SimpleTire named 2022 Best Places to Work finalist

TREVOSE, Pa. — SimpleTire L.L.C. prides itself in offering a family environment for its employees within a technologically advanced business.

This year the online tire retailer is marking its 10th anniversary and its third year as a finalist in the Tire Business Best Places to Work competition. The Trevose-based company was the winner in 2020.

The Best Places to Work survey is conducted by Best Companies Group (BCG), an independent research firm specializing in identifying and recognizing great places to work. In order to participate in the survey, each business must be a retail, commercial, OTR, retread or wholesale tire dealership in the U.S., and have at least 15 employees.

Each owner submits an online survey detailing company policies, practices, benefits and demographics. Employees, meanwhile, are asked to complete, a series of questions,rating the company. Tire Group International was named the overall winner, while other finalists include (in alphabetical order): Best One of Indy, Indianapolis; Big O Tires, Columbia, Mo.; Monteith's Best One Tire & Auto Care, Elkhart, Ind.; SimpleTire L.L.C. of Trevose, Pa.; and Sun Auto Tire & Service Inc, Phoenix.

In all those years, the company has attributed its commercial success, and as a best place to work, to its open culture with its employees.

Over the years, the company has grown to over 150 employees and expanded its online shopping experience with a network of tire installers around the country.

SimpleTire, founded in 2012 by brothers Andy and Josh Chalofsky and their friend Kenny Pratt, goes to market through an online tire sales website — simpletire.com — where consumers can purchase tires from an array of brands and then select a local tire dealership for installation.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit two years ago, SimpleTire employees began working from home, an arrangement the company has decided to continue indefinitely.

"As the pandemic prolonged, it became evident that having a remote work environment as a permanent way forward was best for our employees and also for the company, and that's where we are," SimpleTire President Karthik Iyer said.

"The overall effectiveness of that approach has been unbelievable and really, really strong both for our team members as well as a business. We now found the right balance between remote work and really bringing people back together."

He said all employees meet virtually every week to discuss a range of topics and share news about the business as well as about employees who receive awards or celebrate anniversaries.

Certain teams, such as sales or marketing, will meet in person periodically in the office building. Employees also meet in person for orientation, brainstorming or team-building sessions as well as corporate entertainment events, such as picnics, holiday parties and game nights.

"Even though we are remote, we find avenues to spend time together and we really enjoy those moments," Iyer said.

Remote requires a different way of working with some adjustments, especially with communication, he said, noting that it is important to have many channels of communication so employees can ask questions and reach out and feel like a family through the use of communication tools.

In the end, the arrangement involves trust and flexibility.

"We trust our employees and they (provide) commitment and effort back to us," he said.

The hybrid workplace arrangement is part of the flexibility SimpleTire takes pride in, and attributes to its low-turnover rate and continued business success.

Employees are rewarded for offering innovative ideas, whether for improving the website, back office operations or the company in general. Employees in turn help with recruitment by offering referrals and promoting job openings on their social media platforms.

"What we've seen is the source of these referrals and the way our employees are so actively engaged in bringing in people with similar culture, similar values, that has been a huge driver in the way we've been able to hire," Iyer said.

One of the advantages of having a remote workforce is that the company can widen its pool of job applicants nationwide to bring in the best talent, he said.

What sets SimpleTire apart from other employers is a mix of tangible and intangible benefits, which can be especially attractive to the newest generation of workers.

"The overall comprehensive benefits package is something that is important and we certainly have got that — everything from dental, vision, medical, 401K, those kinds of things. Tuition reimbursement is another important one," Iyer said.

"We try to overemphasize our culture as our big differentiator. It is these levels of engagement with our team members, if you see the way that they work, that is what separates us at the end of the day."

It's the little things, too, Iyer said, like the SimpleTire swag boxes containing anything from hoodies, T-shirts and hats to water bottles and coffee mugs — that are sent to employees and co-op students working for the company.

Iyer said employees show their pride by wearing the swag not just at virtual meetings, but outside of work as well.

The company culture is also cultivated through employee-led committees that plan fun events, such as a game night, and implement diversity initiatives, philanthropy and other activities.

