The 2020 Best Small Firms to Work For: The Gunter Group

Consulting Service Lines: Strategy, Operations Management, HR, IT

Portlant, Ore.-headquartered Gunter Group wants to be an environment where all of its employees are able to succeed both personally and professionally. Its hires all embody the firm's non-negotiable values: Collaborative, Integrity, Intellectual Curiosity, Thrives in Ambiguity, Emotional Intelligence, and Grounded Confidence.

These values, as well as its commitment to taking care of both employees and their families, helped The Gunter Group's culture not just survive the pandemic, but thrive in it.

"Our leadership team leaned in and increased the frequency of communication with the people on their teams. At the beginning of the period when 100% of our team started working from home, we gave everyone a stipend to outfit their home office. We also put in place a stipend for dependent care because so many of our teammates have kids at home or are caring for elderly relatives. We used a local service to start sending everyone a snack box service every week.," says Founding Partner Mike Gunter.

"We want to take steps that help our employees reduce stress wherever it's possible. There's enough stress everywhere else for all of us!"

The firm's emphasis on keeping its people happy, engaged, and safe through the crisis this year, as well as keeping lines of communication open, are just some of the factors that helped The Gunter Group keep up employee morale in a difficult year.

"Our leadership team is committed to transparency and has increased communication this year as we have shifted to remote work. We have also listened and responded to the needs of our employees and launched new benefits including a monthly childcare stipend, support of flexible work schedules, additional time off, and funds to provide at-home office equipment," Gunter says.

"Additionally, morale has been maintained and even strengthened this year by our ability to grow during difficult circumstances. Our leadership team increased their focus on new ways to build client relationships and discover new opportunities. In turn, our team has been encouraged by our firm's ability to withstand the unprecedented challenges of 2020."

The firm is already looking ahead to 2021 and beyond, with plans to further build upon the foundation it's worked hard to establish.

"We remain focused on our shared purpose as an organization: to work so that our team, our clients, and our communities thrive. Our core values at TGG (what we call our non-negotiables) —honesty, integrity, radical transparency, ability to thrive in ambiguity, taking care of each other—are the pillars on which we lean to navigate through uncertainty. The pillars are more important now than ever," Gunter says.

As far as the Best Small Firms recognition goes, Gunter says it's both humbling and exciting.

"The recognition indicates to us that we are doing the right things to support our team, clients, and communities. We are proud to be named alongside so many other awesome firms. It gives us additional motivation to continue to improve and grow!"

Consulting: When you look at the remainder of this year and 2021, what excites you? What opportunities do you see in your markets? 

Gunter: "One of the impacts of the last six months is that several trends that were already occurring have accelerated. 

We are reflecting on the ways this unprecedented time has impacted the way we support our team and provide services to our clients, how the needs of our clients have changed, and the new normal that is setting in for us all. We are excited about what we can learn from the last six months. We believe the shift toward remote work and away from the road warrior model represents an opportunity for a firm like us, whose model is already designed for our team to be primarily in their hometown."