Joel Slenning, CEO

When CEO Joel Slenning launched ICON Staffing Network in 2010, he looked to create an environment where people would perform at very high levels but know they were also in a place entirely different from a typical staffing firm.

Each office location features an open floor plan — there are no offices for recruiters or managers —and pictures of Einstein, beaches and landscapes cover the walls.

Each office also has a ‘think tank,’ an area full of Xboxes and other diversions employees can use to break away from the daily grind. And an area dubbed the ‘can you imagine’ room features a chalkboard wall for employees to write ideas on. The company then tries to incorporate those ideas into its plans.

The goal is to make employees enjoy being at work. “We already spend so much time working as it is,” Slenning says, “you want to be in a place and an environment that is really actually fun.”

The company also provides a solid array of benefits: a top-line medical plan with dental and vision, five weeks of paid time off annually to start, and an additional paid day to volunteer at an organization of their choice. ICON also pays for the cost of using mass transit and alternative forms of transportation.

“I think that when we started ICON we started to actually change the way the staffing industry works,” Slenning says. “We think that because we are a people business, it really is truly about each and every individual that we interact with.”