■ COVER STORY
by Gary Robertson b Some of Virginia’s best workplaces
are going to the dogs. Companies are allowing employees
to bring their dogs to work. Executives say the practice reduces employees’ stress while helping to build morale.
y whil
At Charlottesville-based Crutchfield Corp., for example, dogs are a constant presence and have become a reflection of the company’s corporate culture. “We’re pretty quirky,” says Chris Lilley, Crutchfield’s chief human resources officer. A
Corp prese om
quir hum
Allowing pets at work is just one of the many steps taken by the Best Places to Work in Virginia to make their offices more welcoming. Research has found that workplace stress is a major contributor to employee absenteeism, low morale and burnout, all of which can cause reduced productivity.
he m This is the eighth year that Virginia
Business has compiled the Best Places to Work in Virginia list in cooperation with Pennsylvania-based Best Companies Group. This year, 175 entrants vied to be
named one of the Best Places to Work in Virginia. A hundred were selected for the list in three categories: small (15-99 U.S. employees); midsize (100-249); and large, (250 or more). The Best Companies Group made its
selections based on surveys conducted with the companies and their employees. Employee surveys, for example, were
Crutchfi eld Corp. video production manager
Tara Wisnewski brought Milo (a dog staying with her temporarily) and her dog Moose to work one day in January.
used to benchmark companies on a list of core values: leadership and planning, corporate culture and communication, role satisfaction, work environment, relationship with supervisor, training and benefits, pay and overall engagement.
Founder fond of dogs Crutchfield’s connection with dogs
is — like its business — a reflection of the Photo by Mark Rhodes
www.VirginiaBusiness.com
interests of its founder. William G. “Bill” Crutchfield started
the company in 1974. When Crutchfield planned to sell a Porsche 356 coupe, he was unable to find anyone to help install an after- market car stereo. That gave him an idea for a mail-order,
car-stereo business. Since then, the company has expanded to offer a variety of consumer- electronic products. As the company has evolved, its workforce has grown from one employee to about 600. Crutchfield, which launched a website
in 1995, claims to be the first retailer to sell consumer electronics on the internet. But let’s not forget the dogs. Bill Crutch-
field is a dog lover. A photo of him being licked by a dachshund is prominent on the company’s website. Other dogs on the site, under the rubric
“Crutchfield’s Furry Family,” run the gamut of breeds. Just as Crutchfield evolved as a company,
it has morphed into a dog-friendly environ- ment. “It creates an informal atmosphere,” Lilley says. Employees who bring their dogs to work
tell him they are happier, and that positive attitude helps when the work starts piling up. The company seems to be on solid
ground in crediting pets with reducing stress. A number of studies, including one by Virginia Commonwealth University in 2012, have found that the presence of dogs in the workplace can make a difference in lowering an employee’s stress. “On a daily basis we have dozens of dogs
out here. They are really part of most depart- ments,” says Kelly Greenstone, the company’s employee relations manager. But, Lilley says, dogs don’t just roam
the building. Some employees are allergic to dogs, and others simply are not dog people.
VIRGINIA BUSINESS 27
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