Most admired corporates: #3 Intuit Canada
Financial Post Published: Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Gene Lewis of Intuit Canada says the company’s culture sets it apart from competition.
Company: Intuit Canada CEO: Brad Smith Number of employees worldwide: 8,000 plus Number of employees Canada: 400
Vision and Leadership
At Intuit Canada, employees are seen as leaders of their field, regardless of their level, Mr. Lewis says. To help achieve Brad Smith’s vision for the company as a “premier innovative growth company that empowers individuals and businesses to achieve their dreams,” employees are given unstructured time during which they can work on projects they are passionate about. Mr. Lewis says Intuit’s leaders want to ensure employees have a positive experience, because ultimately, corporate culture affects performance. “If we’re solving [problems] for employees, they will solve for customers, and if they’re solving for customers, we as an organization do well from a shareholder perspective.”
Cultural alignment, measurement and sustainability
In 1993, the company created 10 operating values that are the basis of its corporate culture, today. They include: integrity without compromise; do right by all customers; it’s the people; seek the best; continually improve processes; speak, listen and respond; teams work; customers define quality; think smart, move fast; and we care and give back. The effectiveness of corporate culture is measured through employee engagement surveys, town hall meetings, focus groups and regular dialogue. The company seeks feedback through customer surveys. “Looking at these factors gives us a good indication of whether we are delivering on being a great place to work and creating a culture of innovation, as well as whether we are delivering delight through innovation to our customers,” Mr. Lewis says.
Rewards, recognition and innovative business achievement
Intuit has a philosophy of paying for performance. “We don’t look at just cash compensation; we look at cash benefits and the environment we’re creating.” Its Spotlight recognition program rewards employees in a variety of ways, including applause, a gift card or even an all-expense paid trip. Intuit also runs an awards program where employees recommend individuals or teams for exemplary performance.
Corporate Performance
“One of the biggest testaments to the company’s success is that culture and environment delivers results,” Mr. Lewis says. Intuit is growing at a rate of 15% a year, and the company says its tax products are leading retail software sellers in Canada. Mr. Lewis says its culture sets the company apart from competition. In its annual survey, employee engagement was measured at 79%.
Corporate social responsibility
“All employees are part of their work community and the community they live in. We take that at face value,” Mr. Lewis says. The firm gives employees paid time off to support an initiative they want to participate in. Intuit also runs programs for fund-raisers such as Movember, in which employees grow mustaches in November to raise money for prostate cancer.
Editor’s Note: A revenue figure provided for Intuit Canada in an earlier version of this story was incorrect. Revenue is not available for Intuit’s Canadian subsidiary.
December 14, 2008 by robmayer · Leave a CommentFiled under: Accounting, Companies
