CEO Says Going to the Dogs Brings Success

Andrew Field is the president and CEO of PrintingForLess.com (PFL), America 's first e-commerce print shop. Field has grown PFL into a $20 million business, while maintaining workforce management practices that have been recognized by various industry groups. Located in Livingston, Mont., the company emphasizes a creative atmosphere that offers such benefits as allowing employees to bring their dogs to work and in-house day care for children.

Workplace HR & Safety : Do you find it difficult to compete for top talent being outside of the major metropolitan technology centers, such as California and New York?

Andrew Field: Being located in Montana has its pros and cons when it comes to recruiting top talent. We have found that successful candidates must have some connection to, or motivation to, live here. Some see it as a dream opportunity to live in a beautiful, recreational paradise, while many view working in Montana as higher risk to their career. If they aren't successful at PFL, they are more than likely going to relocate back out of the state due to the relative lack of high-level opportunities.

Also, the smaller-town lifestyle and longer winters can be either a big plus or a strong deterrent. Montana is heaven for outdoorsy types and those who are ready to escape the fast lane. It doesn't always appeal to people who are used to life in or near bigger cities.

WP: How do you attract high-quality talent?

AF: We use our Montana appeal to attract the type of candidates we are looking to recruit. We search for that successful business professional that dreams of having a great place to work in a great place to live. There are people living sub-par lives because they're afraid that they will have to sacrifice their career to live in a gorgeous place like Montana.

One of our other strengths is our unique, progressive company culture. It combines a focus on high performance with emphasis on teamwork and having fun. People work hard here, but they don't work long hours. PFL appeals to those who want a rewarding career while still having time to pursue their other interests and spend time with their families outside of work.

WP: Being in the technology business, are you feeling any pressure to outsource more to lower-wage countries?

AF: No. While we are a technology business, our core value is providing world-class, highly knowledgeable customer and technical service that's closely integrated with our manufacturing operations. By keeping our frontline and development teams in-house, we're able to “wow” our customers with a remarkable customer experience at every interaction. That's rare for an online business.

WP: What benefits do you offer to increase employee retention?

AF: We recognize that the people who come here are seeking an integration of their life at work and have put in place benefits that allow them to achieve that. We offer:

• A state-of-the-art, in-house childcare program that allows our employees to visit and participate in their children's daily activities.
• Our bring-your-dog-to-work policy. We have acres of land where the dogs can play and exercise.
• A full array of standard benefits such as major medical insurance coupled with a health savings account that encourages our employees to live healthy lives. Plus, we offer company-paid supplemental insurance benefits.
• Training and development opportunities for the entire company.

WP: You have an environmentally friendly building. Are you finding that green benefits are a factor in attracting new employees?

AF: We think it's an important factor. Both our environmentally friendly building and printing practices tell prospective candidates that we care. We care about our employees living healthful lives, we care about the local environment, and we care about providing sustainable products to our customers to help conserve the global environment.
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Ownership, Engagement Focus of HR Strategy

Tracey Pitsenberger, HR and Safety Officer at PrintingForLess.com recently shared the company's HR strategy with Workplace HR & Safety.

“Our philosophy is to make our HR department a facilitator and advisor of the HR and safety program. The PrintingForLess.com (PFL) HR department handles the following: recruiting, benefits and terminations. We have cross-trained our direct managers to handle performance measurement, mentoring, coaching and employee development. If managers need assistance or help, they use HR as a resource.

“We not only care about what our employees think here at PFL, we act upon their ideas. For example, prior to building our new facility, we launched a safety-related blog and asked our employees what they wanted to see in our new building.  We implemented several suggestions from our employees, including a humidification system to help promote a healthy environment, radiant-heated concrete throughout the facility, a fire proof wall and state of the art fire suppression system, an air exchange system, and natural lighting throughout the building. By listening to our employees needs, we are now able to promote a healthy and safe work environment. Plus, we are able to give employees a sense of ownership, which helps to increase engagement.”