100 Best Places to Work in IT 2009
Employer Profile
Why You Want to Work There
This Chicago-based accounting firm wants to hear what its IT employees have to say. The company actively solicits and acts on feedback, capturing ideas, suggestions and concerns. Recent feedback was centered on a need for more flexible work arrangements, an issue now being addressed by a cross-divisional task force. Staff requests for better monitoring equipment, more process documentation, increased opportunities for "quick-hit" training and more-robust project management support were also addressed. Twice annually, the Franklin Covey xQ survey is administered to measure perceptions of the IT department's ability to execute effectively. Every quarter, the IT department holds an interactive staffwide videoconference to share key messages about strategies and projects. That meeting includes "Three Tough Questions for the CIO" in which employees are given gift cards for asking straightforward (and sometimes hard-hitting) questions of the top IT leader. At least six times a year, the CIO or members of the leadership team meet over lunch with small, cross-divisional, multilevel groups of employees to talk about challenges and opportunities for growth.
| Rank by company size | Medium, No. 10 |
| Employee Statistics | |
| Total employees | 5,810 |
| Total IT employees | 176 |
| IT employee turnover in 2008 | 18% |
| IT employee promotions in 2008 | 8% |
| Training | |
| Training days offered per IT employee in 2008 | 7 |
| Training budget per IT employee in 2008 | $2,000 |
| Women in IT | |
| Total percentage of women within IT | 32% |
| Percentage of IT managers who are women | 40% |
| Percentage of IT staff who are women | 29% |
| Minorities in IT | |
| Total percentage of minorities within IT | 30% |
| Percentage of IT managers who are minorities | 16% |
| Percentage of IT staff who are minorities | 34% |
