All over America, companies large and small adorn their offices with images of the values that guide them, reminders of how they should conduct business on a day-to-day basis. Some are professionally framed and hung in the lobby. Others can be found artfully scrolled on the wall of the conference room, and occasionally you may even find them immortalized on a bronze plaque.
Hughes Marino’s Core Values are painted in bold, eye-capturing color on the outside wall of its San Diego headquarters. The bright hues and vividly designed words convey a big dose of feel-good energy. But for the people who spend their days working at Hughes Marino, it’s not about how the company’s values are displayed or how attention-grabbing they look—it’s about how the values are lived daily.
Developed to inspire and encourage, they focus on lessons that find application not just in the professional realm, but also the personal one.
“One of the things that’s terrific about our Core Values is that we developed them as a team,” says Senior Vice President J.P. Roach. “We were at an off-site retreat. Everyone shared their thoughts on what was most important to them in a personal and professional sense. We came up with the 10 Core Values (see related story).”
Roach credits the values with making Hughes Marino a stand-out company in the world of commercial real estate for clients and employees. For the second time in four years, the company has been voted No. 1 on one of the Business Journal’s Best Places to Work list, this time in the medium-size business category.
Roach said he isn’t surprised. “Hughes Marino really is what a workplace should be.”
Growing in Growth
Hughes Marino exclusively represents commercial tenants and buyers. It was established as a company in 2011, but its first incarnation was Irving Hughes, founded over a quarter century ago. Jason Hughes, Chairman and CEO, and his wife, Shay, President and COO, formed the successor company, Hughes Marino, and are sole owners. David Marino is executive vice president, and a listed co-founder, though not a principal. Managing Director, Tucker Hughes, founded the firm’s OC office and more recently LA offices and leads the teams in both regions. In six years, Hughes Marino has expanded to include offices in Los Angeles, the Silicon Valley, Seattle, and San Francisco.
“We will handle $1.5 billion worth of transactions this year,” Jason Hughes said. “This is up from slightly over $1 billion in 2016,”
The executive team still invests time in making sure the people it brings on board to manage the new offices are carefully selected to make sure they embody the Core Values the company has worked to nurture.
“There is not another commercial real estate firm in the country that talks about its organizational values and culture as Hughes Marino does, and that is where we break away from the pack,” said Executive Vice President David Marino. “The first focus of the company is on our people, and finding fundamentally good, smart, trusting and trustworthy, and relationship centric people that fit with our 10 core values and amazing culture. The company then provides a nurturing and beautiful work environment, with cutting edge technology and support resources, to make working at Hughes Marino a fulfilling and exciting opportunity for everyone involved. Our focus is on our incredible people and team first, as when we do that well, they will take care of our customers with passion and commitment.
Special Culture
With Hughes Marino’s name change in 2011 came a change in management philosophy. By its nature, commercial real estate tends to be an individual enterprise, Roach says.
“Jason and Shay wanted to build a more collaborative team experience for brokers and the staff who supported them. In turn, they believed employees who felt valued and supported would deliver better results for clients,” Roach says. “Shay has a vision for the company that goes beyond individuals.”
“While perhaps unconventional, I’ve always led with my maternal instinct and with a love of our team,” Shay said in an email. “When you start from that standpoint, and then combine that with our ten core values that literally everyone on our team embodies, it’s a pretty simple recipe for a happy team and wonderful foundation to build on. I also believe that people should be encouraged to be authentic and bring their whole selves to work.”
She has sought to cultivate a culture that made employees and clients feel as if they were part of something exceptional.
The company implemented such activities as Extra Fun Fridays, when the office is closed for a few early hours so team members can get together for chocolate milk-making, shuffleboard playing and go-kart racing. A recent such Friday featured a cruise around Newport Harbor in a Duffy boat.
WOW cards—special recognition for a job well done that comes with a little extra in the paycheck—are an employee favorite, as are annual retreats where employees are treated to a 48-hour period of team building, keynote speakers and group dinners in an elegant location, such as the Pelican Hill Golf Club.
Even the work space at all of its offices is designed to make employees feel as if they’re in a comfortable, home-like environment. The Orange County office, for example, includes a cozy living room with a farm table for gatherings. There’s a billiards table and arcade-style Pac-Man video game. Playful artwork adorns the walls throughout the space, and private offices sport glass walls to foster a feeling of connectedness and community. There’s even a large gallery wall where team members can display framed photos of family and friends.
A Family Thing
“All great companies know how important culture is to their success,” Hughes says. “Our culture is largely defined by our core values, which is the heart of our company and our amazing people.”
The culture is so special, Roach says, that many employees have brought in friends and family to be part of it. Roach’s sister, Erin Bello, followed him to the company, as did her husband, Robert, who’s general counsel. “I introduced my sister and brother-in-law to the company open houses and activities. Over time, they got to know everyone here and eventually joined.” Roach estimates that there are several people who are related to each other working at Hughes Marino. “We really are one big family,” he jokes.
Community giving is another vital component of the company’s culture. Employees donate hundreds of hours and tens of thousands of dollars every year to charities throughout Orange County, according to its website. Among its many recipients are the Ronald McDonald House, ALS Association, Autism Speaks, Junior Achievement and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Worth a Thousand Words
Everything Hughes Marino team members achieve—from 100% satisfaction-guaranteed client service to a family-like atmosphere that Roach says makes people feel at home in the office—is rooted in the Core Values, Shay says.
The values inspire more than just employees and clients. Remember the bold, bright colorful wall in San Diego that heralds them in brilliant color? Roach says it’s become something of a destination spot in the downtown San Diego area. “People stop in front of it and take selfies,” he says.
