2023 Top Workplaces

TOP T

SMALL Employers (35-149 local employees)

Moving ahead step by step in uncertain times

By Dan Haar STAFF WRITER

The economy keeps hinting to employers that they should hire new people slowly and carefully if at all, with risks in every direction. Whether or not they take heed, companies with an employee culture good enough to make them Top Workplaces have an advan-

tage and this year the list of winners for Hearst Connecticut Media totals 61, the largest in our 13 years of the awards

The Federal Reserve has raised borrowing rates 11 times over the last 18 months in an effort to bring inflation back down by slowing the economy. And while that has largely worked, at least until recently it also raised fears of a re-

cession That fear clearly makes employers think twice before bringing on new staff.

Then there’s the difficulty finding workers, which normally happens only when the economy zooms ahead And of course, inflation raises the cost of those new colleagues.

The result of all these pressures: Yes, some employers are

adding people Remarkably, Total Mortgage Services, the No. 1 winner in the midsize category in this year’s contest, has brought on about 50 more staff just since we conducted surveys for the awards in the spring and that’s with an industrywide slowdown caused by rising mortgage rates.

But as consumers keep spending despite rising prices, many

companies are finding ways to do more with the staff they have. You know, working harder, working smarter "It’s trained us to be more efficient," said Mark Curtis, CEO of Splash Car Wash, the No. 2 winner among large employers this year, behind Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices/New England Properties, the peren-

Wendy Metcalfe, Vice President of Content & Editor-in-Chief

Editor: Dan Haar Design: Bryan Haeffele, Sue Nusbaum, Lynn Schnier

Wendy Metcalfe, Vice President of Content & Editor-in-Chief

Editor: Dan Haar Cover: Bryan Haeffele Design: Linda Levinson

MIDSIZE Employers (150 to 499 local employees)

LARGE Employers (500 to 2,000 local employees)

We are your premier indoor climat designers, installers, and service technicians focused on providing our customers Peace of Mind.

THANK

How the Top Workplaces list was made

By Bob Helbig

Great workplaces aren’t created by accident They are built and nurtured. The Top Workplaces awards recognize the employers that do it well in the eyes of their employees.

The heart of the Top Workplaces award is the employee survey process Energage administers a 24-question survey to employees, who are the sole deciders of whether a company culture merits recognition.

This is the 13th year Hearst Connecticut Media has partnered with Energage, an employee survey company based in Exton, Pa , to celebrate exceptional workplaces.

There is no cost to participate in Top Workplaces and no obligation to purchase any product or service For 2023, 2,166 organizations were invited to survey their employees Based on employee survey feedback, 61 have earned recognition as Top Workplaces, a record high.

In the current job market, companies continue to focus on recruiting, retaining and motivating employees It’s more paramount than ever for companies to be intentional about a culture that prioritizes employee appreciation and recognition, Energage CEO Eric Rubino said.

“We really need workplaces that inspire employees,” he said “You have to really acknowledge employees genuinely and consistently.”

The award is open to any employer with 35 or more employees in Fairfield, New Haven and Litchfield counties Survey results are valid only if 35% or more employees respond; employers with fewer than 85 employees have a higher response threshold, requiring responses from at least 30 employees.

Energage tabulates the survey results Employers are grouped into small, midsize and large categories to best compare similar employee experiences. Employers earn Top Workplaces recognition if their aggregated employees feedback score exceeds national benchmarks Energage has established those benchmarks based on feedback from more than 27 million employees over 17 years. They are ranked within those groups based on the strength of the survey feedback.

Why isn’t a particular company on the list? Perhaps it chose not to participate. Or, its employee survey feedback might have fallen below benchmark scores. Energage runs tests on survey feedback and in some cases may choose to disqualify organizations based on irregularities in survey feedback

To participate in the 2024 Top Workplaces awards, or for more information, go to the nomination page at https://topworkplaces com/nominate/hearstct

Bob Helbig is media partnerships director at Energage, a Philadelphia-based employee survey firm. Energage is the survey partner for Top Workplaces.

The heart of the Top Workplaces award is the employee survey process. Energage administers a 24-question survey to employees, who are the sole deciders of whether a company culture merits recognition.

