BEST PLACES TO WORK 2018
1. SMALL COMPANIES | Vertikal6
Employees in R.I.: 33
CEO Rick Norberg
When it comes to employee satisfaction, leadership at Warwick technology services company Vertikal6 believes in beginnings.
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It believes that its company culture has been correctly aligned from the beginning in establishing its six core values: care deeply, innovate relentlessly, service sincerely, collaborate feverishly, listen earnestly and improve eternally.
“It was easy to come up with those concepts, as that’s who we are as individuals,” said Harry Curran, the company’s co-owner and chief operating officer.
A positive place to work has been the result.
From those core values, said co-owner and CEO Rick Norberg and Curran, has come natural, organic success and growth.
Vertikal6 was chosen as one of the Providence Business News Best Places To Work in 2017 as well. In 2018 the company, which offers managed information technology, managed security and cloud-computing services, has grown to 35 employees from 27 and is looking to add more, according to Norberg.
“We’ve done a lot of hiring this year and are looking to keep the train rolling,” Curran added. “It’s all about growth and opportunity.”
Vertikal6’s apprenticeship program is a large part of its success in finding and training employees who are a positive fit within the company’s culture.
Curran himself has experienced firsthand how the Vertikal6 professional-development commitment works. He joined the company as an engineer several years ago, before becoming COO and an owner.
“We try to bring everyone up through the apprenticeship program, whether they are just getting into the industry or switching careers,” Curran said. “That way, we can train them in Vertikal6 right from the beginning … let them know we can get them where they need to be [asking], ‘How fast do you want to go?’ That enables us to do more. We want that talent to drive and fuel us. There is no limiting factor in how far you can go. They can come in as an apprentice and elevate from there.”
Approximately eight apprentices are taking part or have completed the program, which covers technology, and sales and marketing. Tech apprentices, he said, learn how to take customer phone calls, create tickets, mitigate difficult situations, and to relate to customers in a very human way, said Norberg.
“The Help Desk has to be a warm and accommodating place to call,” he said.
On the marketing side, apprentices at Vertikal6 learn about social media, sales positioning, how to manage meetings and other skills.
Once hired on to the Verikal6 team, robust benefits packages keep employees feeling appreciated and able to focus on work at hand instead of medical or dental bills, Norberg said. Company events such as Pawtucket Red Sox games, barbecues and holiday parties are scheduled regularly, another way to show team members their importance to the company.
Where employee feedback is sought and welcomed at the open forum at Vertikal6 monthly meetings, for example – part of the “care deeply” core value – Norberg said that employees go to their direct managers rather than to top leadership, due in part to the company’s small size. Suggestions can then be implemented from there, he said.
On the flip side, awards and accolades are another part of the company’s culture and keep team members engaged and motivated. A Rhode Runner Award – a play on the name of the cartoon character Road Runner, who Norberg notes is smart, able to escape and always thinking of new solutions – is chosen by employee peers. Five-Star Award winners are selected by managers and based on customer reviews.
Vertikal6 will not be revamping its core values or the directions their guidance has provided anytime soon. In terms of recruitment, retention, attitude and productivity, all are in place and producing positive results.
“I think we’ve done a really good job of setting up that winning culture to begin with,” said Norberg.
