TREVOSE, Pa. — With a majority of its staff belonging to the millenial generation, SimpleTire L.L.C. has made an effort to create a culture that attracts and retains innovative employees to help grow the e-commerce business.
SimpleTire, founded in 2012 by brothers Andy and Josh Chalofsky and their friend Kenny Pratt, started out with just a couple of employees.
The company, which goes to market through an online tire sales website that connects consumers with tire installation businesses across the country, expects to close this year with 100 employees.
The workplace philosophy of the company involves creating a family culture, inspiring innovation and nurturing an open policy.
CEO Andy Chalofsky said one of the challenges of being an employer is "really understanding your people and understanding what motivates them. Everybody is so different and so some people are motivated by money, some people are motivated by positive feedback, some people by flexible schedule and relaxed attire.
"We've tried to patchwork an organization together that is going to have enough critical motivation factors so you can cast a wide enough net to get good people."
He said the company has a fairly low employee turnover rate.
"We've been growing quickly, and (promoting) from within is very important. So usually what happens is people start at ground level, normally an entry-level position, but then they have the opportunity to move up. So we've been able to mitigate a lot of turnover by offering people a kind of a career path and opportunity to advance."
About 35% of SimpleTire's employees started in the call center and have been promoted to other positions within the company.
"I think it's really important for two reasons. No. 1: You get a better quality individual when they see a path, like, 'Yes, I can come in and work in this role for a period of time but there is a pathway of me moving up in the organization and getting responsibility and earning more compensation,'" he said.
"And then the second thing is those individuals are normally the best suited to move up because they've had phone time with the customer. They're on the front lines. They know what's going on. ...
"You're taking someone who knows your business better than anyone else because they have been on the front lines. They're essentially much better suited to get up and running when they get promoted to another position."
SimpleTire said it focuses on benefits, incentives and culture.
The company pays 75% to 99% of employees' medical insurance premiums and more than 50% for dental coverage and offers 18 PTO days after one year of employment.
"I will tell you that most of the people we hire, culture is like most important and then incentive and benefits come after that, …" he said.