Who’s on the winners list

By Dan Haar STAFF WRITER

The 61 winners in three size categories in this year’s 13th edition of the Hearst Connecticut Media Top Workplaces reflect the state’s economy as a whole, more or less We have 10 companies in the insurance and financial services space and nine in health care, the two sectors that usually dominate

Manufacturing and industrial firms are stepping up, now with six on the list, double the number from 2022. The new winners in that sector include Ashcroft, the maker of temperature and pressure instruments in Stratford that was founded in 1852. Ashcroft isn’t the oldest winner on the list. That distinction falls this year to Liberty Bank, a $7 billion mutual that was founded in 1825.

Notably, the other bank on the list, First County Bank, is also a mutual.

It’s always great to see old-line Connecticut industry join in the Top Workplaces fun Also new among industrial businesses, Morris Group Inc , a factory equipment provider based in Windsor, and Bender, the plumbing, kitchen and bath suppler in New Haven. The company previously known as Paul H. Gesswein Co., of Bridgeport, is now simply Gesswein – reflecting a style change we’re seeing across the economy

The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, a membership group for cities and towns that lobbies, advocates on policy and provides services, is new to the list this year, increasing our policy chops though we still don’t have any think tanks as they do in Washington D.C.

Also in short supply is the food

industry including restaurants, which we’ve seen in the past. But we do have, for the third year, Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits, the Stamford beverage wholesaler with 185 people In consumer goods, new this year is Shelton-based Edgewell Personal Care, whose products include Schick, Wilkinson, Playtex, Edge, Banana Boat, Hawaiian

Winners continues on S8

We come together for one common mission to improve everyday life for every resident of Connecticut. We share best practices and objective research to help our local leaders govern wisely We advocate at the state level for issues affecting local taxpayers. And we pool our buying power to negotiate more cost-effective services for our communities.

In all, the list includes 14 new winners, a healthy total. In fact, more than half the winners have been on for three or fewer years.

CCM is the state’s largest, nonpartisan organization of municipal leaders, representing towns and cities of all sizes from all corners of the state, with 168 member municipalities.

Special Awards

“ I have confidence in the leader of this company ”

These

Leadership Largeemployers

Sonja LaBarbera GaylordSpecialtyHealthcare

Leadership midsizeemployers

John Forlivio

JohnM.GloverAg A ency

Direction

“I believe this company is going in the right direction.”

Barnum Financial Group

Meaningfulness

“My job makes me feel like I am part of something meaningful.”

Criterion

Appreciation

“I feel genuinely appreciated at this company.”

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England Properties

From page S7

Tropic, Stayfree and more

Speaking of national firms, Genworth, the long-term-care insurer that has broadened to include many aging-related services, based in Richmond, Va., joins the list in the small local employers category with 85 people in Stamford.

The addition of Junkluggers, a franchiser based in Seymour, doubles the number of waste management and recycling firms, along with Canusa Hershman Recycling, of Branford, which joined the list last year

Within the health sector, we see that home care, physical therapy and behavioral and addiction services dominate the list, which reflects the state of health services more broadly. Three software firms provide a

Managers

“My manager helps me learn and grow.”

Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits

Values

“This company operates by strong values.”

Masters in Home Care

Work/LifeFlexibility

“I have the flexibility I need to balance my work and personal life.”

SinclairInsuranceGroupInc.

NewIdeas

“New ideas are encouraged at this company.”

Total Mortgage Services LLC

CluedinSeniorManagement

“Seniormanagersunderstand whatisreallyhappeningatthiscompany ”

PostUniversity

Training

“I get the formal training I want for my career.”

Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine Centers

Leadership smallemployers

Chris Couri and Dan Rella Young’sofRidgefield

Doers

“At this company, we do things efficiently and well.”

Splash Car Wash

Communication

“I feel well-informed about important decisions at this company.”

Connecticut Renaissance

Benefits

“My benefits package is good compared to others in this industry.”

SAP

By age of company

Liberty Bank, which is this year’s oldest winner, was founded in 1825. The youngest company is Autism Behavioral Health based in Danbury, which was started in 2016.

tech presence although, again, reflecting the state’s economy, tech start-ups remain scarce, as many have fewer than the required 35 employees.

