The deadline is fast approaching for dealerships to sign up for Tire Business' second annual Best Places to Work survey.
The survey, run in conjunction with Best Companies Group (BCG), an independent research firm specializing in identifying and recognizing great places to work, once again is seeking the best employers the tire and automotive service industry has to offer.
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.
- The deadline to enter is Friday, July 17.
Among companies eligible are online tire businesses (such as Tire Rack, Simple Tire, etc.); franchise tire businesses (such as individual Tire Pros, Big O Tires, etc. franchisees); mass merchandisers with tire stores (such as Walmart Tire & Lube Express, Sears Tire Centers, individual stores not eligible); and wholesale clubs that sell tires (such as BJ's or Costco.)
The Best Places to Work survey is available here.
The process is simple. Each business is asked to fill out two surveys.
The owner or representative of the dealership 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.
Organizations with 25 or more employees must have a response rate of at least 40 percent 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 reach an 80% or higher response rate for their results to count.
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 last year.
The five other finalists in 2019, listed in alphabetical order, were:
• Chapel Hill Tire, a Chapel Hill, N.C.-based tire dealership with 100-plus employees;
• Porter's Tire Store, a Russellville, Tenn.-based tire retailer with 98 employees;
• Service Tire Truck Centers, a Bethlehem, Pa.-based commercial tire dealership with 921 employees;
• SimpleTire L.L.C., a Trevose, Pa.-based online tire retailer with nearly 100 employees; and
• Telle Tire & Auto Centers, a St. Louis-based dealership with 70-plus employees.
Tire Business will announce the winners later this year.