Top Workplaces 2016

Yark Automotive, Ohioans Home Healthcare, William Vaughan Co. lead area

1/31/2016
BLADE STAFF
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    “We have been really flexible with a lot of our employees and they’ve stayed with us because of the flexibility we offer them," Sharon Trabbic, chief operating officer of the William Vaughan Co., said.

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  • Salesman TJ Kretz and new Honda Accord owner Emily Young of Bowling Green talk outside Yark Automotive. The car dealership chain was selected as the area’s top large workplace.
    Salesman TJ Kretz and new Honda Accord owner Emily Young of Bowling Green talk outside Yark Automotive. The car dealership chain was selected as the area’s top large workplace.

    ■ No. 1 Large Employer: Yark Automotive Group

    Retention honors pile up for car dealership

    John Yark has a fairly straightforward formula for success.

    Sell good vehicles out of top-tier facilities, hire quality people, provide them with ongoing training and support, and keep them abreast of what’s happening beyond their individual department.

    It sounds simple enough, but that strategy has helped Mr. Yark grow the business from a single Oldsmobile dealership that he operated with his late brother Jim Yark to a chain of seven locations that employ almost 450 people.

    Notably, Mr. Yark, the owner of the Yark Automotive Group, has overcome a longstanding problem within the industry — keeping good employees. READ MORE

     


    Full list of 2016 Top Workplaces 

    ■ Toledo region’s best workplaces at a glance

    ■ Repeat Top Workplace winners and The Best Of ...

     

     

     

     

    Click on image to enlarge chart.
    Click on image to enlarge chart.

    ■ Survey of workers reveals what matters

    Who determines Top Workplaces? Those who know them best: the employees.

    The Blade partnered with Philadelphia-based WorkplaceDynamics, the employee survey firm, to determine the region’s Top Workplaces rankings. Beginning in July, The Blade ran articles and advertisements encouraging employees in the region to nominate companies as Top Workplaces. WorkplaceDynamics invited those companies, as well as other organizations in the region, to participate in the program.

    Anyone could nominate a company. The only requirement was that the organization must employ at least 35 people in the Toledo area. The organization could be public, private, nonprofit, or governmental. READ MORE

     

    James Pierce, quality assurance manager, left; Christa Adams, human resources director; Jennifer Wood, customer experience coordinator; Josh Adams, CEO; Jen Williams, director of marketing; Shelly Williams, clinical quality assurance manager, and Kimberly Schmeltz, operations manager, operate Ohioans Home Healthcare. The Toledo-based company also has offices in Sandusky, Bryan, Lambertville, and Dayton.
    James Pierce, quality assurance manager, left; Christa Adams, human resources director; Jennifer Wood, customer experience coordinator; Josh Adams, CEO; Jen Williams, director of marketing; Shelly Williams, clinical quality assurance manager, and Kimberly Schmeltz, operations manager, operate Ohioans Home Healthcare. The Toledo-based company also has offices in Sandusky, Bryan, Lambertville, and Dayton.

    ■ No. 1 Midsize Employer: Ohioans Home Healthcare

    Growing health firm stays true to its employees

    While Josh Adams enjoys seeing his company grow, he admits that such growth also generates a few concerns.

    Would a bigger Ohioans Home Healthcare lead to impersonal care and services to the clients the company serves? Also, would a bigger company mean his employees no longer would receive the support, supervision, and tools they need to do the best job they can?

    As it turns out, Mr. Adams, owner and chief executive officer of Ohioans Home Healthcare, needn’t have worried.

    The company is a third larger this year than last year. And for the second consecutive year, it finished atop the Toledo area’s midsize companies category in The Blade's Top Workplaces competition. The category is for employers with 75 to 299 employees. READ MORE

     

    “We have been really flexible with a lot of our employees and they’ve stayed with us because of the flexibility we offer them,
    “We have been really flexible with a lot of our employees and they’ve stayed with us because of the flexibility we offer them," Sharon Trabbic, chief operating officer of the William Vaughan Co., said.

    ■ No. 1 Small Business: William Vaughan Co.

    Maumee accounting firm aims to be a fit for life

    People’s needs and priorities shift as they go through life. What’s most important at 25 may not be the same as what’s most important at 50.

    Leaders at the William Vaughan Co., a Maumee accounting firm, say they understand that and try to find ways to ensure employees can make their job fit their life — not the other way around.

    Sharon Trabbic, the firm’s chief operating officer, said adapting to employees’ needs has been one of the keys to the company’s success.

    “They’re single, they work a lot of hours. They get married, maybe they work a little less, they have kids, they work a little less. Then their kids are grown, move out, go to college, then they’re working more hours again,” she said. “We have been really flexible with a lot of our employees and they’ve stayed with us because of the flexibility we offer them.” READ MORE