In all, the list includes 14 new winners, a healthy total In fact, more than half the winners have been on for three or fewer years

On the other end of the Top Workplaces longevity scale, only one winner, ICON International Inc., has made the list in all 13 years since we launched in 2011. A top of the hat to the corporate barter firm based in Stamford, with 435 employees in the Hearst Connecticut Media territory

awards are based on strong agreement with the statement under the award title. Congratulations!

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We’re honored to be named a 2023 Top Workplace.

Washing their way from small to large

By Luther Turmelle STAFF WRITER

Being named one of Connecticut’s top workplaces puts a business in some pretty exclusive company. Milford-based Splash Car Wash takes the honor to truly rarified territory in 2023 with a unique accomplishment

This year marks the 13th annual Top Workplaces awards for Hearst Connecticut Media, with three size categories small, midsize and large No company ever won the award in all three categories as it grew from a small business to a large one.

Until now Splash is one of four large employers with 500 people or more in our coverage area on the winner’s list, joining Gaylord Specialty Healthcare, Post University and the No 1winner for a sixth straight year, Berkshire Hathaway Home Services/ New England Properties.

Splash, founded as a single car wash in Greenwich and now based in Milford with 60 locations in three states, has long placed at or near the top in its categories for Top Workplaces It made the list as a small employer in 2014 with 124 local employees, then grew into the midsize divisionbeforebreakingintothelarge this year with 500 people

“The most important thing this company has is our personnel and the ability to maintain the right corporate culture as you go from small to medium to large,” CEO and co-founder Mark Curtis said. “That’s easier to do when you see all your employees every day But as you grow the business, you have less chance to interact with everybody on a regular basis, which makes the regional and area managers you choose the keys to maintaining the culture.

Berkshire Hathaway, with 25 offices in the three-county area, has won the No. 1 position among large employers for the last six years and seven of the nine years it has been on the list. Winning was no small feat this year as the company tries to cope with a lack

of available houses.

“It’s as hot a market as ever, but we just don’t have the homes to sell right now,” said Candace Ad-

ams, chief executive officer of the Wallingford-based company, a unit of the giant Berkshire Hathaway Inc. “We’re trying to give our

TOP LARGE EMPLOYERS

No 1: Berkshire Hathaway Home Services/New England Properties

Employees in region: 500 Headquarters: Wallingford

No 2: Splash Car Wash

Employees in region: 500 Headquarters: Milford

No 3: Gaylord Specialty Healthcare

Employees in region: 680 Headquarters: Wallingford

location is busier with a larger staff, driven largely through subscription sales that keep customers coming back multiple times.

The company is also building its first Massachusetts location in Randolph, which is part of Boston’s South Shore suburbs.

Curtis said the basic rules of hiring remain the same

people the right tools to help them withstand the current market connditions. We’ve always been a companythatcaresverymuchfor its people.”

This year’s selection of Waterbury-based Post University as a top large workplace is the second time the school has been honore The private, for-profit institution employs 2,000 split between the school’smaincampusonCountry Club Road in the city and a presence in downtown Waterbury.

Splash now has 1,200 employees total and adds people almost every month. The chain opened a Milford car wash at 1153 Boston Post Road in July and is scheduled to open a new location in Derby by late September.

In Connecticut, Splash has added just a few locations since 2014, when it had 13 locally and 16 in total But the company now has far more headquarters and system-wide employees such as mechanics and trainers than it did a decade ago, Curtis said. And each

“You hire for attitude and train for skill,” he said “We try to make sure that someone is a good cultural fit. Are they willing to work hard, do they get along well with well with others? We’ve gotten better every year at spotting the tell-tale signs of job candidates that might not be a good fit ”

When Splash officials make an error in judgment and hire somebody “who isn’t a good fit for the culture,” Curtis said, “we try to move them out as quickly as possible.”

Splash counts on a culture of team work to keep customers satisfied, he said “You don’t want a person in your culture who is a cancer, because it spreads. And fellow workers will look at that person and say, ‘Why should I do a good job when the person next to me is slacking off?’ ”

When Splash acquires an existing car wash chain, Curtis said company officials “typically retain between 80 and 90 percent of

Alexander Soule/Hearst Connecticut Media

CEO Candace Adams, center, and staff at the Wallingford headquarters of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England Properties in September 2022.

