Gensler and its employees have a push and pull relationship.
The Newport Beach office of the San Francisco-based architecture and interior design firm formally known as M. Arthur Gensler Jr. & Associates looks to hire dedicated employees who’ll do whatever it takes to give clients what they want.
In return, Gensler does what it takes to keep its employees happy and productive.
“To do great work, we need to get great people,” said David Loyola, a senior associate at Gensler’s Newport Beach office.
Gensler ranked No. 1 in the large company category on 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 conducted surveys, evaluated data and selected companies for the list based on overall scores from queries of management and employees.
Gensler’s Newport Beach office has about 50 employees and did $21 million in billings for the 12 months through June, according to the Business Journal’s September list of the largest architectural firms operating here. It’s one of 32 offices that Gensler has worldwide.
Gensler is big on career building. That includes paying for classes and certifications, offering courses within the company, sending designers to conferences, paying for group memberships, or simply connecting an employee in Newport Beach with the right people from Gensler’s other offices.
“There is amazing support,” said Kim Graham, a senior associate in Newport Beach. “People call you back.”
When Sandi Warneke, a principal at the Newport Beach office, began working at Gensler almost 20 years ago, she was attracted to interior design for law firms and wanted to make it part of her career.
Since the Newport Beach office had limited experience at the time with law firms, Gensler sent Warneke to meetings and conferences and provided her with mentors from other Gensler offices.
Since then, Warneke has designed space for O’Melveny & Myers LLP, Greenberg Traurig LLP, Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth and other law firms.
She just wrapped up work on Jones Day’s new space in The Michelson building in Irvine.
“Now this practice area has grown to the point that we are seen as the law firm ex-perts,” Warneke said.
JoBeth Skaggs was hired for an administrative position as a project coordinator in Gensler’s Newport Beach office. Interested in marketing, she was allowed to learn graphic design software and advanced marketing skills on the job from other employees.
Now Skaggs is a senior associate in marketing and business development.
“I’ve never been told, ‘no,’” she said.
Flex Schedules
Flexible schedules are another perk, according to Gensler employees.
Employees can work longer days in exchange for shortened weeks or telecommute when possible, among other options.
Flexible hours was one of the reasons Anne Bretaña, an associate, was wooed away from another firm about a year and a half ago.
It allows Bretaña to eat dinner with her kids and pick them up from school.
“Design isn’t a clock punching industry,” she said.
Senior Associate Loyola said he uses the flexible schedule to begin his day in the late morning, after he commutes from his home in Los Angeles.
Another big bonus to working at Gensler? Bonuses.
Workers get two regularly scheduled bo-nuses per year: one in June and the other during the holidays. The June bonus is based on performance and can be up to 30% of an employee’s salary, according to Gensler.
Though they are not guaranteed, Gensler never has missed paying a bonus in the 43-year history of the firm, including this year, according to the company.
Employees also enjoy profit sharing, a stock ownership plan, overtime for hourly and salaried employees, continuously accruing paid time off, matched charity contributions, as well as medical, dental and vision insurance with low employee contributions, among other benefits, according to Gensler.
Besides all the perks, Gensler’s Newport Beach workers say the atmosphere around the office is just fun.
It usually has a Friday breakfast, two to three classes per week with included meals and monthly lunches for all staff.
The firm also presents employees who leave and come back with engraved wooden boomerangs.
But few take that step.
“My first week at Gensler, I was blown away,” Skaggs said. “In the second week I was here, we had a luau. I called my parents and said, ‘I’m never leaving.’”
