Weiss Climbs to #6 on Most Recent “Best Places to Work for Women” List

Weiss & Company LLP was named sixth among Best Places to Work for Women in Illinois by Workforce Research Group. This impressive showing is a sizeable jump from last year’s very respectable 13th place showing.

We wondered what Weiss is doing (or not doing) to prompt these terrific results and spoke to some of the people who might know.

Diana Anisova, Julissa Arias, Lisa Hahm, Yesinia Malagon, Valerie Medick, Neli Peeva and Kari Thompson met recently around a conference table to share their thoughts.

Culture is a Major Factor
Val said, “Culture is one big thing I sought when I was looking for a job. Just knowing that I could go to somebody when I have questions. That open door policy is something Weiss really promotes when you’re in the interview process. And that held true as I started my career here. For me, the culture, being able to go to people and have resources all around me is very important to me.”

Neli said, “It’s a good team here. When I was in college, we were encouraged to go into public accounting. The idea was it’s very broad and you get a lot of experience. I did a couple of internships in public accounting but found that the big firms were pretty much all the same. For me, the Weiss difference and deciding factor was, is it a good team? How do you communicate with everybody? And just like Val said, I mean, the open-door policy here is fantastic.”

“One of the things that made me want to stay here after my internship was the culture. I really enjoyed how everybody was chatting about their day or weekend. It wasn’t just about the work. I really liked that, and that has kept me here. I’ve been here for 10 years. Other than that, there are opportunities to advance in your career. I started as an intern and now I’m a manager. There is a lot of opportunity to grow,” said Yesenia.

Lisa spoke about her colleagues as being “like a second family. They are not just co-workers–they’re friends. You are not just a number. Everyone knows you.”

Open-Door Policy and Opportunities for Advancement
The positive culture complements the open-door policy. It’s expected that if an employee has a question about an assignment, then they should approach someone senior to them and ask for assistance. The people in management are respected, but they are not feared.

Yesenia mentioned how she appreciated being given opportunities to work on audit and tax projects. Her managers were eager for her to find the part of accounting that she would enjoy the most. Each new experience brings an opportunity to learn new skills.

Diana mentioned how supported she felt when she asked if she could work part-time while she studies for her CPA exam. She was grateful for the flexibility. Weiss has been very supportive of her exam studies, too.

The women we spoke to were in different stages of their careers. Lisa is a partner, Kari manages recruitment in operations, Yesenia is a manager, and the others are associates.

Julissa talked about the opportunities for advancement. She said, “I do think there’s a lot of room to grow here. I started full-time as an associate, and I got promoted to senior around my second-year anniversary. This is my first full year as a senior. I see that I’ve been growing consistently every day and there are new challenges, which I enjoy.”

Partners Listen to Feedback
In addition to helping employees meet goals and expectations to advance their careers, the women talked about how much it meant to them that the partners were receptive years ago to adding a maternity leave policy to Weiss’ benefits.

Lisa, who came to Weiss from a larger, public firm where maternity benefits are commonplace, had already had her children. (Smaller firms with fewer than 50 people aren’t legally required to have maternity benefits.) But once she brought it to the partners’ attention that there was a need for this kind of benefit to attract and retain young female accountants, the partners were receptive.

Diana asked Kari about it during her initial interview, although she admits if her interviewer had been a man, she would have been uncomfortable asking. The presence of a maternity policy and seeing women partners led her to choose Weiss.

Each of these factors—the people who work here, the collegial, open-door policy, support of career advancement and opportunities—are all part of the secret sauce that makes Weiss special. Women feel seen and acknowledged at Weiss, and that makes all the difference.