Brian A. Pounds/Hearst Connecticut Media

The new Splash Car Wash at 1553 Boston Post Road in Milford on Aug. 29.

LARGE

From page S10

the people who worked for the other operator.”

“Part of the reason for that is we are able to give people an opportunity for career advancement that they would not have working for a mom and pop operation,” he said. “We give them the opportunity to grow and turn it from a job into career ”

Other factors that Splash uses to retain workers include offering health care, vacations and 401-Ks, which Curtis said many car wash chains don’t offer.

Trevor Jones has been with Splash for 21 years\ And while Curtis often uses the word family when referring to his employees, Jones probably has deeper roots with Curtis then some of his colleagues at Splash.

Jones’ wife used to babysit Curtis’ children. And she has worked for Splash even longer than he has

“Splash has always been a different type of company,” Jones said. “They take care of us. And when there’s problems that pull us in a different direction, they are always there to help us.”

The 55-year-old Jones works as an assistant site manager at Splash’s location in the Cos Cob section of Greenwich. He lives a few blocks away from the car wash.

“Most of our customers are people I know from the neighborhood,” Jones said. “And we have a lot of guys who been here for seven or eight years, so it’s a nice atmosphere.”

Curtis said Splash has built its multi-state car wash empire largely through acquisitions of existing businesses. He said about 45 of the locations were obtained through acquisitions rather new car washes built from the ground up Retrofitting an existing car wash to Splash’s standards can vary wildly, from $30,000 to $3 million.

At a $2.5 million renovation in White Plains, he said, “We did the entire building and things to save water and electricity” And when building a new car wash from the ground up, “you’re looking at between $3 million and $5 million without land costs ”

Efforts to pick up the pace of Splash’s expansion got a boost in Nov, 2018 when Palladin Consumer Retail Partners, a Bostonbased private investment firm, acquired the chain in partnership with Curtis and his two partners The company has added 40 locations since then, most in the last two years.

Curtis said his management team looks for areas that are underserved by existing car washes including in Connecticut “There are some places in the state,” he said, “which are not serving consumers well.”

Dan Haar / Hearst Connecticut Media

A Hilltop Drive house listed for sale by Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England Properties, in West Hartford.

‘People come to you’ — with arena deal, Total Mortgage builds brand

By Alexander Soule STAFF WRITER

With mortgage lenders seeing origination volumes ebb this year amid historically tight real estate listings and high interest rates, one might assume that would cascade into hiring. But Total Mortgage Services has added 50 people in the past several months, pushing the Milford firm’s total headcount to nearly 400 people.

Total Mortgage has been able to stay on a growth trajectory thanks to its embrace of online marketing models that have seen entities such as Quicken and Rocket Mortgage grab market share from traditional banks, as well as a welcoming work environment for mortgage originators and back-office staff The company emphasizes workplace flexibility and opportunities for advancement, according to Bill Schettler, chief production officer

“We really do care about these people and we try to grow from within. I had somebody tell me recently that Total Mortgage has hired all the top mortgage talent,” Schettler said. “When you grow the way we’ve grown, and marketed the way we’ve marketed, and branded the way we’ve branded, people come to you.”

That credo led Total Mortgage Services to finish No. 1 among midsize employers (150 to 499 employees) in Hearst Connecticut Media’s 13th annual Top Workplaces” awards, based on employee surveys and an accompanying ranking methodology by Energage.

Shelton’s Barnum Financial Group, at No. 2, and Stamford’s Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits, No 3, rounded out the top three midsize employers in 2023.

Despite stressful times in the housing industry, it was the second straight year that a mortgage firm was named a No. 1 Top Workplaces winner, after Fair-

TOP MIDSIZE EMPLOYERS

No 1: Total Mortgage Services LLC

Employees in region: 363 Headquarters: Milford

No. 2: Barnum Financial Group

Employees in region: 221

Headquarters: Shelton No 3: Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits

Employees in region: 185

Headquarters: Stamford

way Independent Mortgage led all small Connecticut employers in the 2022 edition of Top Workplaces

John Walsh started Total Mortgage Services in 1997 Today the company has offices in Milford, Branford, Brookfield, Fairfield, Monroe, Naugatuck, Ridgefield, Shelton, Stratford and Trumbull.

