MARCH 2008: FROM THE EDITOR
Lessons learned from one of The Best
WHAT DOES IT TAKE to make our list of the 100 Best Companies to
Work For in Oregon for 12 years — the most of any
company, ever — and at the same time twice make Fortune magazine’s
national list of best companies? Oh, and along the way, grow
your business from $140 million in assets to more than $8
billion?
To hear Ray Davis tell it, it’s simple.
“It starts with people,” says the president and
CEO of Umpqua Bank. “I tell the people who work for me,
‘I know my title is CEO, but that’s not my real
title. I’m Head of Support.’”
That’s been Davis’ philosophy since joining Umpqua
Bank in 1994, and he spells it out in his book, Leading for Growth: How Umpqua Bank Got
Cool and Created a Culture of Greatness, published last
year. It details how Davis grew a small Roseburg-based bank
from six to 147 locations throughout California, Washington and
Oregon. Part of the strategy is that titles should help people
see through to their true mission. Like calling the
receptionist the Director of Smiles. Like a CEO called Head of
Support.
Even after 12 times on the 100 Best List, Davis isn’t
complacent. “It’s amazing we make these
lists,” he muses, because Umpqua has along its growth
path had to absorb a lot of different work cultures and a lot
of people. And Davis doesn’t mince words on this: A
strong culture is necessary for a strong company.
Focusing on his people is key for Davis, who talks to all
1,800 of them in some form about every other month because he
believes the greatest fear people have “is the fear of
the unknown, the bump in the night.” Communication is his
answer.
A successful company starts with people, but Davis says
it’s propelled by discipline. “Discipline builds
credibility; it takes away the fear of the unknown. You have to
have discipline to stay the course.”
Staying the course in the banking industry isn’t easy
right now, with the collapse of the housing market and the
subprime meltdown buffeting the financial world. Umpqua is no
exception, with its stock taking a bruising. But Davis
understands cycles and sees the current rough spell as
“the ultimate climate for leading for growth. In
difficult times you really find out the caliber of people in
the organization.”
In his introduction to Leading for Growth, Davis says his
book is for companies “tired of treading
water.”
You could say the same about why companies enter the 100 Best:
They put themselves up for rigorous (and anonymous) scrutiny by
their employees, who are asked to rate such items as benefits,
work environment, trust, learning opportunities and management.
Then the company has to submit its benefit plan. All of that is
reviewed by our independent research partners to calculate how
a company is doing, and then it is compared against the more
than 300 other companies that have entered to come up with the
ranking. These companies do it because they want to get better.
They don’t want to just tread water.
And if they make the 100 Best List, it really matters. Even if
it’s the 12th time.
