25 Reasons I Love Being an Atom!

I always find myself unintentionally bragging about my job to Facebook, my friends and family – and recently, I took a survey for the 2014 Crain’s Cool Places to Work in Michigan. It motivated me to give my perspective as to why I love my job and why working at Atomic Object is so flipping awesome!

Respect & Encouragement

1. I’m on the A Team! – My boss Shawn once explained to me that everyone who works for Atomic is part of the A-team and that we don’t have room for a B-team. And if you met some of my co-workers you’d understand why. I work with some of the most brilliant individuals in the industry and it rocks for me to be apart of the team!
2. Our bosses trust us. – Since we are the A-team our bosses trust us to do a great job. No micro managing exists here.
3. 1 on 1’s – Once a quarter our Managing Partners take time out of their busy schedules to check in with each and everyone of us to check in to see how we’re doing. They care about our well-being and want to provide us the opportunity to share any concerns, worries, or excitements!
4. Crucial Conversations – We’re required to read the book Crucial Conversations at the beginning of our hire. Since we pride ourselves on being a transparent company, this book gives us the tools to share openly with others, especially when the stakes are high. It’s a great book and I highly recommend it.
5. Give a Shit – We have a swear word in our values statement!
6. We act like a family. – We care for each other like a family. We spend time together like a family. We help each other out like a family.
7. AO encourages you to be the best Atom you can be! – They’re amazingly supportive of your interests. My boss has encouraged me to learn a second language and has even loaned me his tapes so that I can learn Swedish. They highly encourage Professional Development and will even pay for you to go to conferences that support your career.

Great Benefits

8. We have flexible work schedules. – Life happens and AO understands that. If you have a plumber or cable guy coming to your house, you have the option to work from home until they arrive.
9. AO pays for 100% of our health insurance premiums! – If you’re a full time employee, 60 days after your start date, AO will start contributing to your HSA.
10. Quarterly Parties & Bonuses – We have a quarterly party where our Managing Partners calculate our profits quarterly and then 25% of profits are distributed to eligible employees towards 401k’s and discretionary cash bonuses.
11. Pair Lunches – We have a thing called Pair Lunches, where you and another coworker can go to lunch and the company will reimburse you for it. It’s there to encourage getting to know each other. The only real rule is to not repeat the same person within 30 days.
12. 401k Awesomeness! – Atomic Object contributes 3% of an eligible employee’s gross earning to their 401k. This is not a match but an automatic 3% to eligible employees!
13. Laptop Reimbursement – AO helps each employee purchase the laptop of his or her choice. Craftspeople chose their own tools at AO.
14. Free Bike Helmets – AO will purchase the bike helmet of your choice, if you ride your bike to work regularly and use the helmet while doing so.
15. New Child Leave for men too! – AO offers paid time off for the arrival of a new child (birth/adoption) in an employee’s nuclear family.

A Fun, Friendly Atmosphere

16. Candy! – We have a candy machine filled with free skittles.
17. We get snack time every day. – In Grand Rapids, our super cool Office Manager, Terri, provides us an assortment of healthy snacks everyday. This keeps our energy levels up and productivity high.
18. They bring in a licensed bartender once a month! – Once a month on a Friday at 4:00pm, Atomic hires a licensed bartender to come in so we can gather and socialize in the office. We call is Atomic Spindown.
19. Free Cab Rides – If at any of the events AO hosts, you have too much to drink, Atomic will reimburse you for your cab ride home.
20. Uh… we have a real life popcorn machine. – Enough said.
21. You can have a beer at lunch! – We are made up of a group of responsible adults. As long as we remain responsible, we’re allowed a beer at lunchtime!
22. We’re a dog-friendly work environment. – Though I wasn’t here when our CEO, Carl, used to bring in his Husky Maya in everyday (she passed away in March 2014), other employees have brought in their fur babies for me to enjoy and it’s acceptable.
23. Our bathroom lights change colors via radio waves. – I’m not sure how this works, but my genius co-worker Scott Vokes made it so we can tell if the bathroom is in use by a little LED light on the outside of the door that turns Red for Occupied, and Green for Open. Read all about it in the blog post he wrote.
24. We have a bike rack inside our building! – Many of the employees here at Atomic, ride their bikes to work and it’s encouraged to do so! So what better way to accommodate than to install an actual bike rack inside the building where their expensive bikes are in sight and safe.
25. We recycle! – We really pride ourselves on the fact that we make an effort to minimize our impact on Earth.

I love my job and feel extremely lucky to be a part of a growing team. These are my top 25 reasons I love being an Atom. If you ask someone else in the company I’m sure they’d have more to add.

What are some reasons you love your company?