Dolphin Quest Named One Of America’s Best Places To Work
Dolphin Quest was named among the top 50 Best Small & Medium Companies to Work for in America on June 26, 2006, before an audience of more than 12,000 at the Society for Human Resource Management's (SHRM) 58th Annual Conference & Exposition in Washington, D.C.
The list, which ranks the top 25 small and top 25 medium-sized companies in America that use smart people management strategies to develop successful organizations with highly productive and satisfied workforces. The organizations, ranging in size from 50 to 999 employees, were announced by SHRM and selected and ranked by the Great Place to Work® Institute (GPTW.) The results were based on a randomly distributed employee opinion survey. Each company evaluated was given a score based on employees' responses to a detailed questionnaire about the organizations' workplace cultures.
Stories about the winning organizations appeared in the July issue of HR Magazine, the Society's flagship publication with a circulation of 200,000, available at www.shrm.org/hrmagazine. The winning organizations will also were listed on the GPTW Web site at www.greatplacetowork.com.
“I hope our Crew Members see this award is an affirmation of the tremendous contributions made by each member of the Dolphin Quest team,” says Rae Stone, DVM, Dolphin Quest founding partner.
“We provide the framework for the work environment; the employees turn that into reality,” explains Jay Sweeney, VMD, Dolphin Quest founding partner. “In the true sense of operant conditioning, we are rewarding good behavior, and our employees are rewarding us.”
Dolphin Quest is an international organization devoted to the public education and conservation of marine wildlife. Dolphin Quest offers innovative dolphin encounter programs in Hawaii and Bermuda that promote a spirit of connection to the marvels of the oceans. The company’s team is spread over five locations around the globe including its dolphin interactive locations on Hawaii’s Big Island, Oahu, and Bermuda, as well as its two corporate offices located in San Diego, California and Northern Virginia.
Dolphin Quest is truly guided every day by its mission and values. Crew Members proudly carry business card sized reminders of the mission, vision, values, and customer service standards. Daily Crew Member POW WOW’s are held at each location to discuss company values and create opportunities to share fun guest experiences and stories.
“Our Values are a living part of our Culture. I am always excited to hear about a crew member bringing up our Values when making daily decisions,” says Stone. “Our crew is reinforced daily by powerful guest experiences. They see how these experiences can have a life changing impact on our guests, and I believe this is a reaffirmation of the good things that we do.”
“We have actually learned a lot from our dolphins and dolphin behaviorists about how to maintain an enriching, fun, and productive work environment,” explains Jeff Jouett, Dolphin Quest CEO. “We have been able to integrate some of these lessons learned into our daily culture and have even created a corporate team building program called “Lessons From Dolphins” that shares what we’ve learned from our dolphins with other companies to assist them with things like promoting teamwork, maintaining effective communication, and motivating employees.”
"Small and medium-sized companies make up the majority of the American economy and workforce," said SHRM President and CEO Susan R. Meisinger, SPHR. "These winning organizations demonstrate that making effective use of the workforce is key to their success, and they must be recognized for their accomplishments."
Great Places to Work® Institute cofounder, Robert Levering, said, "These companies stand out because their employees find them to be places where they can trust the management, have pride in their work and have fun at work. Other companies have much to learn about how to both be productive and do right by their people."
SHRM is the world's largest association devoted to human resource management. Representing more than 200,000 individual members, the Society's mission is both to serve human resource management professionals and to advance the profession. Founded in 1948, SHRM currently has more than 500 affiliated chapters and members in more than 100 countries.
Great Place to Work® Institute, Inc., is a global research and consulting firm dedicated to "building a better society by helping companies transform their workplaces." Great Place to Work® Institute works with FORTUNE Magazine, HR Magazine and other leading publications in 28 countries around the world to publish and recognize the "Best Companies to Work for". In addition to its global headquarters in San Francisco, Great Place to Work® Institute has 28 affiliates in countries throughout North America, South America, Europe and Asia.
Dolphin Quest is an international organization devoted to the public education and conservation of marine wildlife. The organization is world-renowned for its creative approach to education, commitment to ocean wildlife research, exemplary animal health care, and successful breeding programs. Dolphin Quest’s innovative dolphin encounter programs promote a spirit of connection to the marvels of the oceans. Dolphin Quest is a long time member of the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums and is operated by two leading marine mammal veterinarians.
