CRESTVIEW — If you want to work for one of Florida Trend magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For,” look no farther than the Auburn community.
Auburn Water System ranked 17th on the list of 42 small companies with 15 to 49 employees in the magazine’s annual listing.
It was the only Northwest Florida company to make the top 100 list, which also included 30 medium-sized companies of 50-249 employees, and 28 large companies of more than 250 employees.
In addition, Auburn Water was selected by the Florida Rural Water Association as the Medium Water System of the Year, the non-profit utility stated in an August billing insert.
THE PEOPLE
Auburn General Manager Doug Sims said the utility is proud of both recognitions but credit goes to its 22 employees.
“They are the ones who make this place work,” Sims said. “They pull together and they look out for each other and they look out for our customers. They can’t support the customers if they don’t support each other first.”
A culture of strong communication between employees, management and customers supplements a benefits package that includes not just the usual medical, dental and vision insurance, but also free legal and certified public accountancy services.
Among efforts to encourage and enhance employee camaraderie and communication are:
●Quarterly luncheons where management prepares the food for employees. “We use that time to bring everyone up to date on things that are happening,” Sims said.
●Monthly staff meetings following board meetings “to make sure the employees know any decisions the board has made.”
●Seeking employee advice on operations and services. “We always ask them because they’re on the front line,” Sims said. “Their input is incredibly valuable to us in making decisions.”
●Cross training in which “we have two or three people that know how to do every job. That’s unheard of in a company with 22 employees,” Sims said.
●Using mistakes as learning experiences. “When somebody makes a mistake you don’t jump on them,” Sims said. “You help them to learn from it. The last thing you want to do is jump on them.”
Sims said Auburn Water is constantly seeking ways to improve.
“The main thing is to try to get better every day,” he said. “I want to get better myself so I can help them (employees) get better.
“A lot of places say ‘we really care,’ but we do, about our employees and about our customers.”
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Culture of care lands Auburn Water on '100 Best Companies to Work For' list