Three Northwest Arkansas companies recently made Entrepreneur magazine's 2018 list of the nation's top 150 corporate cultures.
Fayetteville's capSpire came in at No. 33 in the medium business category covering companies with between 75 and 299 employees, and in the small company category, those with 74 employees or less, Rogers' Harvest Group ranked 19th and RevUnit in Bentonville was No. 43.
According to Investopedia, a corporate culture is based on beliefs and behaviors that establish how employees and managers deal with one another and the company's clients. Inc. magazine notes corporate culture is manifested in an organization's goals, strategies, structure and approaches to labor, customers, investors and the greater community and therefore is vital to a company's ongoing success.
It was Entrepreneur's third annual Top Corporate Culture list. The selection was based on a survey of company employees focused on 24 factors in seven categories -- alignment, effectiveness, connection, management, engagement, leadership and basics, including pay, benefits and training.
To be eligible companies had to be U.S.-based, be founder-led and have more than 35 employees. The survey had more than 34,000 employee participants, according to the magazine. Energage, an employee research and culture technology company in Philadelphia, worked with Entrepreneur to develop the list.
Consulting company capSpire uses data optimization to help clients manage risk in commodities markets like corn, oil or jet fuel. The company was co-founded by University of Arkansas, Fayetteville graduate Jeff Hardcastle and employs a little over 100 people in offices in Fayetteville, Tulsa, Dallas and Cork, Ireland.
Megan Coger, director of people team at capSpire, said company culture was important at the company from day one, and it's something the company works hard to maintain as it grows. She said the fact that the job requires workers to be adaptable, capable and able to work alone, in small groups or in larger teams, makes selecting the right new employees vital.
"We don't make irrational hires and that makes for a quality team and a great culture," she explained.
Otmar Varela, assistant professor of management at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, said at its core, company culture is a control mechanism that establishes expectations for employees so they can better comply with a company's beliefs. He called company culture the social glue that holds companies together through shared values.
"It's not really good by itself," Varela said of company culture. " It has to match the company's goals to really be successful."
Harvest Group offers management teams and consulting services for consumer packaged-goods companies for the retail industry, according to Entrepreneur and the company's website. It was founded in 2006 and employs a little over 60 people. Requests for comment on the company's ranking, left by phone and email, were not returned by deadline.
RevUnit is a digital strategy and product studio that works with companies to help employees work better by using technology. The company is 6 years old, employs more than 75 workers globally, and operates offices in Bentonville and Las Vegas.
Tabitha McFadden, vice president of people operations, said a good company culture doesn't happen by chance and that since RevUnit began it focused on establishing and building on company values.
"We decided to put a stake in the ground," McFadden said of the company's commitment to its culture and workplace environment.
She noted RevUnit employees have perks like flexible work locations and hours, fully paid health insurance, weekly office lunches and a gathering twice a year where all employees meet face to face and interact.
McFadden said the company believes flexibility and autonomy are its greatest gifts to employees and that helps the company succeed.
"Autonomy is a gift and our people treat that with respect," she said.
SundayMonday Business on 09/30/2018