World News – I am pretty sure that this business concept would not work that well in Costa Rica. Of all the benefits packages and perks offered in the corporate world, we were blown away by what we learned about a company in Minnesota.
At Clockwork Active Media, a digital strategy agency based in Minnesota, there are no set hours and vacation time is unlimited. Potluck chili is what’s for lunch, ice cold beer is always on tap, and you can bring your kids to work whenever you want. The CEO says this environment is a reflection of her belief that employees should bring their “whole selves” to work.
“When you talk to the folks that work here, they say that they are all treated like adults,” said Nancy Lyons, CEO of Clockwork. “We create sort of this optimal environment for them to feel comfortable and to feel like they have the freedom to actually live.”
Lyons — together with a little money, a couple of friends, and a big dream — founded the company in 2002. Today, Clockwork employs 75 people and is hiring. Target, Best Buy and General Mills are among the agency’s clients.
“We have gone from being a scrappy little shop that worked with tiny clients that nobody’d ever heard of, to a nimble technology firm in the Midwest that works with global organizations,” Lyons said.
But it’s the values, not the free stuff, that allow the company to succeed, Lyons believes.
“If you don’t feel good where you work and don’t believe what the leadership is saying to you, no can of Coke is going to fix that for you,” Lyons said.
All of the employees agree — it’s an amazing place to spend a work day.
“I’ve been working for a while, in a lot of different places, and this is the best place I’ve ever worked,” said Jeffrey Berger, an employee at Clockwork.
“It’s not work-life balance,” Lyons said. “It’s life balance, it’s all life. We bring our work home. We bring our lives to work.”
From NBCNews.com
