Winning isn’t easy and it takes many forms

I read about a 73-year-old scientist crisscrossing the globe, studying rocks as she tries to disprove the gospel that a meteor hitting Mexico caused the mass extinction of dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Nothing easy about that quest.

Keeping employees happy and productive — that’s easy, right? Just listen, show respect and don’t be too bossy.

Well, if it were that easy, we wouldn’t need the Top Workplaces awards. But we do, and the winners — 50 companies in many industries with operations in Fairfield, New Haven and Litchfield counties — are some of the best employers in Connecticut.

Talking with some of the winners and editing stories about others for this special awards section, I’ve seen a picture emerging of the art and science that goes into making an excellent workplace. Employees want, and this group delivers, teamwork and technology, clearly, along with another T-word, a hard-to-describe virtue we can call temperament.

Just about everyone talks about teamwork as a way to bring out the best ideas, the boldest efforts. How to make that happen? At winning companies, it’s both formal and informal and there’s no single, magic formula.

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England Properties, our first-place winner in the large employer category, relies on “seamless technology” with lots of bells and whistles to keep its agents working together and at their most productive, but the company — a unit of the global holding company headed by Warren Buffett — considers its highest priority to be maintaining its reputation.

That, too, can take many forms, but it’s related to the temperament of leaders in the company. Shout if you must, but steady, fair and even-tempered gets results. I hear that a lot, talking with folks like Olivier Bojarski at Thinklogical in Milford, a maker of ultra-secure computer integration systems.

Mission plays a strong role for employees at Family & Children’s

Agency, our top winner in the midsize category, but they still need teamwork, technology and the right temperament.

And who knew collecting bills could be so much fun? At Eastern

Account System, our top winner in the small employers category, “you hear laughter and you see smiles,” one employee told us.

Maybe you’re reading this thinking, hey, my company is nowhere near as good an employer as the ones in these articles. If so, drop off a copy on the boss’ desk — maybe while he or she isn’t around. If you think your employer should be on the list, click on www.hearst.com/topworkplaces and get a head start on nominating for 2019.