Cadence was recently named number 15 on the 2018 list of the World’s Best Multinational Workplaces, according to global research and consulting firm Great Place to Work® and Fortune Magazine. This is the fourth year in a row that Cadence was named to this list. We are immensely proud of this ranking.

At Cadence, our approach to building our culture has been about recognizing our employees as individuals and providing what they need to make them successful not only as employees but also as members of their communities and in their personal lives. As we all know—especially in Silicon Valley—it is not easy to achieve a balance between our personal, work, and family obligations. So, as a company, we participate in the Great Place to Work process to survey and understand the challenges our employees face, and, come up with new programs to keep them engaged and support their personal and professional growth.

In the next few months, we will break down what we have learned and what we have implemented to help our employees be happier in all areas of their lives.

Work that Matters

Our employees have said, loudly and clearly, that they all want to work on things that matter. 90% of employees say that they feel they make a difference at Cadence, and 83% say their work is not “just a job”. What does that mean?

What really helps differentiate our culture from other companies is that our employees are working on leading-edge technologies that are unique to the industry. Cadence technology is essential in the world of electronics, and our customer base covers the biggest companies in the world, offering opportunities to everyone who works here. This brings a new level of meaning to our work, accelerating career growth.

Cadence employees have the autonomy to do great work, to take risks, jump on opportunities, and feel the impact of their work daily.

And our employees’ individual work matters, too, because they develop projects that matter to the bottom line. Each individual aligns their goals for the year to the top-level company goals, which ties to our revenue and margin targets. This helps ensure employees understand how the work they are doing contributes to their team’s and department’s success, and the Cadence strategy.

Each employee fits into the machinery of Cadence as a whole organization and everyone knows that everyone else’s work is important, too. Our employees do their homework for our customers, who put our tools to creative use. And our employees are encouraged to develop individual skills and knowledge outside of the office that can be applied to what we do here at Cadence.

Work that matters is the first stepping stone for achieving the goal of being a great place to work.