With 250 employees at Florence, Ky.-based Krauss-Maffei Corp., there are a lot of helping hands to go around. The company raised more than $120,000 through the American Red Cross for hurricane victims last year. Workers made donations to and participated in walk-a-thons for such charitable organizations as the American Cancer Association and Disabled American Veterans.
Krauss-Maffei President Paul Caprio said it's important that he and his employees not just donate money, but also donate time and manpower.
"We really try to be involved with the community on a regular basis," he said.
Krauss-Maffei is a manufacturer of plastics processing machines in injection molding technology, reaction process machinery and extrusion. Its parent company, KraussMaffei Group, is in its 180th year of business. Caprio said there will be a "very big party" at the German headquarters in Munich, and its customers from around the world are invited to attend.
And the company does parties well: Over the last several years, the Krauss-Maffei holiday party has been held at a hotel in downtown Cincinnati. There's a steak dinner and live entertainment, and the employees' spouses are all invited. Kraussi-Maffei also honors employees for their years of service. Caprio described the annual event as "a big family party," with roughly 300-350 people attending last year.
There's also a summer picnic, scavenger hunts, ice cream socials, Halloween costume contests and Friday dance parties.
"We try to do [fun activities] every quarter," Caprio said. "It just goes above and beyond the normal weekday to show appreciation to the people who are doing the work every day."
To counter all the food and parties, the company partners with its health insurance provider to give a premium deduction to employees who get a physical examination. Caprio, who said Weight Watchers is available to employees, added that the health and wellness incentives help keep the employees around — working and healthy.
Caprio said Krauss-Maffei is also trying to get "more professional" training for employees, even as simple as Microsoft Excel or Outlook, "to make sure the company is giving the employees the resources they need to be better at work so they can help the customers more quickly and more efficiently."
But what makes Krauss-Maffei a great place to work, according to Caprio, is the passionate employees.
"It's not just an 8-to-5 job for our employees," he said. "We like for our people to feel like a family and like they're part of the success. I think that really makes a huge difference in how the company performs. I think it really just comes down to, you know, you want every employee to feel that they are treated the way you want to be treated as an individual. … I really am proud that everyone is a critical part [of the company], and it doesn't matter how small that part is."