At Plastic Components Inc., its current cohesive team was developed through implementation of a hiring and management software called Culture Index. The software makes hiring, motivating and engaging employees more effective by assessing and diagnosing individuals' strengths and talents, like a personality profile.
"It's a way of creating a profile of the individual personality of each of the employees. Then, we line up the personality profile with the job profile that meets those needs," said President and CEO Thomas Duffey. "Through a lot of trial and error, [it's] really important to get the personality profile to align with the job at hand. If you try to force a square peg into a round hole, if you take an employee who likes to work on the floor and in automation and you force him to work with customers, you're setting him up to fail.
"Outcomes have been terrific. Our success rate is high. When we've made mistakes, it's because we've talked ourselves out of that and put people in the wrong role," he added.
PCI is the only company that has been named a Best Place to Work every year since the ranking began in 2014. This year, it takes the No. 8 spot.
Duffey said the company's mission for 2017 is essentially the same mission they have had for the last several years — to build the organization person by person. Making hiring decisions will be their most important decision, he added.
"We are growing rapidly — 15.3 percent since last year. … Our experience has been when you bring in the right people, things happen naturally. Growth comes from that," he said. "Our experience has been that as you build the team, add the right people to the right roles, coach, mentor and collaborate effectively, the results come naturally."
Duffey said he believes the employees love being at the custom injection molder because it's a hardworking, productive place to work.
"We have high expectations, [and] you have to perform. Everybody has a job to do," Duffey said. "But if you want to grow and take on additional opportunities and be given responsibility and you want to have the opportunity to go further and faster than anywhere else, this is the place to work."
Over the last several years, Duffey said, medical premium increases have not increased even though some extra benefits have been added. Duffey said there was even a slight premium decrease this year.
"At the end of the day, compensation and pay matter, but people need to know they have good, stable health care coverage," he said. "So, one of the commitments we have made over and over again is we will provide the best health care coverage we can afford to buy. I want our guys to have peace of mind."
Although the company previously offered activities like cookouts and pancake breakfasts, Duffey said they do fewer of those events because employees just want "compensation and security of health care." Instead, PCI offers "lots of flexibility and room for overtime on the weekends. We give them support — family leave or otherwise."
"The truth of the matter is, I'm very proud of what we've become," Duffey said. "We've become a really good company, but I think we've become a really good place to work."
According to a March 10 article by Plastics News, PCI was bought by Cleveland-based MPE Partners. Duffey said he will remain president and CEO through the transition period, adding that he will be on the board of directors at PCI and remain in a position with MPE.
Founded in 1989, PCI is based in Germantown, Wis., and employs 70.
Click here for links to other Best Places to Work businesses for 2017.