C+R Makes Crain’s Best Places to Work in Chicago List at #10 Among Midsize Companies!

As a marketing insights firm, we are no strangers to survey design and data analysis. Of course, this is what we do day in and day out for our clients. But we also use them internally for all kinds of topics like how our internal SharePoint should be organized, how we’re all feeling throughout the pandemic, and sillier topics like our favorite company provided lunch options.

So, when we were invited to participate in Crain’s Best Places to Work survey, we excitedly embraced this opportunity. And because we know the importance of data quality so intimately, we were prepared to provide honest feedback to all the questions to allow Crain’s to make an informed decision when considering which companies to be awarded their Crain’s Best Places to Work for 2021.

The results of the survey? What we, at C+R already knew and expected; C+R is a great best to work and was one of the 100 recipient companies selected with this honor! For us, the reasons are many, but all start with our founder’s vision to “treat people as adults.” That vision has carried on for over 60 years now. But what does it really mean to treat our employees as adults?

Well, it means that we hire smart, capable people; give them the tools and training they need to do their jobs; and then “trust” them to do what’s best for our clients and therefore our company. We encourage discussion and welcome new ideas from every employee. We ask rather than tell our employees about their career development and options. And we rely on their good judgment rather than making a new handbook policy for every potential issue.

But beyond career development and client deadlines, the C+R partners truly care for their employees as you’ll hear in the video included in this blog post. They listen to their employees’ needs and try to provide solutions to meet those needs. The company offered flexible work schedules long before it was popular and designs benefits to support our employees when they need it most. As an example, we don’t have Short Term Disability, but we do have a benefit we call Short Term Salary Continuance where we are able to use our accrued benefit to care for a serious medical condition, or that of a parent, spouse, or child. C+R recognizes that employee satisfaction and happiness don’t stop at that individual but also expands to the people who are most important to them as well.

And, as we all know, this past year was hard on so many levels, but we can all proudly say that the things we love about C+R’s culture were only amplified during the pandemic. The Partners trusted the staff to continue delivering great research for our clients, and we absolutely did! They gave everyone the flexibility they needed to deal with all things large and small that impacted their daily lives. And there was constant communication via email and calls to check in. We also kept up with each other socially, which is a huge part of being in the C+R family – from Zoom happy hours to them sending us out little gifts to let us know they were thinking of us while we couldn’t physically be together.

We’re proud of our staff and our company for being recognized as one of Crain’s Best Places to Work in Chicago, landing at number 51 and number 10 for midsize company! And, a huge thank you to Crain’s for recognizing what we all already know; that C+R is a great place to work!

Interested in a career at C+R?  Please visit our Careers page. 

Hear what our employees had to say in the following short video!