Herman Cain once wrote, “Nobody motivates today's workers. If it doesn't come from within, it doesn't come. Fun helps remove the barriers that allow people to motivate themselves,” and this is the sort of corporate culture that Connect First, the cloud communications company, is attempting to embed into its work environment.

Today, ConnectFirst culture has taken on a new dimension and is being redefined by creating a ‘cool work atmosphere,’ that will make employees tap dance to work, mitigating the work related stress –in short keep them enthusiastic and happy; since happy employees translate into more productivity.

Although there is no single definition of great company culture, the Boulder-based, award winning, cloud contact center company has re-oriented its approach with a greater accent on its employees. It offers “unlimited paid time off, a six week sabbatical program and health insurance for employee’s pets among the other “traditional” employee benefits.”

ConnectFirst believes that employees should be able to unwind completely in order to produce the best. Its “Connect First Fridays,” an event that takes place every first Friday of the month is aimed at this. Going one step further, it actually has “Bring Your Dog to Work” days -that allows the furry, four-legged friends to accompany their masters to work.

“By creating an atmosphere where we empower the employee and lead based on mutual respect, fun and creativity, and not based on fear, or micro-managing, we keep that same culture we had back when it all started,” said Geoff Mina, CEO, while expanding upon the philosophy about the Connect First culture.

So far, ConnectFirst’s theory of connecting with its employees in novel ways appears to be working. In the last 60 days, its customer support has had a 99 percent customer satisfaction rating and the company was just awarded a gold star by the Better Business Bureau for going three years in a row with zero complaints.

It does seem as if ConnectFirst has hit upon ‘the elixir’ that creates happy employees and customers, but will it be the same once the novelty wears off?