Employees also are encouraged to develop a career path within the company. Often an employee will start in one department, such as the call center, and move into other areas, such as marketing or sales, Iyer said.

"It allows us to be flexible and adjust to the career aspirations that different people have. That has been a huge advantage for us, to be able to meet change with the talent that we have," he said.

"We are hyper-focused on being a people-first organization. That is core to our values; that's core to our business.

"One of the things that I know is very important to this young generation is in the innovation and the opportunity to be part of something big, the understanding of that vision and where we're headed," Iyer said, adding, "We're working on some really cutting-edge ecommerce and digital experiences to elevate the experience of the end consumer that I think is fundamentally very attractive for anyone of that age.

"We have an extremely comprehensive benefits package. We offer 18 days of PTO immediately upon hire, nine holidays, flexible hours, casual dress code. This is a company where titles and job descriptions matter less. Good ideas and collaboration and fun and culture and exciting business vision is really what drives us every day."

SimpleTire conducts performance evaluations and employee surveys at least twice a year, but performance discussions are an ongoing dialogue that allows managers an opportunity to coach, course-correct and respond to the changing, competitive landscape, Iyer said.

He said having ongoing dialogue between managers and employees "is a core aspect of how we stay nimble, how we stay agile and how we are always competitively advantaged."

Employee surveys enable employees to voice ideas and concerns, he said.

"We've sourced a lot of our ideas and a lot of our action plans from these surveys," he said, adding, "We take pride in sharing the results of the survey with everyone, the good, the bad and the ugly. ... We have a very, very high level of participation in that survey and everyone has the confidence that the thing that they share will certainly be heard and be implemented as well."

The company also rewards employees for accomplishments and input. Employees nominate colleagues for an "Employee of the Month" award for an exemplary job that month.

The "Innovator of the Month" award is presented to an employee who submits an idea that is implemented to improve the website or internal operations.

"Kudos" boards in the offices celebrate employees' birthdays, work anniversaries and big life events. Colleagues can add to the boards with their best wishes and acknowledgements. (With everyone now working remotely, acknowledgements are made during the company-wide virtual meetings.)

In an effort to promote a healthy work/life balance, SimpleTire implemented a "No Google Meet Friday" every month for remote workers.

"We encourage employees to not have any meetings at all. That allows team members to do the work they want to do, to reach out to others they want to get quality time with, and it's really meant to be that flexible time that people get," Iyer said.

The company also gave extra days off at the end of last year to allow people time to "recharge," he said, adding, "We want to make sure everyone takes time off to recharge. It's more important now than ever before for people to do that."

Iyer joined the company as president in October 2020, having come from a consumer technology background.

"I look at SimpleTire as a marriage of tire and tech. I'm here to be able to leverage all the great work that the team is doing and really shape the vision of SimpleTire in the tire industry," he said.

He recalled that when he first came to SimpleTire, "the culture was just contagious. The more you met people, the more you felt like you would really fit. And I feel more strongly today about that than even the first day when I joined."

As the company is trying constantly to improve the workplace experience, it also is striving to improve the consumer experience on its website.

"Our main focus is consumer experience. Every single time that we have elevated the consumer experience, we have seen business results follow suit," Iyer said.

"Consumers are looking for convenience, they are looking for value, they are looking for selection. And if all of this can be delivered in a way that is best in class that puts them in control, we see business results being a natural outcome of that."

During the past couple of years, SimpleTire has redesigned its website and added features to improve the tire buying experience, he said.

Last year SimpleTire added a feature that allows consumers who may not know the tire size they need to upload a photo of the tire on their vehicle to the website. The site can then make recommendations for the size of tire they have, provide comparative tools, ratings and reviews of installations shops, and a best-price guarantee.

"All of these are meant to be consumer decision-making tools where we hope to make it easier for the consumer to find the best tire for them. And we want to make that whole process as seamless as possible," Iyer said.

This year the company plans to add more features, more tire installers to its network and more employees.

The company is learning what consumers want, what is working, what they want to see more of, Iyer said, "and we are trying to address those."