From “The 25 Best Places to Work in Oklahoma”

Eide Bailly, LLP
Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation
Chesapeake Energy Corporation

Eide Bailly, LLP

People. Principles. Possibilities. At Eide Bailly LLP, this isn’t just a tagline, it’s a promise, both to employees and to clients.

Eide Bailly is a regional certified public accounting and business advisory firm with offices in eight states, including service centers in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Despite its regional status, the company works to maintain a small company atmosphere, so that even as the company grows, employees can depend on familiar faces and resources. The company’s culture and values support not only professional growth, but also a family-like atmosphere that extends beyond the office.

The company maintains an open-door policy regarding communication between management and staff. Employees are encouraged to share ideas not only about the direction of their own careers, but also about the future of the firm. Managers and staff work together to set company goals, and regular staff meetings provide ample opportunity for employees to provide input. This open-door policy is important to the company, not only for day-to-day interaction, but also for long-term retention. Offices are encouraged to develop individual recruiting and retention committees, and policies and initiatives are frequently introduced to identify and respond to the changing nature of the workforce.

Eide Bailly’s corporate culture emphasizes personal and professional success. Employees are encouraged to trust and support each other, respect the contributions of every employee, and promote positive working relationships. Integrity and accountability are also stressed, not just at the office or team level, but throughout the entire firm. Creative and innovative thinking are also valued, as is recognizing the importance of a balance between work life and home life.

Eide Bailly strives to provide challenging work, recognition and rewards, and a fun and supportive office environment. The company believes both in working hard and playing hard, and encourages employees to make time for fun and relaxation. The firm assists them by organizing full-day, out-of-office teambuilding activities, such as bowling, golf outings, picnics, and cookouts. Eide Bailly management believes thanking employees for their dedication is one of the best ways to promote employee satisfaction. The company rewards employees regularly, and makes them part of the company’s ongoing business development, knowing that often, the company owes its success to the loyalty, hard work, and dedication of its staff. Eide Bailly also provides non-traditional compensation and rewards, including a computer purchase program that provides up to $2,500 of interest-free financing for three years toward the purchase of a computer and related technology.

Eide Bailly wants employees to feel they have unlimited opportunities for growth, and encourages employees to grow as individual professionals and as team members. The company is committed to lifelong learning, believing the success both of individuals and of the firm depends on education. The firm achieves this by regularly organizing customized, in-house learning and development sessions that help employees develop as individuals and as a team. The sessions combine practical industry knowledge with social interaction among the staff, helping both to educate and to strengthen relationships. Through this interaction, employees grow as colleagues, leaders, mentors, and friends.

Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation

The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation wants employees to feel they are part of something larger, something more than just a job. The foundation has a far-reaching mission: improving the health of humankind through medical research. Because this is a complex process that doesn’t happen overnight, OMRF cultivates long-term relationships with its employees that extend far beyond the next month or even the next year. To nurture these long-term relationships, OMRF is always looking for ways to better meet the current and future needs of its employees.

Since 1946, the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation has conducted medical research for the benefit of society. The foundation strives for integrity, intellectual honesty, accuracy, open communication, the sharing of resources, and fairness in the working relationships between employees. The foundation’s approach to employee relations centers on two things: respecting its employees’ intelligence and nurturing their creativity. The foundation knows employees need intellectual and creative freedom in order to meet the demands of scientific research. While administrative needs must be addressed, OMRF tries to organize its business structure so that it doesn’t interfere with the creative process. The foundation also considers the opinions and critiques of its employees, incorporating their ideas into how it operates.

OMRF’s leadership knows that employers must listen to and communicate with employees to build solid relationships. While this becomes more difficult as an organization grows, OMRF still makes it a priority to make employees feel involved, and to let all employees know that their contributions are vital to the foundation’s accomplishments. OMRF offers several employee benefits, including partial relocation expenses, English as a second language courses, free flu shots, and Employee Council activities. OMRF also organizes a summer picnic for employees and their families, as well as a holiday party for the children of employees.

