Atrium Management Co. knows how to get its employees pumped up to work.
Twice a week, the Lake Mary property management firm brings in a trainer to do a
functional fitness workout. But the exercise doesn't stop in the office, either.
Staffers at the firm also have run obstacle course races together, and even ran with a
staff member who was attempting a 100-mile ultra-marathon.
When it comes to kicking back, the firm also knows what to do. From holiday parties
with ugly sweaters to game nights with plenty of passion, Atrium wants its employees to
have a good time both inside and outside the office.
Part of that philosophy comes from Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh's book, "Delivering Happiness." For Atrium Management, that philosophy means no one on the staff dreads coming into work and everyone has a good time despite the stress of the job.
Atrium Management is among Orlando Business Journal's 2020 Best Places to Work in the small category, which includes companies with 25-49 employees. The winners will be recognized at an Aug. 28 awards event.
Here's more from Michael Krause, partner:
Your firm’s standout piece of office décor: It’s not really décor, but we love our marine-strength air horns. Each time we close a deal or get a new contract, we blow the air horn, and we have a hilarious reel of outtakes from catching people off guard with it.
Top hangout spot in the office: The parking lot at our new office downtown. Tuesdays and Thursdays, we have a personal trainer come to lead us in a functional fitness workout. It’s an amazing way to start the day.
Your company’s top perk: We invest in real estate together as a team. Each year, we find a real estate investment deal and we offer for our team to invest in the deal with us. It’s a great way for us to come together as a team and do something that truly is going benefit those individuals who choose to invest, long term.
How do you measure ROI on rewards, recognition and other perks? Employee happiness. We have an incredible working environment, and it is tough to put a price tag on that or to quantify the value of it. Our employee retention is very high, which tells us people are happy to be here.
Imagine you’re pitching a potential hire. How would you describe your company culture in 30 seconds? We have an incredibly dynamic, energetic and positive culture. We have people from all different backgrounds who come together on a daily basis to collaborate and work together. Our team is constantly amazing me with what they come up with creatively on
their own, and they love sharing it with the world on social media. The energy and enthusiasm is always off the charts. Each Friday, we have an all-hands meeting where we get the entire team together, and usually during that meeting, at a minimum, a few people are moved to tears. Our team is putting their blood, sweat and tears into their jobs, and at the end of the week,
emotions can run incredibly high and oftentimes our team members get emotional. We love it, and we feed off that positivity.
What does it take for a candidate to stand out and get hired by your firm? They have to be a good culture fit. Stephen Schwarzman from Blackstone calls it the airport test, and I think it fits pretty well with one of the determining factors at our company. If my flight was canceled and I was stuck at an airport with you, would I be OK with that and would I enjoy my time with you. Basically, do we like each other and do we get along. We also always have looked to Zappos for ideas on culture and they hire on the same type of principle. Tony Hsieh stated: “We've actually passed on a lot of really smart, talented people that we know can make an immediate impact on our top or bottom line, but if they're not good for the company culture, we won't hire them for that reason alone.”
What’s your office’s go-to offsite team-building activity? We have been focusing on working on ourselves, both mentally and physically. This past year, we did a mud run together, the Rugged Maniac, and we had a blast. A bunch of us also ran alongside one of our team members who was attempting to run a 100-mile ultra-marathon. We also love just kicking back and having fun together — we have done multiple game days at the Cork & Olive in Lake Mary, and those games, especially Left Right Center, can get pretty wild.
Does your local team drink more coffee, tea, Red Bull or beer? Together, I would have to say more coffee, but we definitely love to have a few after-hours drinks from time to time, as well. This past year, we had our first ever Vendor Appreciation Night and we spent way more on the drinks than we did on the food.
Which celebrity would you most want to hire? This would vary based on who in the company you ask, but I personally would hire Justin Timberlake. I feel like he would fit in with the culture and instantly would make all of our staff parties and gettogethers a heck of a lot more entertaining and fun.
Are you hiring now? We always are hiring and looking for nines and 10s, or superstar employees. We don’t have a specific position that we are hiring for today, but we will be looking to fill the head of finance position sometime in the not-too-distant
future.
Email us at info@atriummanagement.com.