Detore: Enter Tire Business Best Places to Work survey

MIAMI — As my friend points out wryly to describe something that is indescribable, it is "interesting" to consider what goes through one's mind in the middle of December.

Especially when you're at a party. On a rooftop. In the middle of downtown Miami.

Tire Group International (TGI) Inc., finally held its COVID-delayed 30th anniversary celebration on Dec. 17 at the posh Penthouse at Riverside Wharf in Miami. A group of suppliers, sponsors, invited guests and several TGI employees attended the gala.

As I sat at a high-top table, watching folks mill around me, I kept thinking the same thing over and over again: Everyone is smiling. Laughing. Enjoying each other's company. TGI must be a great place to work.

That thought may not have crossed my mind if I hadn't known that TGI was last year's winner of our Best Places to Work (BPTW) survey, which seeks to recognize the best employers in the replacement tire and automotive service industries.

TGI won the competition this year after finishing as a finalist in during the previous competition.

Another thought entered my mind: How many other tire dealerships treat employees this well? How many deserve to be recognized for fostering an outstanding work culture?

Well, now's your chance to reward your business and your employees, just as TGI did last year. This year's BPTW is now live on our website, bestplacestoworktb.com.

The rules for the survey are simple. In order to participate, a business must:

• Be a retail, commercial, OTR, retread or wholesale tire dealership in the U.S. (publicly or privately held);
• Have a minimum of 15 full- or part-time permanent employees working in the U.S.; and
• Be in business a minimum of one year.

Among companies eligible are traditional independently owned retail or commercial tire dealerships; online tire businesses (such as Simple Tire, Tire Rack, etc.); franchised tire businesses (such as individual Tire Pros, Big O Tires, etc. franchisees); mass merchandisers with tire stores (such as Walmart Tire & Lube Express, etc.; individual stores not eligible); and wholesale clubs that sell tires (such as BJ's or Costco.)

Those companies not eligible include tire importers; tire manufacturer-owned tire stores; private-brand tire companies; software companies; and other aftermarket businesses that do not sell tires.

The process is simple. Each business is asked to fill out two surveys.

• The owner or representative of the dealership/company must fill out the Employer Benefits and Policies Questionnaire, an online survey detailing company policies, practices, benefits and demographics.
• Employees, meanwhile, are asked to complete the Engagement and Satisfaction Survey, a series of questions, using a scale of 1 to 5, ranging from "agree strongly" to "disagree strongly."

The survey includes seven demographic and two open-ended questions. Employees can fill out this survey online or on paper, if a full company employee email list is unavailable. It should take an employee 10 to 15 minutes to complete the survey.

The deadline to register is March 17. A week later, questionnaires will be available, and they must be completed no later than April 7 (for the Employer Benefits and Policies Questionnaire) and April 14 (for the Engagement and Satisfaction Survey).

The deadline for all employee surveys is April 28.

Organizations with 25 or more employees must have a response rate of at least 40% in order for the results to count, meaning not every employee is required to participate. However, the higher the response rate, the more representative the analysis will be.

Organizations with 15 to 24 employees must achieve a response rate of 80% or higher for their results to count.

Best Companies Group (BCG), an independent research firm specializing in identifying and recognizing great places to work, once again will be conducting the survey. Tire Business and BCG names only those businesses that receive recognition. Others not named finalists remain anonymous.

And did I mention it's free to sign up?

Business that take the survey can purchase a copy of the results to find out what they do well and what they could do better. But that is optional.

One employee introduced himself to me at the gala. He told me how much he enjoyed reading Tire Business. And he made it a point to tell me how long he had worked at TGI and how much he enjoyed working there.

Most companies would pay top dollar for that kind of PR.

Joaquin and Tony Gonzalez, brothers who operate TGI, certainly have created a special kind of workplace.

Here are the five companies named finalists last year, listed in alphabetical order:

• Best-One of Indy, based in Indianapolis and part of the multi-statewide Best-One Tire network;
• MFA Oil Co. franchisee, which operates 22 Big O stores across Missouri and Northwest Arkansas;
• Monteith's Best-One Tire & Auto Care , based in Elkhart, Ind.;
• SimpleTire L.L.C. of Trevose, Pa., an online tire dealer; and
• Sun Auto Tire & Service, a Tempe, Ariz.-based dealership that operates more than 350 locations across the U.S.

SimpleTire was named the winner of the 2021 survey, while St. Louis Wholesale Tire, a family-run business that specializes in specialty tires and inner tubes, was named the winner of the inaugural Tire Business Best Places to Work survey competition in 2019.

We will feature our 2023 winner and finalists in the July 31 edition of Tire Business.

One other thought: Isn't it time for your business to get the same recognition?