The Law Offices of Craig Goldenfarb, P.A. is delighted to announce that they have been ranked as the Overall #1 Top Workplace in the small employer category by the Sun-Sentinel for 2018.
This special distinction is awarded to the top 40 companies who qualify as a Top Workplace based on employee sentiment, collected via surveys and analyzed by a human resources firm. This year, more than 11,000 surveys were conducted by workers across South Florida.
While in the running for the top spot, the Sun-Sentinel dispatched photographers and a business reporter to visit the office of the West Palm Beach-based personal injury law firm, to interview Mr. Goldenfarb and his employees.
The story, published by the Sun-Sentinel, describes a “culture of caring” by the firm, with an emphasis on employee wellness: emotional wellness, physical wellness, and financial wellness.
Leading the charge is Director of Administration Michelle Winfree. In 2017, she installed The Quiet Room within the company’s 20k square foot office as a dedicated space where employees are encouraged to take mid-day breaks to read, meditate, or just relax. There is a lock and privacy screen for new mothers who are nursing, and a cold fridge to store their bottles.
The firm also helps pay for world-class “life coaching” programs for employees who are interested in mindfulness training. Throughout the year, employees also participate in about a dozen social outings, which include walks, volunteer activities, and team-building events and happy hours.
The law firm’s 50+ employees are also encouraged to stay physical throughout the day with the Wellness Room. This room features several treadmills and stationary bikes, as well as yoga mats and soft music. The firm arranges for flu shots, health “check-ups”, and even mini-massage “wellness days”, all of which are held in the room at different times of the year.
But LOCG didn’t stop there – the most recent effort to round out the “employee wellness” initiative is an emphasis on financial wellness. In addition to paying above-market salaries, the firm is extremely generous with their benefits.
These additional benefits include bonus incentives, a 401k match and profit-sharing, life insurance, and health/dental/vision plans.
New for 2018, the firm will be bringing in a wills and trusts lawyer, and a financial advisor, to provide legal and consulting work for basic life planning at no cost to the employees.
At the Top Workplaces 2018 Luncheon, in which LOCG was announced as the top winner for the small employer category, our firm’s founder Mr. Craig M. Goldenfarb, Esq. took the podium to accept the award, along with Ms. Winfree and the firm’s Marketing Director, Tom Copeland
“It is extremely important to me that our employees want to come to work”, he said, in front of about 400 business leaders. “When you have empowered employees, they will serve the company, they will serve each other, and most importantly, they will serve their clients.”
The firm hopes to use this award as a powerful recruiting tool.
“In order to attract the best workforce, you have to offer the best version of your company” says Winfree, who is credited with the staffing success at the law firm. “That means building a culture that puts your employees first. We have done that not only by being generous, but also by showing respect and fairness to every single employee, from the owner of the law firm at the top, down to the legal interns and receptionists.”
Everyone in the firm gets an opportunity to shine. In fact, there are several examples of employees who have been promoted from within multiple times. There are also examples of the firm accommodating employees who were unhappy in their current role, or who needed to scale back their role for personal reasons.
Tom Copeland celebrated five years of service with the firm the same month they won the Top Workplaces award. “I think the real testament to why this firm deserved to win the overall Top Workplace award is evident in the ranks of our employees”, he says. “We are celebrating one, five, and ten-year service anniversaries all the time. The firm’s very first employee who started with Craig more than fifteen years ago is still here. That is frankly uncommon in South Florida.”
The personal injury firm continues to prosper and grow, adding new employees at a healthy pace, but not because of turnover; rather, it’s their “culture of caring” that is good for business, and business is good.
