Posted by Kathy Zwickert, Chief People Officer and JoAnne Taylor, Director of Human Resources, NetSuite
Recently, NetSuite was named one of the Bay Area’s Top Workplaces (opens in new tab) for the third consecutive year. Conducted by the Bay Area News Group, publisher of The San Jose Mercury News, The Oakland Tribune, Contra Costa Times, and various other newspapers and digital media properties, the results are based entirely on feedback from an employee survey.
We’re proud that our employees think so highly of the company and much of that is due to the following steps we take to keep employees engaged.
Continuous Solicitation of Feedback
Just like with the Top Workplaces, we regularly ask employees about their experience at NetSuite with a global, in-depth annual survey. But we go far beyond that. Surveys are a useful tool but have their limitations. In addition, we’ve instituted quarterly chat sessions with a random sampling of employees at each of our offices. Most recently we heard that employees wanted a more inspiring workplace and we’re now busy re-painting, updating cubicles and conference rooms. At our San Mateo office we’ve added a plug-in station for electric cars as a result of some of that feedback. Those chat sessions have also led to our recent decision to give all employees the day off on their birthday. We continue to engage with employees throughout their careers as well. For example, we check in with ever new hire after 90 days on the job. After all, the best way to keep employees happy is to simply ask them what would make them happy.
Promoting Health and Wellness
NetSuite takes a very active role in driving and supporting both physical and emotional health. We provide our employees with free fresh fruit every week and a free on-site gym at headquarters. We also host an on-site Café with many organic and healthy options for our employees to choose from. At NetSuite we also recognize our employees have personal lives and we like to celebrate with them when life milestones are reached; such as new baby gifts as well as company sponsored social events to build team spirit.
Fostering Community
In Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (opens in new tab), a five-stage model of human motivation, the third level is a need for social interaction, a feeling of belonging, affection and love - from work group, family, friends and romantic relationships. Helping to meet that need is a fundamental requirement of any employer and here at NetSuite we strive to create that feeling not only within the office but the wider community. NetSuite.org (opens in new tab), our corporate citizenship arm, offers employees the chance to volunteer their NetSuite expertise for nonprofit customers through our SuiteVolunteers program while the SuiteImpact team gives back to the communities in which we live and work through community service. Recently we launched a Volunteer Time Off program, granting employees 16 hours a year to step away from the office and participate in SuiteImpact Team community service activities, or personal volunteering of their choice. We recognize that telling people to take a day off isn’t always realistic. If you’re in sales or a customer facing role it may be difficult to take a full day or a specific day, so we built in some flexibility. That program, by the way, was also based on employee feedback. Quite literally, every workplace initiative that NetSuite implements is a direct result of employee feedback.
Dedicated, motivated and happy employees are the foundation of any successful business and we’re proud to be a Top Workplace in the Bay Area again. We’ll continue to engage with our employees to improve the NetSuite experience.
For more on working at NetSuite, please see our NetSuite Careers page and NetSuite Career Opportunities.
