As Lighthouse Management Group has grown from a scrappy Silicon Valley startup to an established — and still growing — California staffing firm, maintaining the firm’s positive workplace atmosphere has been a priority. Now the firm, with offices in Silicon Valley, Pleasanton and Irvine, California, has been named to Staffing Industry Analysts’ Best Staffing Firms to Work For list.

The firm focuses on filling accounting and finance positions in a broad range of industries. It also has another business unit focused on the healthcare industry, placing workers including nurses, medical assistants and radiology technicians — just about every healthcare job except for doctors. This focus on such a crucial industry gives employees a sense of purpose: “You get the sense that you’re really making a change,” says Delara Patel, senior client services manager.

Culture of collaboration. Lighthouse has a “truly collaborative and team-building environment,” says Nirav Shah, managing director and an employee since the firm’s founding more than 10 years ago.

“A consistent theme throughout our entire existence has been a really positive environment, trying to develop a winning culture,” Shah says. This means teamwork, transparency and open communication.

At company meetings, employees’ suggestions for improving the way the company operates are welcomed. “We’ve been successful because our leadership team and employees work really well together,” Shah says.

Hiring for long-term success. During the hiring process, the team asks candidates how they feel about working with others. If they say they would rather work alone, “that’s the opposite of who we are,” Shah says.

They are looking for people who buy into the firm’s philosophy of cultivating and building long-term relationships.

This includes treating other people well. “In the recruiting industry, you deal with people on a day to day basis,” Shah says. “You have your ups and downs. Being able to maintain a calm and professional demeanor, being positive and energetic — everybody on our team has that inside themselves.”

A close-knit team. When she was interviewing for her job about a year and a half ago, Patel could tell the firm’s employees enjoyed working together: “I knew when I talked to everybody that they genuinely cared for each other. It wasn’t like other places I interviewed. It’s like working with a family more than a company.”

The team also socializes together, holding team-building events including bowling and lunches.

Lighthouse is growing rapidly and has ambitions to expand further, both into other verticals and more geographic areas. Employees hope to bring their winning culture to more places.

“We care a lot about making a difference for Lighthouse, for Silicon Valley and for the organizations we staff for,” Patel says.