Employing Tools for Success - Leadership and open communication define life at McKinstry
July 2007
Washington CEO Magazine – On a Friday in mid May, the double doors that lead into McKinstry Co’s spacious lobby are left open, letting in furniture movers and the busy sounds of Third Avenue South. Workers stride past the receptionist in suits and jeans. CEO Dean Allen mingles with employees while buying a cup of clam chowder and a slice of Hawaiian-style pizza in the cafeteria, set beneath McKinstry's artfully transparent ceiling showcasing air ducts and beams.
With nearly a thousand employees in Washington alone, the Seattle-based mechanical and electrical contractor is no boutique operation. Yet, its corporate culture is endearing enough to land it at the top of the large companies on this year's employee-driven "Best Companies to Work For" list.
Nearly 60 percent of 993 employees participated in Washington CEO Magazine's voluntary and anonymous survey, consistently ranking their employer in the 80th to 90th percentile of 10 categories related to their job.
Leadership, which could be seen as a challenge for such a large company, garnered McKinstry an 8.66 out of 10, drawing accolades from employees for the company's business unit management style. Employees also gave McKinstry an 8.7 out of 10 for communication.
The strategy is a simple one, says Allen. "You need to give employees some guidance and put them in a setting where they can be productive," he explains." Our view is, everyone who comes to work for us wants to be productive and wants to do a good job. So, we provide them with the tools needed, so they don't have to sit around and wonder why they aren't." He adds: "That's sort of a virtuous cycle that's created, honoring them so they have the tools they need."
The company, which has 100,000 square feet of offices and 150,000 square feet of shop space at its Seattle headquarters, is in the midst of a multiphase renovation geared toward creating a more collaborative environment, says Director of Corporate Communications Genevieve Guinn.
McKinstry offers workers a cafeteria with local, gourmet, organic menu options, which it spends $150,000 a year to subsidize; a full-service gym with a $20 monthly membership fee; and through its in-house university, free classes on subjects such as wine tasting, e-mail communication, first aid, renewable energy projects and managing personal finances.
Company-sponsored health benefits were expanded in January to include naturopathic services, following input from an employee satisfaction survey the company conducts biannually.
"We call ourselves a big fish in a little pond," says Mari Anderson, vice president of corporate development and human resources. "We like being that size and having that feel and getting to know each other," she says.
Anderson, who has been with the company for almost 15 years, says the company created committees and focus groups to help it become a more "purposeful" organization. Purposeful is a word that gets a lot of mileage among leaders there.
The company is also dedicated to clean energy sustainability, and in March hosted the first meeting for the Washington Clean Technology Alliance. A greenhouse is planned as a future common area, and the company is switching to biodegradable materials in its cafeteria, Anderson says. Stacked in her office, an assortment of disposable dishes made from sugar cane attests to that. "It doesn't hold up to heat very will," she says of the material.
Tangible amenities are "more enduring than flowery speeches" for Allen, who says increased productivity is not the driver for in-house benefits." Our people are plenty productive," he says. "I think it respects that." After all, his is the company that did the mechanical design and manufacture work for Qwest Field, Experience Music Project, the downtown Fairmont Olympic Hotel, Seattle Art Museum and the Oregon Convention Center, among scores of other projects.
Current projects include Microsoft's datacenter in Quincy, the Bellevue Towers luxury condominiums and the University of Washington's new laboratories in the South Lake Union neighborhood.
But it's also the place where "March Madness" reigns each year as company basketball teams compete for glory alongside ballplayers in the NCAA.
"There's plenty of seriousness flowing through the business world, but it's not bad to laugh and sweat and hangout," says Allen. "We like to operate like a family business, so it's good to have a kitchen and a living room and a den."
McKinstry is certainly a family affair for Allen, 52, whose father, George Allen, a mechanical engineer, co-founded the company with Merrill McKinstry in 1960. Since then, Dean Allen, who earned a degree in molecular biology and genetics and a degree in psychology from the University of Washington, has risen in the ranks from janitor to CEO. His brother David Allen, 54, is in charge of business development and marketing. A sister, Laurie Swissa, is an artist and custom jewelry designer in the Seattle area; she doesn't work for the company. Along with recent renovations comes a healthy history of growth. McKinstry claims sales of $205 million in 2006, and Allen projects that number will grow to $275 million to $280 million this year.
The company has 1,200 total employees in offices in Portland, Spokane, Tacoma and Boise, and in January opened new facilities in Denver and Minneapolis.
"We've always kind of had the thought that our competitive edge didn't travel well," Allen says, pointing out the infrastructure needed to operate a holistic design, building and management venture in more than one place.
But the energy management angle of his business has changed all that. The division, which got going "in a big way" in 2000, audits buildings for energy efficiency and helps clients secure funding for improvements. Now, with more than 2,000 buildings under contract, Allen claims McKinstry is the only firm of its scope and size to offer the service. And its profitability is no longer married solely to the design and manufacturing industry.
"The early results are actually stupendous," he says of the company's profitability in new markets.
With expansion, Allen admits there are challenges to the culture that makes his employees happy. "We know to worry about it," he says, during a walk around the company's Seattle campus. "That just really causes us to work harder toward purposeful communication."
Part of that strategy involves quarterly "fireside chats," in which Allen or McKinstry President Doug Moore spends an hour or so in front of a fireplace at the Seattle plant, discussing the state of the company and answering employee questions.
Those and other company meetings are broadcast to satellite offices via television or speaker phone. An internal website communicates news about the company to employees. "We're a 100 percent open book," Allen says. "We think that transparency is what builds that network of shared purpose…Our view is that our employees are investing their most valuable resource, their time, in being here."
- By Sharon Altaras
WA CEO Magazine, July 2007
Sharon Altaras is an editorial assistant for Washington CEO Magazine.
