April 22-23, 2015 | Dallas, TX

Top 10 Takeaways from the

2015 Great Place to Work® Conference

On a Mission

1,080 Professionals representing

406 Organizations from

20 Industries with

1 Objective…

To Build a Better Society by

Creating Great Workplaces

At this year’s Great Place to Work® Conference, leaders gathered to

exchange valuable insights and strategies for building and leveraging a

great workplace culture.

Leaders who, against a backdrop of high disengagement levels across

corporate America, are determined to buck the norm and change the

game within their own companies.

Presented here are ten key takeaways that surfaced and resurfaced

over the two days. Sessions covered the most current practices and

perspectives among top leaders of outstanding workplaces, who are

consistently achieving greatness through their strong, trust-based

company cultures.

TAKEAWAY #1:

It’s Personal, Not “Perk”-onal

“The real core of a Great

Place to Work® are the

relationships that people

have with each other.

Google is a great example of

this. Virtually every perk

they offer is matched by

some one else in Silicon

Valley. What’s distinctive

about Google is the great

relationships they have with

employees.”

– Robert Levering, Co-Founder of

Great Place to Work®

TAKEAWAY #2: Your employees are an invaluable source of

information. Listen to them.

“Our nurses could be nurses

anywhere. So could all of

our other people. So we ask

them…we know you love

your work. What could we

do to make you love it

even more?”

– Donna Hyland, President & CEO,

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta

TAKEAWAY #3: More than enabling “work-life balance,” great workplaces

actively support employees as whole people.

“The question is not: ‘How

well do we divide our work

life and our personal life?’

The question is: ‘How do

we stay whole, as

people?’…This is something

that we need to help solve

for our employees, as

employers.”

– Kevin Cleary, CEO, Clif Bar & Co.

“Being a great place to work

is about great people

working, not just about

being a workplace where

we’re great when people

show up. Work and life are

integrated. They’re not

balanced, and it’s a false

equivalency to think that

they ever really are.”

– Danroy Henry Sr., Chief Human

Resources Officer, Bright Horizons

Family Solutions

TAKEAWAY #4: Be as transparent as possible.

“We communicate the good

and the bad. We don’t hold

anything back. You can’t

‘spin’ people in an

environment of high trust.

We share financial

information with our staff;

they know our strategic

plan, and how they fit into

it.”

– Jim Proppe, Group Managing Partner,

Plante Moran

“You have to constantly

work to ensure that

everyone understands what

you understand, and the

context for the decisions

you’ve made. When people

have the context for the

decisions you’ve made, they

may not agree with them,

but at least they’ll have the

information they need to

execute against them.”

– Dick Costolo, CEO, Twitter

TAKEAWAY #5: Many great workplaces are using HR Analytics to

become even better workplaces.

“SAS uses data in everything

we do. Workforce analytics

helps us better understand

our people - from hiring to

engaging to building

leaders.”

– Jenn Mann, Vice President,

Human Resources, SAS

“Analytics are another game

changer, to make smarter

talent decisions. We do all

of this work to understand

our customers. What about

our employees?”

– Jennifer Johnston, Senior Director of

#dreamjob Marketing,

Communications and Events,

Salesforce.com

TAKEAWAY #6: Inspired products and services come from inspired people.

Connect your employees to a sense of purpose at work.

“Purpose is not incremental

to your company’s core

business. It IS your

company’s core business.”

– Kevin Cleary, CEO, Clif Bar & Co.

“The pursuit of excellence

hinges on how well we

inspire our people, on a

deeply personal level, to

want to deliver excellence.”

– David M. Gordon, President,

The Cheesecake Factory

TAKEAWAY #7: Leadership commitment to a strong culture is critical

to creating a great workplace.

“[I spend] a good one-third

of my time or more on

internal culture building….

How is it possible not to?

Every child, every employer,

every family that we serve is

affected every day by a

human being that works for

Bright Horizons. Ultimately,

our reputation, our success,

turns on every individual

experience we have.”

– David Lissy, CEO,

Bright Horizons Family Solutions

TAKEAWAY #8: Embracing diversity will serve your culture

as well as your business.

“With 4,000 diverse

people across the globe,

I’m not going to have all

of the great ideas.

They’re going to come

from all over the

company, and the more

diverse that group of

4,000 is, the better

selection of ideas you’re

going to have.”

– Dick Costolo, CEO, Twitter

TAKEAWAY #9: A strong company culture is a

key strategic differentiator.

“I firmly believe the most

leverageable asset we have

is our culture. It’s our

competitive edge.”

– David Lissy, CEO,

Bright Horizons Family Solutions

“Culture is your company’s

secret sauce. It’s what

makes you YOU.”

– Francine Katsoudas, Senior Vice

President and Chief Human

Resources Officer, Cisco

TAKEAWAY #10: People who are building great workplaces

are changing the game.

Changing the Game

“ The Game Changers are the people who change the way things are

done, thought about, or made.

You dream the possibilities and run fast into the challenges.

You challenge the status quo.

You take risks for the sake of making something great happen!

You are the optimist in the midst of pessimists.

You are persistent among some who might otherwise be complacent.

You turn transactional into gift-like; Crazy Town into Whoville.

When you’re handed lemons, you make Limoncello…or is that just

me?

Bottom line…

You make what seems impossible possible.

But best of all …You give people hope! You’re the game changers!

Thank you for making a difference in the world!

We at Great Place to Work ®, applaud you!”

– Marisa Stoltzfus, Consultant, Great Place to Work®

April 7-8, 2016 |San Diego, CA www.greatplacetowork.com/2016-conference

What was your top takeaway from the

Great Place to Work® Conference?

Tell us at #gptwConf, and don’t forget to mark

your calendar for 2016!