Commentary

Ad-Tech Firms Appear On Ad Age's 'Best Places To Work' List

Several publishers have “best places to work” lists and it’s always interesting to see which companies land on the lists and the reasons why they do.

This year, several ad-tech companies first landed on Ad Age’s “Best Places to Work 2016” list.

Among the 50 companies on the list, Metamarkets, an analytics provider, came in at No. 13 for its focus on work/family balance with work-at-home Wednesdays, family leave program, catered lunches, weekly happy hours, and career development support.

Unified, a marketing and analytics tech firm, landed No. 14 for a flat work structure and good work/life balance. Employees have flexible time off, likely a “no vacation” policy, and can work from home. Men have paid paternity leave and the company has a leadership program for women. There are intermural sports, yoga, dinners, and happy hours.

Unruly, the video and marketing firm, scored the 28th spot and was cited for its annual team-building summit dubbed “Unrulyfest,” video game competitions, and a Zen room for quiet time.

Integral Ad Science took the 30th spot on the list by closing the office at 1 p.m. on Fridays in the summer, providing lunch on Fridays (Thursdays during the summer), and birthday cakes for employees.

Native ad-tech firm TripleLift grabbed the 38th spot by offering employees massages, drinks, snacks, and meditation sessions.

Accordant Media came in at 39 with summer outings and employee of the month awards. Hopefully these perks will continue—Accordant Media was acquired by Dentsu Aegis Group.

What do these companies and others on the list know that others don’t? That the way to retain excellent employees and to keep them happy and growing, is to create the conditions, programs, and perks that are attractive to them.

Of course you can throw all the catered lunches you want, offer free massage, and have creative team-building outings and still have a dysfunctional workplace. What matters is a company’s culture and values.

The bottom line is, no one wants to work for a company whose culture and values they don’t align with. Ask around—this is increasingly the case. It’s practically de facto. Add to that, generous time off, or a no-vacation policy, and there’s an understanding that time off and workplace flexibility are two widely held core values of workplaces where people are happiest.

Next story loading loading..