Baker Audio Visual makes biggest investment in its employees
Jenny Thompson's daughter was 6 months old when she took a job at Baker Audio Visual supervising two people in the accounting department. Now, 26 years later, Thompson oversees a larger team and more tasks, including the Norcross company's financials, human resources, and bonding, licensing and insurance.
Thompson, now Baker’s controller, secretary and treasurer, chatted about her professional growth since 1990 and the company’s changing perks and benefits.
Q: How has the company culture changed over the years?
A: The company culture has always been: Take care of our employees and they will take care of our customers. We've had to restructure our benefits package. We've added some extra time off. People work hard and they need to rest. The extra time off is helpful for that. Keeping up with the competition, you've got to have good things to bring people in. The little things we do make a difference.
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Q: Like giving employees a half day off on Halloween?
A: That was really cool. Halloween. Think of Halloween. It's the worst traffic day of the year to get home that night before dark. And we say, well, we'll close at noon. And you can get home, get your kids picked up, be ready to go before it's even dark and do your trick and treating, if you choose to do that. For those that don't do the trick-or-treating anymore, it's just sweet to get home a little early.
Q: When was the birthday day off added?
A: This was our third year. Everybody in the company gets a birthday email I send out. Then other people will comment to them. One nice thing that I think (CEO Keith Hicks) does is he makes a comment in his email, (such as) thank you for your contribution. He puts a personal stake in it.
Q: So how does that make you and other employees feel valued?
A: (We) appreciate the attention. It makes you feel more of a team member.
Q: How has the company showed you it cares about your personal and professional welfare?
A: Baker has tasked the management team to improve their staff professional development. That is anything from a company coming in-house to teach us how to use their products to going off site to a class to be industry certified. Baker invests money in the employee's professional development, which pays big dividends to the employee and the company. In addition, we have an awesome onboarding process with all new hires. This includes seven performance reviews during the new employee's first six months. As managers, we show the employees that we are dedicated to their success. We set the expectations and provide constant feedback to ensure that all new employees are successful.
Q: What's an example of how you have been challenged here and how your bosses helped you?
A: Technology has been a big one for me, keeping up with all of the latest software and electronic devices. When I started out here, we had one spreadsheet on a computer. That was in 1990. We didn't even have computers on the desks. People had a (computer) terminal to enter data into. We had to update our accounting software as well make sure we could stay up with all the details that we needed to. They've encouraged classes. We've done webinars. I challenge myself to look for ways to improve our processes, ultimately resulting in my staff being more efficient.
Q: How does your boss encourage and promote success?
A: I have the best boss in the world. He constantly tells me how important I am to him and the company. He listens to my ideas and acts on many of them. He always makes me feel appreciated. That drives me to work harder for him and the company.
Q: How important is the company's decision to contain health care costs, and what does it show you as an employee?
A: It is absolutely awesome. The company currently pays over 70 percent of the medical insurance costs for the employee, spouse and dependent. There have been no payroll deduction changes for our employees since 2004. It shows you the company is taking care of that burden and keeping it off of your checkbook. It's just inspiring that they care enough to do that. It makes people want to be here and work harder.
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