Advertisement

Header Utility Menu

  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Events

LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram Get Our App

Virginia Business

Mobile Menu

  • Issues
  • Industries
    • Banking/Finances
    • Business Law
    • Commercial Real Estate
    • Economic Development
    • Education
    • Energy/Green
    • Government
    • Healthcare
    • Hotels/Tourism
    • Insurance
    • Ports/Trade
    • Small Business
    • Technology
  • Regions
    • Central Virginia
    • Eastern Virginia
    • Northern Virginia
    • Roanoke/New River Valley
    • Shenandoah Valley
    • Southern Virginia
    • Southwest Virginia
  • Reports
    • Best Places to Work
    • Business Person of the Year
    • CEO Pay
    • Coronavirus 2020
    • Fantastic 50
    • Generous Virginians Project
    • Legal Elite
    • Maritime Guide
    • Site Locator
    • The Big Book
    • Virginia CFO Awards
  • Company News
    • For the Record
    • People
  • Opinion
  • Lists
  • Awards
    • Virginia 500
    • Legal Elite
    • CFO Awards
    • Big Book of Lists
    • 100 People To Meet
    • Best Places To Work
  • Virginia 500
    • Read the issue
    • Order a copy
    • Buy an award plaque
    • Nominate execs for 2021

Advertisement

Header Primary Menu

  • Issues
    • January 2021
    • December 2020
    • November 2020
    • October 2020
    • September 2020
    • Issues Archive
  • Industries
    • Banking/Finances
    • Business Law
    • Commercial Real Estate
    • Economic Development
    • Education
    • Energy/Green
    • Government
    • Healthcare
    • Hotels/Tourism
    • Insurance
    • Ports/Trade
    • Small Business
    • Technology
  • Regions
    • Central Virginia
    • Eastern Virginia
    • Northern Virginia
    • Roanoke/New River Valley
    • Shenandoah Valley
    • Southern Virginia
    • Southwest Virginia
  • Reports
    • Best Places to Work
    • Business Person of the Year
    • CEO Pay
    • Coronavirus 2020
    • Fantastic 50
    • Generous Virginians Project
    • Legal Elite
    • Maritime Guide
    • Site Locator
    • The Big Book
    • Virginia CFO Awards
  • Company News
    • For the Record
    • People
  • Opinion
  • Lists
  • Awards
    • Virginia 500
    • Legal Elite
    • CFO Awards
    • Big Book of Lists
    • 100 People To Meet
    • Best Places To Work
  • Virginia 500
    • Read the issue
    • Order a copy
    • Buy an award plaque
    • Nominate execs for 2021

Home News Reports Best Places to Work The cherry on top

The cherry on top

From Day 1, staffing firm builds team spirit

Published January 31, 2020 by Sydney Lake

Accounting Principals cultivates a friendly, collaborative working culture. Photo by Rick DeBerry

The camaraderie that makes Accounting Principals different is evident on an employee’s first day as they’re greeted by a desk decorated with bright, colorful signs trumpeting personalized welcoming messages.

This “cherry-on-top” culture is what makes Accounting Principals a great place to work, says Jennifer Dodge, managing director of the Jacksonville, Florida-based professional recruitment and staffing firm’s Glen Allen branch in Henrico County.

Accounting Principals takes cultural onboarding — welcoming employees into the corporate family and acquainting them with the firm’s personality — as seriously as its structured training.

“Everyone just kind of blends well,” Dodge says. “It’s not like little different groups of people. The tenured people always take the brand-new people under their wings and mentor them and just welcome them into the family right away.”

Accounting Principals has 75 offices nationwide. Along with its Ajilon and Parker+Lynch divisions, the company provides executive search, professional consulting and temporary staffing services. Its roughly 3,600 employees come from varied backgrounds, including human resources, sales, accounting and legal.

Long tenures tend to be atypical in the professional staffing industry, but Accounting Principals breaks the mold, with some employees serving the company for more than 20 years, Dodge says. To retain employees and keep them engaged, Accounting Principals’ managers make a point of getting to know them as people, not just workers.

To promote work/life balance, Accounting Principals offers flexible work hours and telecommuting to employees who require such options. Tenure and productivity are weighed into the decision-making  to determine a win-win plan, Dodge says.

“We’re a company of standards, not rules,” Dodge says. “There are certain standards and certain metrics that define what getting the job done is. That’s constant and consistent no matter what scenario.”

In addition to accommodating life needs, Accounting Principals offers a 401(k) matching contribution and 18 paid days off during a worker’s first year of employment. Individuals are also given one paid day per year to volunteer for their cause of choice, and employees also spend a day outside of the office for group community service.

Each year, approximately 60 employees are chosen to participate in the company’s Win4Youth ambassador initiative, which encourages employees to participate in fitness activities to raise money for children’s charities. This year, employee Win4Youth ambassadors were professionally trained to participate in a triathlon in Canary Island Lanzarote, to raise money for Plan International, a worldwide organization that works to advance children’s rights.

  In addition to Accounting Principals’ benefits and community service initiatives, its Glen Allen office houses a wellness room for employees to exercise on a NordicTrack Treadmill as well as a free onsite gym. Employees also enjoy walking around the on-campus lake.

The wellness room is the result of an employee suggestion.

“We have a lot of open communication on our team — we’re very collaborative,” Dodge says. “Everybody kind of pitches in. It’s definitely collaborative where we solicit ideas from the team all the time about what could make this a better place to work.” This collaborative nature extends past office walls and into the community.

The firm celebrates an esprit de corps built on working and volunteering within a fun corporate culture. 

“The camaraderie — we’re constantly evolving,” Dodge says. “The things we did last year may have worked for us last year. But maybe the market changed or the industry changed and we need to tweak things a little bit. Sometimes your job changes in a way that isn’t what everyone would like.”

Return to main story.

Trending

State opens COVID-19 vaccinations for Virginians 65 and older

Condominium complex rendering courtesy Finmarc

Alexandria office building sells for $13.12M; to be converted to condos

Photo courtesy Office of the Attorney General

Shenandoah County distillery faces environmental violation charges

Applications open Jan. 19 for new PPP round

Former executive sues New Peoples Bank for discrimination

Sponsored Stories

The Hottest Topic in 2021: Keeping People Connected

5 Financial Steps to Start the New Year Right

What is Supply Chain Management?

2021 Outlook: Evaluating an Unpredictable Year Ahead

Human Capital Development: Your Company’s Sure Bet For Success

Advertisement

Advertisement

Trending

State opens COVID-19 vaccinations for Virginians 65 and older

Condominium complex rendering courtesy Finmarc

Alexandria office building sells for $13.12M; to be converted to condos

Photo courtesy Office of the Attorney General

Shenandoah County distillery faces environmental violation charges

Applications open Jan. 19 for new PPP round

Former executive sues New Peoples Bank for discrimination

Sponsored Stories

The Hottest Topic in 2021: Keeping People Connected

5 Financial Steps to Start the New Year Right

What is Supply Chain Management?

2021 Outlook: Evaluating an Unpredictable Year Ahead

Human Capital Development: Your Company’s Sure Bet For Success

Get Virginia Business directly on your tablet or in your mailbox!

Subscribe to Virginia Business

Advertisement

Advertisement

Footer Primary Menu

  • virginiabusiness.com
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Footer Secondary Menu

  • Industries
  • Regions
  • Reports
  • Company News
  • Events

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Sign Up

LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram Get Our App

Privacy Policy Cookie Policy

Footer Utility Menu

Copyright © 2021 Virginia Business. All rights reserved.

Site Maintained by TechArk