NOVI, Mich. – Preh, Inc., a leading global automotive supplier based in Novi, Michigan, has been once again recognized as a “Cool Place to Work in Michigan” for 2016, by Crain’s Detroit Business magazine – an initiative designed to find and recognize Michigan’s best employers. Preh was one of a group of 75 companies in Michigan that were selected from hundreds of applicants large and small.
“With our third year winning the award, we’re proud that our employees consistently find their work experiences with our organization rewarding,” said Nick Lontscharitsch, president of Preh, Inc. “As an automotive supplier in Metro Detroit, Preh recognizes that our employees have opportunities with other automotive companies, but they made Preh their employer of choice,” Lontscharitsch said.
Like many other supplier companies in the competitive automotive industry, Preh wants to attract and hire the top talent available in the engineering market. To attract and keep good employees, maintaining a high level of job satisfaction is critical.
“We offer a benefits package that is extremely competitive, as Preh pays 100% of the health insurance costs effective on an employee’s first day of employment,” Lontscharitsch said. “We also offer a great 401(k) plan with a match, in addition to a wellness program, employee appreciation events, and other excellent benefits.”
“Our team takes pride in having built a strong company culture,” Lontscharitsch added. “We have a very diverse workforce, employing team members from all over the world. The team here at Preh highly values diversity, open ideas, and collaboration and we believe this is a big contributor to receiving this award.”
“I particularly like the variety in my position in sales and marketing administration,” said Renate Radford, responsible for Sales and Marketing Administration. “Working with colleagues around the world in marketing, sales, trade shows and technology—whether in China, Germany or Mexico—I touch a lot of different areas. It’s always rich in variety and interesting and challenging.”
Other employees appreciate other aspects of working for the company. “Preh has a tight-knit, family atmosphere, and the people really care about one another,” said Todd Wikaryasz, Key Account Manager. “Instead of only talking about their career advancement, they’re more interested in the challenges of growing and learning in the job.”
“I’ve been with Preh since 2010,” said Renato Martinez, a software engineering manager. “I was looking for a stable company that could give me support in developing my career as an engineer.”
Having spent 11 years with a large Tier 1 automotive supplier, Martinez says coming to a smaller company in Novi gives him an advantage:
“If you have good ideas and are proactive, your contributions can be recognized more easily, and the development process can be streamlined and not bogged down with the bureaucracy typically found in large companies. Plus, the ability to know everyone on a first name basis,” Martinez said, “allows a familiarity that is a good environment to get help from other people when you need it.”
According to Kirk Radford, president of Taligence, an HR consulting firm in Rochester Hills, Michigan, “Being named a ‘cool place to work’ demonstrates to both current and prospective employees that Preh has something special to offer. It signifies that the company has made a commitment to their people to create a positive work environment. This understanding will help them in recruiting and retaining a top-quality workforce.”
To win the Crain’s designation, eligible companies undergo a two-part assessment that gathers detailed data about each company. In the first part, the employer completes a questionnaire about the company’s policies, practices and demographics. In the second part, employees of the company complete an employee survey that consists of approximately 72 statements that employees respond to on a five point agreement scale.
The results are analyzed and categorized according to eight core focus areas: leadership and planning, corporate culture and communications, role satisfaction, work environment, relationship with supervisor, training and development, pay and benefits and overall engagement. An independent company sorts and interprets the data, determines the rankings and produces employee feedback reports. Winners are determined by evaluations that are consistent with the best benchmarked companies in each of the categories.
All participating companies receive the results of the employee survey, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of their workplace according to what their employees had to say. The report is used to identify the opportunities that exist to build a better workplace.
