Basketball court now occupies the H.R.

At Ultimate Software a basketball court now occupies the H.R. software leader's atrium lobby, the result of a wager won when employees met a mega sales goal set by their sports-minded CEO. Sage Products, a health care manufacturer, built a large indoor and outdoor café to hold gatherings that bridge its business and manufacturing groups to bring all the employees at the same time as one "family." And at McWhinney, a real estate development company, an adjacent nature preserve has inspired the creation of a stunning outdoor gathering space, complete with grills for celebratory cookouts.

For instance, at Rackspace, a cloud computing company, employees created the world's largest word-search puzzle-certified by Guinness World Records-to highlight the firm's values on a grand scale. At Sherwin-Williams, the paints and coatings giant, a museum-style tour of the company's history graces the headquarters lobby, recognizing employees through the decades for their innovations and accomplishments. And at SnagAJob.com, a leading job site for hourly workers, the organization's evidently defined core values appear on brightly colored, carefully placed signs. They are vibrant visual cues for employees on what it in effect means to walk the talk.

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