Page 44 - How America's Best Places to Work Inspire Extra Effort in Extraordinary Times

Crosswind Factors C31

Balancing the Diseconomies of Scale
We now consult the comments of employees at Best-Places-to-Work
employers to gain insights into this business of the tipping point. We
wondered if there are winning employers where the pull of the tipping
point is being reduced by an equal or larger force, that counterbal-
ances the negative effects of size.
The answer, thankfully, is yes.
We start with a comment or two from smaller employers to get
a sense of how the tipping-point phenomenon is experienced in the
life of an average employee; and then we move to larger employers,
where, in theory, the tipping point should be working to reduce levels
of engagement.
This first employee works for a company that has 40 employees
and that is experiencing significant growth:

I love being part of a small, growing organization and feeling
like my contributions count toward its progress in some way. I also
value getting to see the inner workings of a business gaining its
ground. I know working here is a valuable experience people don’t
get every day, and the company has taken chances on me that other
more-established companies would not.

This next employee works for a larger employer with roughly 90 as-
sociates. Yet the positive comments about her work experience still
resonate:

This is a great company to work for. It is a great environment
where everyone knows each other and everyone gets along. It’s big
enough where you get a wide variety of people, but small enough
for everyone to know each other. The management is leading this
company in the right direction. This is a place I would like to work
for many years.

Our next employee works for a winning Best-Places-to-Work large
employer—with over 10,000 employees in various locations. These