Ingram's Best Companies to Work For

 

We are excited to share that Excel is honored in the current issue of Ingram’s Magazine as one of Kansas City’s Best Companies to Work For.  Here is a copy of the article:

 

SMALL COMPANIES: WINNERS

(l–r): John Hess, Vice President; Mike Johnson, President; Konnee Cook, Vice President; Jerry Katlin, Vice President.

EXCEL CONSTRUCTORS

You can measure Excel Constructors’ commitment to employees in multiple ways, but to really appreciate it, look at what’s missing from the 49-member staff: 172 pounds of excess weight, shed in the company’s workplace-wellness program. That initiative was spawned by an employee-satisfaction survey, which president Mike Johnson said demonstrated a need for the company to assist employees by taking an active role in their physical and mental health. Of course, there are more traditional ways of expressing concern about employee welfare, and at Excel that means a compensation system that rewards hard work and client satisfaction, a comprehensive health-care benefit package for the employees and their families, 401(k) plans and flexible spending accounts, a summer-hours schedule and education reimbursement. The company addressed higher health-care costs with a smoking-cessation program, including lower insurance rates for non-smokers, and the workspace is assessed to ensure that employees have ergonomic chairs and keyboard evaluations. In the field, superintendents without office trailers have mobile truck desks to help ensure safer work zones.

The company culture was a key tool used to navigate a tough construction economy since 2009. “To maintain high employee morale, we continually emphasize the sense of family among our staff; the sense of taking care of one another,” Johnson said. With unemployment in construction topping 25 percent during parts of that stretch, Excel conscientiously continued full employment, even during the slow periods. “This balance between taking care of our employees and corporate health enabled us to tackle new opportunities immediately when presented,” Johnson said. Training has been increased, he said, so each employee has the tools needed to perform. A big winner with employees is the early-out on Friday afternoons in the summer. Yet even with all of those factors going for it, “my hope and belief is our staff would mention Excel’s sense of family as the most popular benefit we all share,” Johnson said. “It is the feeling that everyone is genuinely concerned about the success of the organization, and that each member’s best interests are central in all decision-making.”

 

To view the full article, visit http://ingramsonline.com/