Breakfast included

It's no wonder people like working for the Garrittys.

Not only does their company, Progressive Home Warranty, provide employees with free breakfast, a welcome party, a minimum of three weeks of vacation, and flexible work hours. They also invite their team to their summer home once a year, for a few days of camping. Food and drinks are included.

The St. Albert insurance provider was recently named one of Canada's top 100 employers. So we wanted to know more and spoke to Roberta Garritty, general manager and culture creator at Progressive. She says it's about creating the right workplace culture, and putting people first.

"I think more and more businesses don't understand that if you put people first – the investment that you make in the culture or the families, so people are happy to work for you – the more you get in financial return," she says.

Slippers and dogs

A tail-wagging dog is the first to greet me at the door leading to Progressive's offices. He is one of three "canine counsellors" that call the office home. They even have toys and new employees get treats to befriend them. But the dogs are the least surprising here.

As I tour the building, I see people wearing snuggies and slippers. Offices are individually decorated, and in the bathroom upstairs, make-up and hair products sit on the counter as they would in someone's home. There's a shower in each bathroom for people who bike to work.

The fridge in the kitchen is always filled with your favourite condiment, and breakfast foods, says Garritty. They also have a large table for bi-weekly group lunches. On the walls are photos of employees volunteering for Progressive in the Dominican.

They eat together, they fundraise together, they even play hockey together. But don't be fooled. Working here looks casual and easy-going. But the expectations are high. Once you pick up the phone or meet a customer, the slippers come off and it's "show time," says Garritty.

"We are an exceptional group of people and the biggest mistake businesses make in their culture is that they allow people that are not high performers, or someone that has not bought into their core values, that they allow those people to stay on the team," she says.

Family comes first

There are 66 people working at Progressive Home Warranty. The average age is 29, and 41 per cent of the employees are female. Several people are related. The company's retention rate is almost 90 per cent, with a turnover rate of 10.7 per cent in 2014 (5.3 per cent left voluntarily).

I sit in for a mock-interview with Garritty to get a better idea of how they run the business. It feels a little awkward at first because she wants to know how I spend my Saturday mornings.

"Well, usually, I start the day slowly, call my parents, have breakfast," I say.

That quickly leads to a conversation about my family, how often I talk to them, and why I think that's important. The questions are more personal than I'm used to. But they tell her how well I fit in with the rest of the team and the company's 10 core values.

Number one on the list: Ensure family is first.

"We believe that our family at home is our primary family," a company pamphlet reads. "Happy family equals happy teammates. You spend a lot of time with your Progressive Home Warranty family so we consider our team our secondary family."

Other core values tell employees to be exceptional teammates, to deliver unexpected customer service, to dress for success and to "stand behind your word." But there's also one that simply says to "enjoy the ride."

"So many businesses nowadays say 'check your personality at the door,'" says Garritty. "If you have a loud laugh or a funny laugh, we want to hear it as much as possible."

Then she gets serious. "We are very careful and clear. We hire on our core values and we fire on our core values," she says.

That being said, the company tries its best to work it out with employees before letting anyone go. And not everyone who can't make it through the first few weeks is a bad employee, says Garritty. They just didn't fit this corporation's culture.

"You can have a great business plan, great work procedures. But if you don't have the right people on your team or not in the right spot or seat on the bus, then you have a problem," she says.

Building positive cultures

Garrity once owned a daycare. That's where she learned the importance of building a workplace culture based on family values. But it wasn't easy, she admits. Healthy workplaces need a lot of care.

She wanted to create a place where people are excited to come to work, and go the extra mile for clients and each other. That required a culture that makes people comfortable, but is also not coincidental. Every initiative, every policy and every decision has to serve a purpose. If it doesn't fit their core values, "it goes out the window," she says.

The company now employs three people in human resources, a large number for a company so small, she says. She also takes team leaders to a leadership conference every year. And new employees, no matter their position, spend their first weeks greeting customers in the front, "so they understand who we are."

That level of dedication is needed of any employer who wants to create a better workplace, says Marvin Washington, associate professor of management at the University of Alberta.

He expects there are several companies similar to Progressive Home Warranty in Canada. Not many apply for awards. They may think it's normal, or they don't want to toot their own horn, he says.

But developing positive workplaces is important. Employees expect more than a decent paycheque today. They want to be engaged, and find purpose in their work. If they can't grow or feel passionate about their work, they move on. That leaves the employer constantly looking for new people, and with "lots of cost to cover."

Washington says many employers fear being taken advantage of, or not getting their money's worth, if they make the workplace more comfortable. But that's naïve, he says.

Most culture-oriented workplaces are slow to hire and quick to fire. They take time to find employees that fit. In return, people are happy to work for them longer. The business may not be the most profitable at first, but it saves money in the long run. And the customers are happier, he says.

"I think in most situations hiring no one is better than anyone," he says. "Would you rather get the coffee yourself, or have a bad employee pour hot coffee on you?"

He admits that smaller businesses have an easier time creating positive work environments. The owners know what they want and can build a culture through selection, because they are still involved in the hiring process. They also have a better grasp of who may take advantage of corporate benefits.

Bigger companies with hundreds of employees struggle with that. There are few companies the size of Google or Lululemon that build a successful organization based on culture. If they do, they spend "a ton of time" on developing it based on their needs, and making sure their human resources officers are well trained.

And not everyone can afford to offer the same benefits. Flexible work hours are great for a team of individuals. But in a communal work group, it can cause friction if no one is at work at the same time. That's why many businesses prefer strict policies to manage their people, he says.

"A policy makes it even across the board but it does take away from the ability to build a culture, the ability to recognize that everyone is unique and different," he says.

If you want to build a workplace culture, you have to start with your own passions for the business, says Washington. Then you ask your employees why they want to work for you, and what they want changed. Then you hope for some commonalities.

The transition will take time, and you may lose some people in the long run. But many will also realize that they are building an organization "where owners and employees are equally proud of the work they are doing."