On July 1st, the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal announced the 2013 winners of their Best Places to Work awards. Clockwork was among the 53 companies whose employees “gave their employers high marks in an anonymous survey on topics such as work environment, people practices and how things work day-to-day.”

Over the last few years, Clockwork has won each of the major workplace awards given away by Twin Cities-area publications: Star Tribune, Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, and Minnesota Business Magazine. In fact, this is our third year a row winning all three awards. Combine those with other similar honors, and we’ve won 15 workplace awards in total.

As the Communications Director, part of my job is to share news and info like this to our social media channels. But as I was about to post this most-recent honor earlier this month, I thought, “Does it just sound like we’re bragging all the time?” The answer is partly yes, because it’s frickin’ cool that we won. But the other part of the answer is this: It’s not just bragging because it really matters.

These awards mean something every time we win them. The leadership team, and all of us Clockworkers, work really hard at making Clockwork a workplace where people feel good and a space where people actually like to be. As you can imagine, this isn’t something that’s easy to measure. A “good workplace” is a combination of subjective sentiment and objective benefits, and a combination of personal effort and organizational structure. Each award, though, validates that what we’re doing is working. It validates that my colleagues and I are pretty happy and like how things are going.

When we’re successful with the energy we’ve put into our workplace, that’s a big deal. It’s important because it has significant consequences for our work, our clients, families, and community.

What the awards mean for our work

  • It has purpose
  • We like doing it and believe in how we’re doing it
  • We’re equally committed to our projects and our craft

… and for our clients

  • Your team likes what they do and who they work with
  • We care about doing a good job because we’re invested in both the organization and the business
  • We’re happy, and want you to be happy

… and for our families and community

  • We’re not drained of energy at the end of every day (just some days), so we still have time and attention to give
  • We’re surrounded by a positive and supportive environment all day, which helps us feel positive and supported outside of work, too

So let’s brag — let’s brag that we love what we do, and with whom we do it, and for whom we do it — because that’s what these awards mean to us.