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The Barking Seal

• Pursuit of Happiness

  16Feb
  Author: zack Categories: IT Management, Ramblings Comments: 0

  

  In a recent study conducted by The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, Boulder received top honors as the overall happiest, healthiest, and most optimistic city in the United States. The study surveyed more than 350,000 Americans across the country and assessed their lives based on a variety of pre-defined categories. While Boulder did not sweep every category looked at by the researchers, it did get the highest rank in the “Work Experience” arena. At Applied Trust we have always known this was true, but it is nice to get some nationwide visibility for it.

  We care about having a good work and life balance for everyone that works here. That’s why the ATE Employee Canon is so important to us. Having this realization and making conscious, proactive maneuvers to maintain it is a key component to fostering a positive “work experience” like the one discussed in the survey. The section measured job satisfaction, ability to use one’s strengths at work, trust and openness in the workplace, and whether one’s supervisor treats him or her more like a boss or partner. These metrics align very closely to how we view work and how we want to spend our time there.

  • Job Satisfaction – Applied Trust is always thinking of new ways to improve satisfaction in the work place. It is important to note that job satisfaction does not only take into account actual work-related tasks, but also other, less tangible, aspects. One of the more recent improvements we have made to increase job satisfaction is the MyATE program. Previous posts have talked about some of these improvements, but essentially every employee (either on their own or as part of a team) comes up with something they think would improve happiness at work. At the end of the year, a winner would be decided based on a vote. In 2009, these projects ranged from One Boulder Fitness gym memberships, to getting rid of all drinks in our fridges that contained high fructose corn syrup, to self-approved vacation (the eventual winner). This program is coming back for 2010, so expect to see some posts detailing ideas and improvements!
  • Strengths at Work – Applied Trust has always been extremely open about letting employees choose their career paths. There are ample opportunities to get into existing disciplines in our space, and even encouragement to blaze new ones. Using your strengths at work is the simplest way to feel like you have an impact, and feeling needed and appreciated makes up a large percentage of a positive overall work experience.
  • Trust and Openness – This seems to be an almost effortless component of life here, and I think that mostly has to do with our hiring process. Because we are a small company, we are able to have a majority of our engineers meet potential employees in both interview and social settings. Because of the multitude of perspectives via which we get to look at a candidate, it is unlikely that we will hire someone who isn’t trustworthy, open, and enthusiastic about working here.
  • Boss or Partner? – We are a company of peers. This is not to say there is no strategic management in place, of course there has to be to run a successful business. But what is great about Applied Trust is that we are all have the same goal and we all work on projects together. There are no Bill Lumberghs here. We all work on big-picture infrastructure planning and we all reset passwords. There is very little red tape and very few politics. I think I take that aspect for granted sometimes, but am reminded of how rare it is when I hear office stories from friends.

  So, if you feel like moving to the best city in America (I’m not biased, scientific research proved it!) and have an interest in working for a great local company, apply for a job today!

  
  Tags: applied trust, boulder, Recruiting