Hire Purpose

On the surface, Aaron Loehr has a pretty straightforward management philosophy: Hire exceptional people and “let them do their thing.”

In reality, it’s nowhere near that simple.

Loehr, the founder and chief executive officer of Seattle tech company StrataCore Inc., relies on an in-depth battery of cognitive and behavioral testing to assess the strengths and weaknesses of job candidates. Once hired, they function under the Entrepreneurial Operating System, known as EOS, an approach used by more than 100,000 companies worldwide to help them identify and achieve their goals.

“We have a good picture of who our employees are before they even come on board,” says Loehr, who founded StrataCore in 2003. The company helps clients implement best practices in the cloud. “That really helps a ton to weed people out effectively. Anybody can bluff an interview.”

StrataCore ranked No. 1 of all companies, regardless of size, atop Seattle Business magazine’s “100 Best Companies To Work For” list for 2021.

Managers hold individual meetings with each employee every Monday, where they submit questions or issues they want discussed during weekly staff meetings. Loehr advocates “healthy conflict,” both internally and with suppliers.

“You can’t do conflict avoidance and you can’t do toxic conflict,” he says. “You’ve got to engage in productive, healthy conflict. That’s the key to moving things forward.”

Each of the company’s approximately 50 employees is eligible for a sabbatical after seven years of service. When workers go on long vacations or sabbaticals, coworkers assume their daily tasks so “it’s not like you’re coming back from vacation or your sabbatical with a huge pile of work. You can truly let go and forget.”

In keeping with EOS practices, StrataCore has ditched the traditional organizational hierarchy model, relying instead on an “accountability chart” that empowers workers to take leadership roles in areas important to them. 

Giving back is personal for Loehr, a philosophy that’s reflected in the company’s extensive philanthropy. StrataCore workers have volunteered at places such as Rainier Scholars, which works to offer college opportunities to lower-income students of color, and Mary’s Place, an organization that seeks to alleviate homelessness among women, children and families.

Loehr’s mother worked at Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center – the most advanced adult and pediatric trauma and burn center in Washington state – and often brought home patients with spinal cord injuries to recuperate at the family home.

“A lot of paraplegics and quadriplegics would be coming in, just living with us for months or years,” he recalls. “Growing up, we had an extra bedroom and it was always filled with somebody who was going through a really tough time. So I just thought it was normal.”

Loehr has recently gotten involved with efforts to help Afghan refugees. Several have lived at his house while getting settled.

“It’s just a continuation of the work my parents did,” he says.