The employee benchmark report from ranked Best Places to Work companies for 2018 reported that 90 percent of employees feel valued at their organization. But at MTD Micro Molding in Charlton, Mass., there's a special day every year for employees to feel recognized for their hard work: Employee Appreciation Day.
The annual springtime event includes an on-site cookout where Executive Vice President Gary Hulecki usually plays chef. There are also tents, tables and a host of games played outside.
MTD Micro Molding was awarded the Plastics News Excellence Award for Employee Relations at the Plastics News Executive Forum conference, March 7 in Naples, Fla. MTD, which specializes in molding tiny medical components, was a finalist for Processor of the Year.
Throughout the year, there are company outings and team-bonding activities such as Pawtucket Red Sox baseball games, competitive football pools, recreational curling tournaments and golf tournament fundraisers. Celebratory meals, St. Patrick's Day breakfasts and summer lobster bakes are also enjoyed.
Pizza is served during monthly "lunch and learn" workshops, where management and department executives give employees company updates and discuss what's going on around the organization.
After company outings and activities, internal surveys are conducted to gauge interest and satisfaction.
MTD Micro Molding is involved in several charitable outreach efforts, but the Robert F. Kennedy Children's Action Corps hits home the most.
MTD owner and President Dennis Tully's daughter worked at the organization, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit that provides programs and services to disadvantaged children and families, as an intern, which is how MTD became connected with the cause. Children from the group have been brought in to tour MTD.
"We'll bring them in and show them what the manufacturing facility looks like," Tully said. "They'd never get a chance to see anything else beyond their borders, really, so that's a good opportunity to interact with them. We always try to make it fun for them and give them little prizes and quizzes, like a T-shirt, if they get the right answer after we give them a tour. That's always enjoyable for them."
MTD also sponsors and allows all employees to participate in RFK Children's Action Corps' annual golf tournament. The Charlton facility even closes for the day so that its 32 MTD employees can participate in the fundraising event, which is held at the nearby Heritage Country Club.
