The Value of Being Valued

Staff from the human resources and other departments at Allyis relax in the company breakroom. Left to right: Kristy Law, Sarah Um, Tim Simon, Anne Fairchild, Mark Dawson, Julia Thompson, Brian Heiges, Hillary Dobbs, Sheri Turner.

In the world of business, there are a few universal truths among employers: that hiring and retraining new workers is far more expensive than retaining existing ones; that employees who feel recognized and empowered are far more productive than those who don’t; and that the quality of the customer experience is directly related to quality of the employee.

At the Kirkland offices of Allyis, a technology consulting, development and staffing firm, these truths are the foundation of an award-winning corporate structure. Founded in 1997, Allyis has grown into one of the region’s premier Enterprise 2.0 consultancies. The company’s remarkable employee benefits and cooperative atmosphere have earned it the top spot in this year’s midsize category, an honor that Allyis also won in 2008.

Allyis founders Richard Law, Ethan Yarbrough and Ken Efta—the company’s CEO, president and principal consultant, respectively—have created a workplace in which employee recognition and engagement are paramount.

“From the day we started this company, we knew we wanted to make it a place where we’d want to work,” Law says, “and a large part of that centered on always doing our best to retain the human connection.”

Allyis helps its clients manage massive amounts of content by creating search and content sharing systems that are based on the fundamentals of social media. Much like Facebook and Twitter, Allyis’ systems allow relevant content to “bubble up” to users within the process. To deliver that functionality to its customers, the company implements tools like Microsoft SharePoint, intranet portals and employee blogs.

So it’s no surprise that Allyis has used those same tools within its own walls to foster employee collaboration, recognition and productivity. The firm has a robust intranet site with blogs, team sites and discussion boards that facilitate interdepartmental communication. Transparency is key here as well: Allyis’ executives make themselves available to employee queries via an online forum and twice-yearly town hall-style meetings. The company publishes its financials every month; employees can query management on that or any other aspect of the business through an anonymous web portal.

But Allyis’ commitment to employee recognition runs deeper than a digital resource. In 2003, it redirected the majority of its marketing budget toward employee services and recognition. The company’s 183 employees are consequently among the most satisfied workers you’ll find anywhere in the state.

“Our employee care and employee recognition efforts are the formal mechanisms to make sure that the recognition of the work done at Allyis happens in a reliable and timely fashion,” says Law. “Good intentions are not enough if they’re not acted on and prioritized within an organization.”

Next: Midsize Companies, Second Place.

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