SDM Named a 2016 Best Place to Work

SD Mayer & Associates has made the San Francisco Business Times Best Places to Work list for the third year in a row! The San Francisco Business Times compiles an annual list of the best places to work in the Bay Area based on employee surveys that measure employee satisfaction across several areas, such as personal growth, workplace environment, and managerial effectiveness.

We are honored to again be recognized as a best place to work and we are exceptionally proud to have made the list every year since we have been in business. To celebrate making the Best Places to Work 2016 list, we decided to count down the top ten reasons we think SDM is THE Best Place to Work:

#10 Offices

When most people visit the SDM offices for the first time they often say something about how it doesn’t look like any other accounting firm they’ve ever stepped into – and it’s true. The walls of our floor are painted in bright blue, green, and orange, and are covered in quotes and artwork. Our office is rarely silent and you will often hear laughter bursting from at least one office. We have a chalkboard wall (accountants can be creative too!), cornhole boards (they can also be competitive…), and a secret compartment in our conference room that can only be opened with a hidden latch.

#9 Traditions

Founder and Managing Partner Steve Mayer is a man of traditions, and it is not surprising that over the past three years SDM has established a few traditions of our own. We celebrate SDM’s anniversary every November and host our SDM Thanksgiving Potluck to celebrate with our SDM family. We also throw a White Elephant party before everyone goes on break for the holidays, and attend a Giants game every April after the tax deadline.

#8 Staff Meetings

The monthly staff meetings at SDM are best described as a combination of a board meeting, a guest speaker series, and a ginormous family dinner. Staff meetings are one of the few times that every member of the team is in one offices, and the meetings are always loud, entertaining and fun. We are often lucky enough to have a guest speaker from a different industry speak to us about their careers and professions, and we have heard a number of truly fascinating people speak.

#7 Parties

We take having fun very seriously at SDM, and our parties have become somewhat legendary as a result. Favorites so far? Halloween mini golf spread out through our hallways and offices, the annual SDM anniversary parties, and most recently, a massive St. Patrick’s Day beer pong tournament, complete with a makeshift Irish pub and a keg full of green beer.

#6 Philosophy

When the firm was first founded in 2013, the SDM team decided that “We Care” would be our company’s philosophy: we care about our clients; we care about our company; we care about our community; and we care about each other. The “We Care” philosophy is the guiding principle for SDM and how we approach business – at the end of the day, we care about people and not the bottom line. For us, making the Best Places to Work list the past three years is testimony to the growth and strength of our founding philosophy, as well as to its continued growth as our team expands.

#5 We Care Committee

The We Care Committee was created out of the We Care philosophy and is tasked with organizing all SDM events, parties, happy hours, field trips, and community service days. It is essentially the group that organizes all of the fun stuff we do at SDM, and it is awesome.

#4 Clients

We are fortunate enough to have great clients who make our job fun, challenging and always interesting. We get to work closely with our clients, and we take pride in being their most trusted business advisor.

#3 (Work) Culture

Let’s just say that our work culture is not like other firms in the professional services or accounting industries. Work hours are flexible, and making sure the SDM team is balancing work with the other aspects of our lives is something the leadership of the firm takes very seriously. Steve Mayer has written before of his belief that happy, engaged employees are key to propelling a company to success, and it is very much reflected in the work environment he created at SDM.

#2 Our Founder

Not that we’re trying to get a raise or anything (Hi Steve!), but one of the main reasons SDM is a best place to work is the culture, philosophy and mission that Steve established when the firm first began. He believes strongly in his employees, and goes above and beyond to ensure everyone feels that they are an integral member of the SDM team. He is a mentor to everyone on staff and leads by example.

#1 Team

Simply put, SDM is a best place to work because of our people. We are a highly-skilled, dedicated and diverse team, and we care deeply about our clients and each other.