Best Places to Work: The New Philly Workplace

Chain shows me around the campus, and I notice that every amenity is taken care of. There are certain shared characteristics at all these places where the workers are happy: good lighting, the latest equipment, plenty of open space. But there’s more to worker satisfaction than feng shui. Chain takes me to the computer room to show me the Vanguard Intranet.

Vanguard has a complex Intranet for its “crew” (the nautical theme permeates every aspect of Vanguard company life, though the men’s room, thankfully, isn’t called the head), on which one can keep track of all the company goings-on. Aside from lots of stock information, employees can register for classes at Vanguard University, where they can earn MBAs and CFAs. That’s one reason why, among entry-level hires, Vanguard boasts an after-five-years-of-employment retention rate of 96 percent.

And Vanguard repays the loyalty — no one has ever been laid off. “You have two groups of people you have to keep happy at all times — your crew and your investors,” says Michael Miller, managing director for planning and development. “There’s more to this business than money. Credibility is an asset. Trust is an asset.”

For a company with more than a trillion dollars in assets, Vanguard is also surprisingly egalitarian. Come tax season, senior management participates in what is called the “Swiss Army,” a customer-service phone bank that’s supposed to solve customer problems. Someone who calls Vanguard for information during this time could wind up talking to the CEO.

And for a trillion-dollar company, the atmosphere isn’t as stodgy as I had expected. “We have fun, too,” Chain tells me. “We just do it in suits.”

The Firm

Most of what I know about working in high-powered law firms, I learned from reading John Grisham novels. For instance, I know that high-powered lawyers are always plotting to kill each other. And they like teak and mahogany furniture. And their offices are immaculate.

None of this information jibes with what I’m seeing at Dilworth Paxson LLP. Larry Holmes, the partner who has invited me here, has an office that, to put it nicely, seems lived-in. And the conference tables are serving as document storage areas for a current case. And clearly, none of these people are planning to kill each other. There is a palpable feel of camaraderie.