Reschcor Inc., No. 4 on Plastics News' Best Places to Work ranking, uses a variety of screening tools when hiring employees: background checks, personal and professional references, competency tests, drug tests, even behavioral assessments.
But the ultimate decision boils down to something simpler.
“We try to hire people we'd like to have over to dinner,” President Tom Reschly said in a recent telephone interview. “You've got to work for 40 to 50 years, so you might as well enjoy it and work alongside people who have that family attitude.”
He and his brother, operations Vice President Jim Reschly, bought the company in 2002. Originally founded in 1982 as Omega Plastics Corp., the Elkhart, Ind.-based profile extruder changed its name last year to Reschcor, as in Reschly family culture and core values.
The company offers family-friendly benefits like flexible scheduling to accommodate doctor appointments for family members or attendance at children's school events. Also part of the culture is valuing and encouraging employees' longevity with the firm.
After 20 years with the company, an employee receives an all-expenses-paid, four-day weekend trip worth up to $2,000, including $500 cash, along with 24 extra hours of vacation time.
For a 25-year anniversary, the trip increases in value to $3,000, with $1,000 paid in cash, and 40 extra hours of vacation time.
“We've had two people who have hit that milestone,” Tom Reschly said. “Hopefully more are striving to reach it.”
The growing company added eight positions last year, bringing the staff total to more than 80. Reschcor has reached capacity and is constrained at its current 65,000-square-foot location, where it runs 16 extruders. Reschly expects to move into a larger facility by the end of 2015 and is considering three possible sites, all in Elkhart County.
“People are our most important asset, so we want to find a location close to where we currently are,” he said.
“People have to know you care about them, and there are lots of things we do so they know that. We provide the safest work environment we can. We empower them to make their own decisions and communicate with them regularly — we try not to leave anyone in the dark. People really feel like part of the team that way.”
Reschcor, which also has an in-house toolroom, serves markets including agriculture, building and construction, decking and railing accessories, point of purchase, retail display and consumer products.
Plastics News' most recent survey of pipe, profile and tubing extruders estimated Reschcor's total annual sales at $10 million.