The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation is one of the oldest independent research facilities in the United States, and is home to Oklahoma's only Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and only member of the National Academy of Sciences. OMRF’s scientists have earned several endowed chairs, including the Eli Lilly Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Research; W.H. and Betty Phelps Chair in Developmental Biology; Lou C. Kerr Chair in Biomedical Research; Robert S. Kerr Jr. Endowed Chair in Cancer Research; Putnam City Schools Chair in Cancer Research; Merrick Foundation Chair in Aging Research; and the Ben C. & Addie Mae Wileman Chair in Biomedical Research.

The foundation sponsors several educational programs, including the Sir Alexander Fleming Scholarship program, a hands-on summer program for high school and college students, and the Foundation Scholars program for middle-school and high-school science teachers. The foundation also provides graduate and post-doctoral level opportunities, including the OU Health Science Center M.D./Ph.D Medical Scientist Training Program; graduate fellowships in biomedical sciences; post-doctoral fellowship program; and the PReP Fellowship, a post-baccalaureate research program. OMRF’s research programs include arthritis and immunology; cardiovascular; clinical pharmacology; comparative medicine; crytallography; free radical biology and aging; immunobiology and cancer; lipid and lipoprotein laboratory; molecular, cell, and developmental biology; molecular immunogenetics; and protein studies.

Chesapeake Energy Corporation

Chesapeake Energy Corporation wants to be the number one employer of choice for Oklahomans, and has created a work environment in which employees feel comfortable and are able to thrive. Trust, respect, pride, and integrity are integral to the company’s culture, and employees know they are the company’s greatest asset and are appreciated by company management. In addition, the corporate atmosphere is open and conducive to the sharing of ideas.

Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake has invested time and energy into creating a company its employees can be proud of. The company uses the best available technology for protecting the environment, and implements aggressive safety programs. As a high-profile company, Chesapeake believes its success brings with it a responsibility to give back to the community. The company is a frequent sponsor for local charitable events and projects, including the United Way of Central Oklahoma, to which it and its employees donated a record-setting $1 million. The Chesapeake Scholars program enables students to attend state colleges and universities. Its high visibility encourages Chesapeake to maintain a positive work environment and generous benefit packages. Though the company has grown, it remains committed to its original core values: flexibility, an entrepreneurial spirit, willingness to take risks, strong work ethic, and involvement from senior management.

Chesapeake wants employees to understand what their company does, and so organizes trips to the field for all corporate office employees. By visiting an oil and gas well site, employees can see firsthand how the drilling process works. Chesapeake charters a bus and assigns a senior manager to conduct the tour. Employees can observe drilling operations and ask questions, and the tour is accompanied by a steak dinner prepared at the site. Chesapeake also provides a rigorous training program, and its field staff and management teams are among the most experienced and well trained in the industry.

Chesapeake also understands the importance of a work/life balance--families are included in many company-sponsored activities, and both employees and their families have access to the company’s state-of-the-art fitness center. Through the company’s “Living Well” program, employees receive a cash bonus for exercising, attending health and wellness educational sessions, and participating in community service activities. Chesapeake also provides paid time off for employees to mentor students at neighborhood schools. Every employee receives an equity stake in the company, as well as industry-leading compensation packages that are reviewed and adjusted twice a year. The campus has landscaping and architecture designed to create an inspiring work environment, as well as a restaurant that provides healthy, inexpensive meals for breakfast and lunch and take-home meals for busy employees.

Chesapeake Energy Corporation is the second-largest independent producer of natural gas in the United States. Formed in 1989 with fewer than 10 employees and a 6,000 square foot office, the company has grown to approximately 3,300 employees and a 20-acre campus. Most of the company’s reserves are located in the mid-continent region of the United States, including Oklahoma, western Arkansas, southwestern Kansas, and the Texas panhandle. Most of the company’s drilling activities are focused in Oklahoma, creating thousands of jobs for the state.