Companies boost morale post-Katrina - New Orleans City Business

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34 2005 Best Places to Work 17-20 continued from page 33 the Gulf Coast, targeting evacuees to convince them to come back home and rebuild. “Our vice president of public relations, Betsie Gambel, was really responsible for engineering this new effort,” said Jennifer Magee, CEO of Keating Magee. “It has the core value of giving back to the community and helping rebuild New Orleans’ image after everything that happened.” Keating Magee, in its 25th year of business, maintained payroll for its employees and allowed them to work from home remotely, staying in contact with weekly conference calls. Employees are scattered in four offices in Greenville, Miss., Houston, Baton Rouge and New Orleans. “It was amazing to me that our employees, no matter what they were going through, were contacting clients and always thinking about the group,” Magee said. “They deserved everything we did.” Several staffers said one of the best parts about working at Keating Magee is the scenery. The New Orleans office is located on the fifth floor in the Jackson Brewery Millhouse, with balconies overlooking the Mississippi River. “Both our clients and staff feel it’s the best office space in town,” Magee said. “It lends itself to creativity; we go out on the balcony and brainstorm and just hang out with each other overlooking the city.” 17 Cody Jackson, top, and Jason Vicknair, River Marine Management employees, anchor a loaded barge. McGlinchey Stafford AFTER HURRICANE KATRINA, McGlinchey Stafford managing partner Rudy Aguilar secured Baton Rouge office space for his New Orleans law firm employees and rented 80 River Marine Management employees David Rousau, left, and Milton Brown tie wire fixing to connect two barges. apartments to accommodate them with housing needs. The firm also raised $50,000 in a disaster-relief fund for severely impacted employees and maintained payroll for all staffers. Through an effort organized and coordinated by the 12-yearold son of a member in the firm’s Cleveland office, donations of more than 300 boxes of clothing, food and other useful items were made to the displaced New Orleans staff. “We cherish what all of our employees bring to work and we just did things for them as if you would do it for anybody in your family,” Aguilar said. “It was a matter of everybody coming together to help each other out. Though McGlinchey Stafford reopened its New Orleans office in November, several employees remain in Baton Rouge because they can’t return to their homes. Some are still stationed in Jackson, Miss., Dallas and Houston. Aguilar said the firm paid mileage allowance, enabling employees to commute from their homes to Baton Rouge if they were in that position. As every December rolls around, McGlinchey Stafford holds a “Secret Santa” drive for underprivileged kids through the Baton Rouge Bar Association. Aguilar said this year there is a different addition as employees are conducting a “Secret Santa” drive for children of staffers who had substantial losses. “It’s just a way of giving back and getting people to realize that McGlinchey is not just a place to work but a place to help people out, including the families of our own employees,” Aguilar said. 18 River Marine Management WHILE BARGE LINE SERVICE may involve strenuous and tedious work, River Marine Management president and CEO Shawn O’Daniels call his business “just one laid-back family who knows how to have fun.” Located in Garyville with an office in the World Trade Center building, River Marine Management employs 34 workers. After Hurricane Katrina, the company maintained payroll for 60 days, got 11 FEMA trailers for employees and assured employees who could not return immediately they had jobs when they returned. O’Daniels cashed checks for employees and forwarded checks to workers out of state. O’Daniels said business resumed a month after Katrina and was fully operational to pre-Katrina status 50 days after the storm. “The atmosphere is as if the hurricane never hit; it’s business as usual and the same family feeling as before,” he said.
River Marine Management employees have routine cookouts, lunches and company parties, and all new employees receive free uniforms. 19 Landscape Images THE HUSBAND-WIFE TEAM Marianne and Alan Mumford have leveled the playing field at Landscape Images — literally. The Jefferson-based landscape architect firm introduced an openbook management program five years ago, allowing employees to see where every dollar and cent goes throughout the company. Employees can earn a profit-sharing bonus based on the company’s performance at the end of every quarter. “It’s become a philosophy here, not just a bonus system,” said Alan Mumford. “Down through everybody, we all are on the same page and working for the better of the business because we all have personal stakes.” Landscape Images also provides employees with two regularly stocked Swann’s ice cream freezers so they can cool off either before, during or after shifts. Mumford said Landscape Images reopened one week after Hurricane Katrina. He and a couple of employees slept overnight on Airline Highway days after the storm waiting for Jefferson Parish to reopen so they could fix the nursery. Mumford said they did direct deposit for employees and also offered vacation time to employees who could not return when they reopened. Landscape Images employees, from left: Vincent Gable, Bruce Tillman and Mike Oldag load plants onto the truck. Landscape Images employee Joe Farry reaches into the freezer for a Swann’s ice cream. 20 Free Gulliver FREE GULLIVER OWNER Tripp Friedler says the most important piece of capital any business has is human capital and he lives by that motto with the way he treats his employees. The small New Orleans investment, life planning and financial consulting firm kept pay- December 19, 2005 35 roll in place, allowed employees to work from home and helped one employee relocate after she lost everything in Lakeview from Hurricane Katrina. Employee Denise Guttenberg moved to an Uptown apartment, and the firm helped her furnish the place with a bed, clothes, housing supplies and cable television. “Our job is to consult with businesses about increasing productivity and in doing that, taking care of employees. It would be hypocritical not to eat my own cooking,” said Friedler. “We take teamwork seriously.” Free Gulliver gives employees four weeks of paid vacation a year from moment of employment and promotes continuing education. In the last three years, two employees have gone back to school and received their master’s degrees. Friedler also holds a unique interviewing process for incoming candidates. They interview first with the last person hired on the Free Gulliver team and then the rest of the employees before lastly meeting with Friedler. “We make sure we integrate the right people into our team.” — Stories compiled by Tommy Santora
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Companies boost morale post-Katrina - New Orleans City Business

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