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Winning Workplaces and FORTUNE Small Business Name the 2004 Best
Bosses
Survey finds the most effective managers in this tough economy
Evanston, Ill., Sept. 22, 2004 — Winning Workplaces and Fortune Small Business magazine announced today their second annual list of Best Bosses, 15 outstanding “all-terrain” business leaders who are able to motivate employees through a rough patch of continued belt-tightening and also plot new ways to exploit the growth opportunities that are just emerging as the economy warms up. The list and related stories appear in the October 2004 issue of Fortune Small Business and were released today on the winningworkplaces.org and fsb.com web sites.
Of the 15 on the list, “it is clear that maintaining good workplace practices is especially important in a weak economic climate when fewer people are asked to do more in uncertain conditions,” says Kenneth Lehman, chairman of Winning Workplaces, a not-for-profit that helps small and midsize organizations create great workplaces. Adds FSB editor-at-large, Ellyn Spragins: “Success — and in some cases survival — depended upon making calculated bets that leveraged their employees’ loyalty and clients.” Other bosses “used creative methods to coax extraordinary performances out of their employees in daunting circumstances,” Spragins noted.
For example, Diana Pohly, president of Boston’s Pohly & Partners, a custom publishing company, primarily produces in-flight magazines for the airline industry. After 9/11 the firm’s business dropped with the fate of the airlines, yet she kept the business afloat and the team together by sharing the pain. Executives took the lead in taking pay cuts, in which all employees participated. That teamwork turned the business around and for the last two years Pohly & Partners has been profitable.
Then there are Don and Hapy Mayer, the father-son team running Apple Computer reseller Small Dog Electronics in Waitsfield, Vt. In a brutally competitive marketplace, customer service is king. So, the Mayers breed loyalty in their 26 employees by treating them exceptionally well – free weekly massages, guaranteed personal bank loans, profit sharing, even pet insurance.
The Best Bosses for 2004 are: Stephen Baird, Baird & Warner, Chicago, Ill.; Brad Nierenberg, Momentum Marketing Services, Alexandria, Va.; Ron Huston, Advanced Circuits, Aurora, Colo.; Diana Pohly, Pohly & Partners, Boston, Mass.; Louis Stanasolovich, Legend Financial Advisors, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Don & Hapy Mayer, Small Dog Electronics, Waitsfield, Vt.; C. David Moody, C.D. Moody Construction, Lithonia, Ga.; Georgia Berner, Berner International, New Castle, Pa.; Matt Bowen, ALOFT Group, Newburyport, Mass.; Rick Faulk, Intranets.com, Woburn, Mass.; Jeffrey Gitterman, Gitterman & Sacks, Woodbridge, N.J.; John Heaton, Pay Plus Benefits, Kennewick, Wash.; John Pennisi, Medical Management Resources, East Syracuse, N.Y.; Elaine Tajima, Tajima Creative, Menlo Park, Calif.; and Susan Torroella, Columbia Medcom Group, Columbia, Md. More information about the companies can be found at winningworkplaces.org and fsb.com on Wednesday, Sept. 22nd.
Beginning in the fall of 2003, Winning Workplaces and FSB gathered nominations from 210 companies, who were asked about employee tenure, benefits, management challenges, and metrics for measuring success. From this list, FSB and Winning Workplaces chose 35 finalists, who answered a second set of questions about employee training, financial incentives, and information sharing. The finalists were then evaluated by a panel of FSB editors, Winning Workplaces executives, consultants, academics, and business leaders.
FSB and Winning Workplaces are collecting nominations for the 2005 Best Bosses issue. Companies can send an e-mail to editor [at] fsb [dot] com or info [at] winningworkplaces [dot] org. Applications will be mailed in the spring of 2005.
About Winning Workplaces
Winning Workplaces provides information, training, ideas, consulting, and
easy-to-use, affordable tools to help small and midsize organizations create
great workplaces through better people practices. Winning Workplaces offers
a range of services and products that are modestly priced to help an organization
become a great workplace that is “better for people, better for business.”
About FORTUNE Small Business
FSB: FORTUNE Small Business is a general interest business magazine published
ten times a year as a joint venture by The FORTUNE Group at Time Inc. and
American Express Small Business Services. Each issue provides hard-hitting,
informative coverage of the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. economy
-- small business. FSB is delivered to 1 million small business owners and
is also available on newsstands at major airports and bookstores nationwide.
Time Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL Time Warner.