By Puget Sound Business Journal

Hughes Marino is a family-owned commercial real estate firm with offices across the U.S.

The company has received dozens of awards for its workplace culture and leadership.

• Executive vice president: Owen Rice
• Founded: 2011
• Washington employees: 13
• Headquarters: San Diego

How does your organization promote diversity and inclusion in leadership positions?

The amount of diversity in our leadership is very uncommon, and a fact we take immense pride in. We are proud to have a 1.2:1 ratio of women to men, in an industry with an average of 90 percent-plus men. We also embrace our many racial minorities as well as our LGBTQ teammates. As for our leadership positions, we are proud to have a majority of women as leaders in our company. In fact, President and COO Shay Hughes oversees all aspects of business operations, including brokerage and project management services, internal operations, human resources, marketing communications and expansion strategy. A true visionary, she has been instrumental in shaping Hughes Marino’s culture, spearheading the development of the company’s Core Values, and building a world-class team of professionals who are not only at the top of their game in business, but also treat one another like family.

What is the most difficult position for your organization to hire for right now?

When combing through the hundreds (or thousands) of applications we receive for each and every position, we look for very specific attributes. As you can imagine, finding the candidate with the right qualifications for the position, along with the same eager work ethic and friendly personality can be quite the challenge. Because we never compromise on hiring, once we find the match we consider it a huge victory for our team, and are excited to welcome new team members to our family.

What are the three biggest perks of working for your organization?

We embody family spirit and empower each and every team member to make every effort possible to achieve the impossible and deliver terrific results. During monthly team meetings, team members recognize one another and show appreciation toward those who have inspired them or made an impact in some way. Each team member is given five “WOW” cards to reward other team members for doing something above and beyond what is expected and leaving an emotional impact. Each is worth $50, but the value of being recognized by a teammate is rewarding and priceless. We also bring in professional speakers and presentation coaches to help our team members reach the top of their game professionally, overcome obstacles, and promote psychological wellbeing to create lasting success both in the workplace and in life. We also like to incorporate fun in the office whenever possible. Between our monthly shuffleboard and billiards tournaments, vintage arcade games, fun Friday theme days, team workouts, and CrockPot cook-offs, there is plenty to do to keep the good times rolling.

This article originally appeared in the Puget Sound Business Journal.