Some companies equate being worker-friendly with onsite foosball tables, catered lunches, miniature golf outings and casual Fridays.
At the Newport Beach office of St. Louis-based McCarthy Building Cos., employees relish more practical benefits: employee ownership, open communication and job security in an industry—commercial construction—that’s prone to peaks and valleys.
“We pride ourselves on the fact that we look after our own people like they’re family,” said Tracy MacDonald, vice president of operations for McCarthy.
About 90 administrative officials and 320 field employees are based in McCarthy’s Newport Beach office.
Workers there average about 15 years at the company, well above the industry norm, according to Kristi Ecker, director of human resources.
The Newport Beach office ranked No. 2 in the large company category in the Business Journal’s inaugural Best Places to Work list.
The list was compiled for the Business Journal by Harrisburg, Pa.-based Best Companies Group, an independent workplace researcher that managed the registration process, conducted surveys, evaluated data and selected companies for the list based on overall scores from queries of management and employees.
McCarthy espouses a work-hard, play-hard mentality, befitting a construction company that’s been involved in some of Orange County’s bigger developments in the past few years.
Past local projects include Irvine Company’s 20 and 40 Pacifica office towers in the Irvine Spectrum and nearly $200 million worth of work for the Newport-Mesa Unified School District.
Projects under way include the expansion of John Wayne Airport, as well as a Kaiser Permanente medical center in Fontana valued at close to $450 million.
The company’s Newport Beach and other California offices are working on more than 70 projects valued at some $5.7 billion in the state.
“Even in a downturn we’ve been doing relatively well,” said Bruce Nelson, McCarthy’s vice president of business development. “It’s a little slower now, but we’ve still been able to win some work.”
When one business line is slower, employees can be moved to others that are doing better.
“When hospital and lab work is down, we can move those people to airports and schools,” Nelson said. “You’re not pigeonholed.”
A large part the company’s ability to move employees from division to division is due to the experience and adaptability of the company’s employees, Nelson said.
Job Training
Workers on average spend about 43 hours a year on training, according to Ecker. New hires at the project engineer level and above spend a week in St. Louis getting a better understanding of the company culture.
“People here are able to change hats,” Nelson said.
The construction business is not a Monday through Friday, 9-to-5 job, McCarthy employees said. Hours can be long and stress can be high.
But the payoff is worth it, according to employees. Pay and benefit packages are extremely robust.
Every McCarthy employee is eligible to receive an annual performance bonus in March. This past year more than $77 million was paid out in bonuses, according to the company.
McCarthy was formed about 150 years ago, but it just recently saw a big change in ownership structure.
In 2002, the family-owned business was turned over to employees, through an employee stock ownership plan that includes workers at every level.
It’s a big reason that Nelson joined the company, about two and a half years ago.
“That (stock ownership plan) was the difference for me,” he said. “You can get a job anywhere.”
The level of communication the company provides to workers is different from the norm, according to McCarthy.
Unlike other companies where access to confidential, detailed financial and strategic planning information is reserved for a select few, McCarthy provides this type information to all.
Employees will only truly stand behind a company when they understand where it is heading, officials said.
Giving all the employees a personal and financial stake in the company’s future has made the company more entrepreneurial in nature, according to officials.
Family Feel
But, having employees benefit from the financial success of the company hasn’t created a work-obsessed environment.
“It’s kept that family feel,” said MacDonald, a 23-year veteran at the company. “I think that’s what separates the company from a lot of others.”
A family focus remains at the company, workers said. Employees are strongly en-couraged to involve their spouses and significant others in company functions.
Functions aren’t all about fun, as McCarthy is big into giving back.
It regularly donates its skills to projects for Habitat for Humanity, schools and hospitals. It has teamed up with “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” to help build a house in the span of a few days.
It also raises money and canned goods for various causes.
But the company does take some time for itself. McCarthy owns four condominiums in the family travel spots of Orlando, Fla., Breck-enridge, Colo., the Ozarks and Park City, Utah. The condos are freely available for employees and their families.
