Past Winner Stories
Safety Management Group
www.smgindy.com
One of Safety Management Group of Indiana’s greatest strengths—providing companies with the expertise of its highly qualified safety professionals- ironically was proving to be a major Achilles heel when it came to the company’s future vitality.
By 2001, the company, which now does $8 million in annual sales, was faced with a high turnover rate of 43 percent, a dilemma that “threatened the very existence of the company,” according to operations manager Bobby Pirtle. Without its specialized professionals, Safety Management Group was faced with the prospect of being unable to deliver the services upon which it had built its reputation.
The source of the problem was two-fold. The nature of the company’s business required Safety Management Group to send its employees to its clients’ sites in the manufacturing, insurance, healthcare and construction industries. The company then provided full-time safety consulting, employee training, project staffing and instituted interim life safety measures and contractor safety management systems. In some cases, those clients enticed Safety Management Group employees to join their companies.
In addition, Safety Management Group was having a difficult time creating a sense of company unity because its employees rarely gathered in the same location since they worked full-time at the clients’ locations. “Obviously, creating a sense of unification amongst these professionals has been particularly challenging,” says President Kent Burget.
However, Safety Management Group did address that challenge head-on.
Instead of buckling under the weight of losing its valuable employees, Safety Management Group aggressively addressed the turnover problem by implementing plans to become an Employer of Choice. As Burget puts it, that goal proved to be a critical move in maintaining the company’s success.
The management team made a commitment, backed by financial resources, to initiate several ongoing initiatives to boost employee retention. The company now conducts an annual analysis of wages paid by its competitors. As a result, Safety Management Group developed a progressive benefits package that includes competitive salaries, a world-class retirement plan, and training budgets ranging from $2,000 to $4,000 a year. It also provides an additional $20,000 for continuing education initiatives.
Also, instead of shying away from its clients (and potential competition), Safety Management Group often allows its prospective employees to meet with the clients they’ll be serving so they can better understand their roles and proposed work environments, Burget says.
A sense of company unity has been achieved through several methods. New hires are introduced to their associates through the publication of professional biographies and are forwarded access information to the corporate intranet and invited to explore informational resources prior to their new hire orientation.
Each year, employees are invited to give feedback through a comprehensive Employee Opinion survey. The information is gathered to determine the level of satisfaction among the employees and to develop future initiatives.
The initial steps to become an Employer of Choice have led to other initiatives at Safety Management Group, including:
By 2001, the company, which now does $8 million in annual sales, was faced with a high turnover rate of 43 percent, a dilemma that “threatened the very existence of the company,” according to operations manager Bobby Pirtle. Without its specialized professionals, Safety Management Group was faced with the prospect of being unable to deliver the services upon which it had built its reputation.
The source of the problem was two-fold. The nature of the company’s business required Safety Management Group to send its employees to its clients’ sites in the manufacturing, insurance, healthcare and construction industries. The company then provided full-time safety consulting, employee training, project staffing and instituted interim life safety measures and contractor safety management systems. In some cases, those clients enticed Safety Management Group employees to join their companies.
In addition, Safety Management Group was having a difficult time creating a sense of company unity because its employees rarely gathered in the same location since they worked full-time at the clients’ locations. “Obviously, creating a sense of unification amongst these professionals has been particularly challenging,” says President Kent Burget.
However, Safety Management Group did address that challenge head-on.
Instead of buckling under the weight of losing its valuable employees, Safety Management Group aggressively addressed the turnover problem by implementing plans to become an Employer of Choice. As Burget puts it, that goal proved to be a critical move in maintaining the company’s success.
The management team made a commitment, backed by financial resources, to initiate several ongoing initiatives to boost employee retention. The company now conducts an annual analysis of wages paid by its competitors. As a result, Safety Management Group developed a progressive benefits package that includes competitive salaries, a world-class retirement plan, and training budgets ranging from $2,000 to $4,000 a year. It also provides an additional $20,000 for continuing education initiatives.
Also, instead of shying away from its clients (and potential competition), Safety Management Group often allows its prospective employees to meet with the clients they’ll be serving so they can better understand their roles and proposed work environments, Burget says.
A sense of company unity has been achieved through several methods. New hires are introduced to their associates through the publication of professional biographies and are forwarded access information to the corporate intranet and invited to explore informational resources prior to their new hire orientation.
Each year, employees are invited to give feedback through a comprehensive Employee Opinion survey. The information is gathered to determine the level of satisfaction among the employees and to develop future initiatives.
The initial steps to become an Employer of Choice have led to other initiatives at Safety Management Group, including:
- Five-Year Goals that involve securing two additional anchor clients and increasing the number of associates to 120 while maintaining 15 percent net profit.
- A website resource that allows employees to access benefits information and a weekly company newsletter about new hires, upcoming company events, birthdays/service anniversaries, and technical articles.
- Quarterly Staff Development Days to provide technical training and to provide an opportunity for associates to gather and learn about important company initiatives. These events also provide associates an opportunity to meet one another outside the work environment.
- A recognition program for associates who receive unsolicited positive feedback from clients.
- An annual “Family Day” held each August for employees’ families to meet in a picnic setting and an annual Charity Golf Outing that has provided nearly $30,000 in donations to Riley Hospital for Children.
As a result of these initiatives, associates have become more empowered and Safety Associate tenure durations have doubled in two years, Burget says. Rolling 12-month employee turnover rates that once climbed to 49 percent have been reduced to 14 percent as of May 2006.
Befittingly, Safety Management Group’s associates identified their company as being among the Best Places to Work in a program sponsored by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce in May 2005, ranking Safety Management Group 17th of all small- to medium-sized firms in the state.
Befittingly, Safety Management Group’s associates identified their company as being among the Best Places to Work in a program sponsored by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce in May 2005, ranking Safety Management Group 17th of all small- to medium-sized firms in the state.