would’ve been if that had happened to me?” he asked. “My agenda would’ve been changing, people would’ve been trying to take over what I was doing—it would’ve been a nightmare.”
Encounters like this make me proud to work at a firm where our “we-care” motto is more than just words. What about you? What makes you proud of your company? Would you describe your organization as having a caring culture? Why or why not?
