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Best Places to Work-Small Companies 2009 #8- Prescott Pailet Benefits LP
04.19.10 • Prescott Pailet Benefits LP •
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Dallas Business Journal
September 18, 2009, DALLAS, TX –
Score: 96.87
Type of Business:Employee Benefits Solutions
Year Founded: 1983
Ownership: Private
Employees: 25
2008 Revenue: $5.4 million
HR Director: Sharon Kushner, Vice President of Operations
Headquarters: 12222 Merit Drive, Ste. 1230, Dallas 75251
Phone: 214-739-5442 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 214-739-5442 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Web: http://www.prescottpailet.com
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EXECUTIVE Q&A
Stuart Prescott, Dan Prescott, Kevin Pailet, Partners
POPULAR PERKS:
The PPB Shopping Spree — every year, around the holidays, we gather all of the employees, hand them each an envelope filled with cash and drive them to the mall for three hours in the morning. The only rule is that they MUST spend the money on themselves! When we get back to the office, we have a luncheon where everyone shares what they bought!
EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION:
The New Ideas Committee came up with a recognition program called PPB Bucks. It’s a way to acknowledge employees for the contributions they make to the company as well as their team spirit. They are awarded “bucks,” which can be redeemed for prizes.
EMPLOYEE FEEDBACK:
We developed four employee committees, and each employee is a member of one of them. They include: New Ideas Committee, Wellness Committee, Activities Committee and the Volunteer Committee. Each committee is guided by a member of the management team, but the ideas and opinions that come out of these groups are expressly those of our employees.
COMPANY CULTURE:
Fun, flexible and familial. We believe that a sense of humor and having fun is a key part of the work day. You’ll often hear roars of laughter coming from the conference room during meetings! PPB encourages work/life balance by being flexible with work hours and accommodating to family schedules. We truly consider all of our employees to be part of the PPB family!
BOOSTING MORALE:
During our busiest times of the year, we pay special attention to bringing in stress reducers to help employees deal with the added pressure. Things such as lunches, massages and a barista in the morning all help them make it through the day.
COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES:
We feel that transparency, to the degree that is appropriate, is the best way to keep our employees engaged. We have an annual “State of PPB” all-staff meeting where management reviews our results and compares it to the previous year. This is also our opportunity to recognize specific employees and departments. We’ve found that employees look forward to this meeting every year.
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT:
Our committees ensure that each employee is engaged in an area that they are passionate about. We do an annual PPB Family Event and invite all employees and their families to join us. This year, we had a picnic at the Dallas Arboretum’s Cool Thursdays Concert. We do monthly birthday lunches as well as quarterly activities such as a field trip to the Dallas Aquarium. Our volunteer committee is organizing a coat drive this year where we’ll collect hundreds of coats from our employees and clients and donate them to the Salvation Army, The Stewpot and the Vogel Alcove.
HIRING AND RETAINING EMPLOYEES:
We tend to hire people based on chemistry and culture and how we feel they’d fit in with our values. As for retaining employees, listening and adapting has been a standard operating practice for us. We had one very talented employee who we hired who wasn’t happy with her job duties. We listened to her concerns and restructured her responsibilities so that it met her needs, while at the same time, filled a business requirement for the company.
RECRUITING STRATEGIES:
Because our employees feel this is a great place to work, we get many of our best employees from them. We also get a large number of recruits from the vendors/carriers that we do business with since they witness our culture and our values in working with us.
WHY YOUR COMPANY RANKS:
The fact that the vendors and partners that we work with are constantly sending us qualified candidates, says that, as an outsider looking in, they feel that PPB is a “Best Place to Work.”