Inside AGC AGC Perspective
September/October 2007

Award-Winning Members

AGC firms honored for their unique corporate cultures

AGC members are among the best employers in the country, as evidenced by their recognition in several national publications.

Core Values

Holder Construction, Atlanta, was named the best medium-sized company to work for in America by SHRM. Holder Executive V.P. Lee Johnston says, "Our real assets are our associates."

Holder's business philosophy of "do the kind of job that makes our clients want us to do their next project," also relates to wanting to be an employer of choice, Johnston says."Our associates take great pride in building the best buildings—and we take pride in making sure they have the best place to work. It's just the right thing to do."

Holder's strong core values—teamwork, service, performance—are part of the company culture. These values ensure that Holder's 550 employees "challenge everything"—many company initiatives are championed by associates and are the key to Holder's continuous improvement efforts.

The Bowen Engineering family gathers for the company's 40th anniversary celebration in August. Bowen, Indianapolis, ranked no. 19 on SHRM's list of the top 25 Best Small Companies to Work for in America. "Bowen is family and people-focused", says Linda hunter, SVP of Human Resources.

One key to Holder's success is the everyday experience. "Every interaction with every associate every day is an opportunity to make a lasting impression," Johnston says. "Treating associates with dignity, care and respect is important in our company."

Holder has also found that a lot of little things go a long way in supporting its associates. The company has implemented a fresh fruit program—apples are kept stocked and available as an option to the vending machines—particularly popular when people are working late.

The company instituted a Family Paid Time-Off Policy to allow associates to take time off during the day to attend a child's school play or parent/teacher conference or to help an elderly parent—without the time being charged as sick leave or vacation. The company also provides useful and fun information on its intranet to help associates and their families transferring with Holder to a new city.

Establishing Trust

Granite Construction, headquartered in Watsonville, Calif., has been on Fortune magazine's List of 100 Best Companies to Work for the past four years. Brian Dowd, Granite's vice president and director of human resources, attributes the high employee satisfaction rate to a strong company culture and code of ethics. Part of this culture is a high level of trust between employees and leadership. Senior management is available to employees and seeks and listens to their suggestions.

"The way we treat our employees makes the difference," says Dowd. "Most employees came to work for Granite because of the culture, which is based on our code of ethics, and they stay because of it."

PCL Construction was also recognized as one of Fortune magazine's 2007 List of Best companies to Work for. The company, whose U.S. headquarters is in Denver, literally has a strong sense of employee ownership, with 87.5% of all employees as partial owners.

"PCL's broad-based ownership makes everyone feel like a partner," says Denny Dahl, director of human resources of PCL's U.S. operations. "What you do impacts your paycheck and dividend check. Because everyone has a vested interest, everyone pulls together like a team."

Roy Anderson Corp., Gulfport, Miss., was recently honored by the U.S. Department of Labor with the Exemplary Voluntary Efforts Award for its innovative programs that further equal employment opportunities for its employees and other companies.

"We continually work to create an inclusive work force and recognize the importance of our human capital," says Debbie Bermond, Roy Anderson Corp.'s vice president of human resources. "Everyone deserves to feel that their position is important to the company. We try to recognize the hard work and dedication of our employees by promoting from within, whenever possible."

The company also solicits employee candidates by publishing openings in state employment offices, state human services offices, minority publications and colleges. This inclusiveness also extends to the community through its many outreach and volunteer activities such as the local schools' Helping One Student to Succeed Program, Habitat for Humanity and the United Way.

AGC offers a variety of HR resources and programs to help members become the best places to work. These include the HR Practices e-Forum e-mail discussion group, the Human Resource & Labor News electronic newsletter, the Labor & HR section of the AGC web site, and the HR Professionals Forum annual conference. For more info, visit visit www.agc.org/hr or e-mail Denise Gold, associate general counsel for labor & employment law, at goldd@agc.org.