Keeping It Fun And Keeping Employees

It's a good bet that Scient Corp. uses the word "fun" more often on its Web site than any other e-business solution firm. Making Scient a "fun place for people to work"--as the site proclaims it to be--is Joe Galuszka's job. As chief morale officer, he makes sure that Scient always lives up to its claim: "We have a sense of humor."

What seems at first glance to be a frivolous pursuit, Scient's pursuit of fun is serious business. It's the "key to our success in colleague attraction and retention," says Galuszka. Let's face it, he says, every high-tech company worth its salt offers stock options. How many offer a good time along with the cash?

Morale officers have been a part of Scient's culture since its founding in December, 1997. Regional morale officers are elected volunteers who coordinate awards "rallies," get staffers involved in community service events, and tackle any morale issues that come up. They also throw a party every once in a while to reward the staff after a big project has been completed, or, just because.

Galuszka stepped into the newly created job as chief morale officer to bring some unity to the regional CMOs' efforts. Formerly vice president of recruiting, he was Scient's 33rd hire. The company now has almost 1,200 employees.

In his new role, Galuszka spends about 50 percent of his time on the road. He travels to Scient's 11 offices worldwide, standardizing regional CMO programs and brainstorming with them about new ideas for morale-building. He regularly hosts round table discussions--over lunch--with employees, finding and dealing with rare pockets of discord and picking up ideas for organizational improvements. Although Scient's executives have an open-door policy, Galuszka thinks it's important for him to be proactive about getting feedback on any problems before employees have to make a decision to stride through those open doors.

"I'm the voice to the leadership team about what's really happening in the trenches," says Galuszka. "Our colleagues are our single, most important asset, and we do everything we can to make sure they are the most satisfied colleagues in the world."

Morale-building is not rocket science, Galuszka says. It's really as simple as talking to people, rewarding them for jobs well done, and bringing them together in team projects inside and outside of the company. Scient's morale officers organize community service events that put employees teams to work for good causes. They also coordinate and publicize the activities of internal groups, such as sports teams and special interest groups like Women In Science. "We're keeping spirits high and building communities," he says.

Scient's longest-standing morale-building event is the quarterly rally, where awards for meritorious service are distributed in a party atmosphere. "We stop work at 4 p.m. on a Friday and hold a party that lasts three or four hours," he says. People are rewarded--by popular votes from their peers--for work done in the previous quarter.

"Scient is great at creating community," says Marc Sheff, Scient front-end technologist and regional co-CMO for the San Francisco Scient office. It was the Scient community that brought Sheff straight from the doors of Harvard to Scient two years ago. He hadn't been earnestly looking for a job. He'd thought about traveling a bit after getting his B.S. in computer science. He interviewed with Scient out of curiosity, agreed to come out for a weekend informational confab, and the rest is history. "All the people I met were incredibly smart and at the same time really fun," he says. "It's no secret that there are a lot of jobs out there now, but I haven't even thought about leaving."

All this may seem a bit fluffy for a serious business. The results, however, speak for themselves. Scient's attrition rate is extremely low for the computer industry, about 11 percent, says Mark Steinke, vice president of recruiting. Also, the company's recruiters have been very successful in nabbing recruits who have multiple offers.

Of course, no amount of fun will attract and keep top tech experts on staff if the company's business plan isn't viable, says Galuszka. "Eighty percent of attracting and retaining colleagues depends on the business plan and the ability to execute that plan in the marketplace," he says. So, as he travels from site to site, he's charged with making sure that the company sticks to its core mission: building innovative e-business solutions. "What really keeps morale high is the creative, innovative work we're doing on a day-to-day basis," he says. "That's more important than any amount of parties."

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Five Tips For Keeping Morale High In Your Organization

• Be proactive about getting feedback.

• Have a sense of humor.

• Bring people together for inside and outside projects.

• Let your staff participate in the rewards process.

• Stick to the mission: creative, innovative work.