The Atlanta Business Chronicle recently surveyed the metro area’s businesses to find those that have discovered how to be one among Atlanta’s Best Places to Work. After evaluating thousands of surveys, the results are in and on September 26, 2008 The Atlanta Business Chronicle announced that AGH is the #1 Best Place to Work in Atlanta!


By: Allison Shirreffs
Contributing Writer for the Atlanta Business Chronicle
September 26, 2008

Every morning Paul Paris walks the halls of AGH to check in with the employees. As managing principal of the accounting firm, Paris likes to, as he puts it, "tap into the pulse of the firm" by saying hello and seeing how things are going. Recently, Paris gave an office visitor a tour. It wasn't so much a tour of space as it was a tour of those who work there. Paris would stop by an office, make an introduction and follow with a story. There was a story about how the company's payroll business began, which morphed into a vignette about entre¬preneurship, a tale about the interview process told from the perspective of a new employee, and a brief explanation of why one department had "separated at-birth" photos taped outside employee doors. (For the record, employee Michelle Hidalgo does look like actress Lindsay Lohan). But the underlying story is that a firm of 60 employees has not only a director of career development, but a director of recruiting and a director of human resources. It's all part of an attempt by AGH's powers-that-be to make sure people are happy, there's good commu¬nication between employees and senior management, and that employees know their careers matter. It's paying off. Employees voted AGH one of Atlanta's 2008 Best Places to Work, coming in at No. 1 in the small-employer category. Employee comments bear this out. "Every day I'm told how much they appreciate what I do," said an employee in a survey for Best Places to Work. "Everyone, not only managers and above, supports you in every way they can and that makes you feel like you're part of a family," notes another. How does AGH find the best possible people for its firm? It starts with Michelle Robinovitz, the director of recruiting. “[Potential employees] need to be hard-working and passionate with interests outside of the job," she says. "People who just want to climb the ladder are not going to be happy here." The firm operates on an open-door policy. As one employee puts it: "The leadership is excellent, the benefits are well beyond that of other organizations, the camaraderie is outstanding, and in general I'm happy to come into the office and work with other members of my organization. I honestly don't have any complaints."