Grant Thornton LLP

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.