AKRON — An "enormous honor" once again is up for the taking.
For the fourth straight year, Tire Business is hosting the Best Places to Work survey, which seeks to recognize the best employers in the replacement tire and automotive service industries.
"We are very proud to have been recognized (earlier this year)," Tire Group International Inc.'s Joaquin Gonzalez said recently while celebrating TGI's 30th anniversary.
"It is an enormous honor. We work really hard to create a strong work environment, a place where people enjoy coming to work each day."
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 commecial 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; and aftermarket businesses that do not sell tires.
To enter the survey, or to get more details, go to tbbestplacestowork.com.
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.
Tire Business and BCG names only those businesses that receive recognition. Others that aren't named finalists remain anonymous.
