By Peter J. Thompson

Each week, the Financial Post profiles one winner of Waterstone Human Capital’s 2008 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures program. This week, SanamIslam spoke with Gene Lewis, general manager of e-finance solutions developer Intuit Canada, about how the company demonstrates excellence in the five areas used to evaluate companies nominated for the program.

Company: Intuit Canada
CEO: Brad Smith
Number of employees worldwide:8,000 plus
Number of employeesCanada: 400
Annual revenue (to July2008): $1.45-million

Vision and Leadership At Intuit Canada, employees are seen as leaders of their field, regardless of their level, Mr. Lewis says. To help achieve Brad Smith’s vision for the company as a “premier innovative growth company that empowers individuals and businesses to achieve their dreams,” employees are given unstructured time during which they can work on projects they arepassionateabout.

Mr. Lewis says Intuit’s leaders want to ensure employees have a positive experience, because ultimately, corporate culture affects performance. “If we’re solving [problems] for employees, they will solve for customers, and if they’re solving for customers, we as an organization do well from a shareholder perspective.”

Cultural alignment, measurement and sustainability In 1993, the company created 10 operating values that are the basis of its corporate culture, today. They include: integrity without compromise; do right by all customers; it’s the people; seek the best; continually improve processes; speak, listen and respond; teams work; customers define quality; think smart, move fast; and we care and give back. The effectiveness of corporate culture is measured through employee engagement surveys, town hall meetings, focus groups and regular dialogue. The company seeks feedback through customer surveys. “Looking at these factors gives us a good indication of whether we are delivering on being a great place to work and creating a culture of innovation, as well as whether we are delivering delight through innovation to our customers,” Mr. Lewis says.

Rewards, recognition and innovative business achievement Intuit has a philosophy of paying for performance. “We don’t look at just cash compensation; we look at cash benefits and the environment we’re creating.” Its Spotlight recognition program rewards employees in a variety of ways, including applause, a gift card or even an all-expense paid trip. Intuit also runs an awards program where employees recommend individuals or teams for exemplary performance.

Corporate Performance “One of thebiggest testaments to the company’s success is that culture and environment delivers results,” Mr. Lewis says. Intuit is growing at a rate of 15% a year, and the company says its tax products are leading retail software sellers in Canada. Mr. Lewis says its culture sets the company apart from competition. In its annual survey, employee engagement was measured at 79%.

Corporate social responsibility “All employees are part of their work community and the community they live in. We take that at face value,” Mr. Lewis says. The firm gives employees paid time off to support an initiative they want to participate in. Intuit also runs programs for fundraisers such as Movember, in which employees grow mustaches in November to raise money for prostate cancer.