DULUTH - When Barr Engineering won a national award this fall, it didn't just make the company executives proud.
Everyone took part in the recognition because Barr Engineering is employee-owned.
Barr, with nearly 50 of its 500 employees in Duluth, was honored as the best environmental service firm to work for in the nation, according to the Environmental Business Journal and CE News.
The Minneapolis-based company topped 34 other firms in the second annual contest, which used a three-member judging panel and employee questionnaires as criteria for the honor.
Judge Stephen Gianotti said he favored Barr "because of its longevity and proven track record of success, higher sharing of profits with all employees, a very high number of private owners as part of what we assume is a 'share the wealth' culture, the highest percentage of revenues [spent on] training and development."
ADVERTISEMENT
The News Tribune asked three Duluth-based employees -- Jeré Mohr, Alina Heydt and Sheryl Filby Williams -- questions about what makes Barr such a standout company.
Q: What makes Barr a top place to work? What distinguishes Barr from the pack?
Williams: On the project side, everyone has a high level of personal responsibility. This results in very little "top-down" management. [It's more of] a team of professionals who feel significant ownership for a project and client's success.
Heydt: Everyone seems personally invested in making this a fun and challenging place to build a lifelong career, not just a place to work.
Q: Do you feel the workplace culture has contributed to the length of your tenure at Barr?
Mohr: Definitely. The workplace culture at Barr gives employees a great deal of flexibility to choose which projects to work on and to direct their own career path. This results in employees that like what they are doing and want to stay at the company.
Williams: The workplace culture is very important to my length of tenure at Barr. Barr offers flexible work hours, generous comp time, benefits, opportunities for growth, a high level of professionalism, and the ability to work on interesting and challenging projects.
Q: What specifically can you say about the culture that contributes to your desire to stay at Barr? What makes it fun?
ADVERTISEMENT
Heydt: The culture at Barr tends to be filled with positive energy due to the fact that employees have a say in their own career path. It is fun to work around other people that are motivated and dedicated to their job and their projects. Plus, we like to have fun together outside of the office walls.
Q: What are the benefits of an employee-owned company? Does that change your advancement opportunities, professional development and your motivation?
Heydt: At the end of the day when you are working on a project that may have a tight deadline or be somewhat stressful, there is extra motivation knowing that you will see direct rewards for your extra efforts.
Mohr: Because Barr is employee-owned, individual employee-owners have an opportunity to help make decisions that benefit the entire company and the other employee-owners. Everyone at Barr is working toward a common goal and they want to see others around them succeed, because ultimately they will share in that success. This results in employees that are motivated and driven to advance professionally.
Williams: As employee-owners, everyone is highly motivated for Barr to succeed because we know that what is best for the company as a whole is also good for each employee individually.
Q: What are the direct rewards that you see from your added effort? What is your employee share in the company?
Heydt: Extra effort is rewarded with an increase in opportunities for professional development and growth and comp time. ... Any profits are distributed back to employees through cash bonuses and contributions to the company's employee stock ownership plan.
