CLEVELAND, Ohio -- As the Garland Co. marks its 125th year in business, the celebration feels more like an extended family reunion than a business anniversary.
Still located in its original building in the Union-Miles neighborhood of Cleveland, with nine years of Top Workplace achievements, the employee-owned roofing manufacturer nailed second place in the 2020 Top Workplaces small-company category. It ranked 42nd in 2019.
For the 2020 Top Workplaces list, cleveland.com and the Plain Dealer have compiled a record 175 Northeast Ohio employers, based on employee surveys. And we’ve focused on their responses and adaptations to the coronavirus pandemic.
The company, valued at $900 million, has kept everyone working throughout the coronavirus crisis. In fact, it has added 27 new employees in the last 12 months.
“Every company has an interesting story to tell, but this is the company I was willing to relocate my family across the country for,” said Jordan Trimble, a logistics analyst recruited to build out the company’s logistics department after having them as a client.
Trimble said Garland is “a small business doing amazing things,” much of which grows out of the attitude of employees. “Everyone says ‘our business,’ because that is the way everyone sees it. Being an owner just drives different behaviors,” he said.
Once an employee has completed 12 consecutive months of full-time employment, they become eligible to participate in the Employee Stock Option program. To receive stock as part of their compensation package, they must then work at least 1,000 hours in a calendar year.
What impressed Trimble most is that Garland is “not a top-down company. There is not a lot of stock placed on titles or positions.”
If any employee has an idea how to do things better, they are encouraged to bring it forward for consideration. That culture begins with Garland President Dave Sokol, who believes that the success of the company comes from the people.
“Ownership truly is a powerful motivator. It helps create a connection and an investment in a company like nothing else,” said Sokol, Garland’s president since 2004. “To me, it’s very obvious that ownership means something to our employees. The level of success we have reached would not have been possible without the culture created because of it.”
To foster the family atmosphere, Sokol invites each employee for lunch every year.
That openness is reflected in Top Workplace’s special recognition for communication between management and employees.
But the familial culture doesn’t stop at the door of the plant. Each year, during “Spirit Week” employees choose a local charity and raise money through games, raffles and other activities organized by the staff. Last year’s charity, Santa’s Hideaway Hollow, which serves terminally ill children, netted $50,000, and the company, as a whole, spent a day painting, cleaning and making repairs at the retreat it runs in Lake County.
“That is what exemplifies the culture here at Garland,” Trimble said. “It is the lively atmosphere, the giving, the caring, the attitude that your co-workers will do anything for you. Everyone here is focused on the community, on family and the people -- not just in the company -- but in the neighborhood. It all comes back to the people.”
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June 28, 2020 at 09:21PM
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Employee ownership creates family atmosphere at the Garland Co.: Second place Top Workplace - cleveland.com
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