Focusing initially on brokering home refinance loans, Total Mortgage grew steadily throughout the real estate boom that lasted until 2007. Schettler said the company steered clear of “subprime” loans to borrowers, ad-

hering to credit standards set by federal lending backstops Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae

“We just didn’t understand how you could qualify a borrower with no job,” Schettler said. “While credit quality suffered across the board, we were far less impacted than a lot of our competition, because we stayed away from the deals that made no sense logically”

As Total Mortgage grew in Connecticut, Walsh lined up licenses in dozens of states, and as the Great Recession hit in 2008

and 2009 the company pivoted to underwriting mortgage loans it originated with an in-house sales team, even as licensing requirements stiffened for mortgage officers

“We completely turned our business model on its head and began to develop branches,” Schettler said. “We became a bank a mortgage bank ”

Last year, the company took a major step to boost its profile in securing naming rights to the former Webster Bank Arena in downtown Bridgeport, joining

Total continues on S15

Hearst Connecticut Media

WWE fans at Total Mortgage Arena in July 2022, in Bridgeport. Milford-based Total Mortgage Services secured sponsorship rights, after a lengthy run as Webster Bank Arena.

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TOTAL

From page S12

Dunkin’ Donuts and Hartford Healthcare among corporate sponsors with names attached to Connecticut stadiums. Total Mortgage Arena is home to the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders hockey team, and hosted its highest-ever grossing event last December with an Andrea Bocelli concert.

The sponsorship paid off. “That went hand-in-hand with more billboards across the state,” Schettler said. “It’s really been interesting to see, because we’ve been a fairly large lender here for a long time, but no one knew us We always considered ourselves one of the best-kept secrets, and that’s no longer the case.”

After record real estate sales in 2021 that lifted mortgage volumes in tandem, lending has dropped precipitously since Industry analyst Attom tracked 1.25 million mortgage originations in the first quarter of 2023, off by more than

half from a year earlier

Total Mortgage ranked 10th last year among Connecticut mortgage lenders with $759 million outstanding across just over 2,700 loans to borrowers in its

home state, according to a Richey May analysis of statewide data filed under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, representing 95 percent of qualifying loans. Citizens Bank was the 2022 leader

with nearly 4,500 loans totaling in excess of $1.2 billion.

Nationally, Total Mortgage offers mortgages in 45 states and Washington, D.C.

Total Mortgage has gained cus-

tomers with a website that highlights chatty tips on things firsttime mortgage borrowers should keep top-of-mind. “We want to lend you money but we also need to pay the (awesome) people who make it happen,” one such line said. Along with it: promises to match any other lender’s rates and a 21-day guarantee on getting loan paperwork complete.

Total Mortgage was able to stay on top of hiring during the real estate boom to service new customers, and Schettler said the company is faring better on retention as well

“They come in with a role, and we want to make sure that they’re as fulfilled in that role as they can,” Schettler said “If you’re a processor and you want to be an underwriter, we try to put you on that path. The woman who runs our processsing department started as a receptionist. We really try to polish people and put them in the best situation for their skill sets, and part of that is just listening to your employees.”

Alexander Soule/Hearst Connecticut Media Bill Schettler, right, chief production officer for Total Mortgage Services, and Jenny Solomon, chief communications officer, in August at the mortgage lender's headquarters in Milford.

Good employees make good fences

By Paul Schott STAFF WRITER

In the past couple of years, many businesses across the country have struggled to hire and keep employees A fencingand-landscaping firm based in southwestern Connecticut has avoided this predicament.

The three-dozen people who work for Young’s of Ridgefield include many long-serving employees, with 14 who have worked at the business for more than a decade

“We don’t have high turnover. It’s like a family,” said coowner Chris Couri, who has worked at Young’s since 2000. His parents bought the business in 1978.

Management’s trust in employees has been crucial to keeping staff, according to coowner Dan Rella, who joined the business in 1981 and became an owner a couple of years later

“They’re always good with customers,” Rella said “If the customer comes out and says, ‘Can you do this?’ they just do it and make them happy. Customers are going to remember that ”

The satisfaction of Young’s staff was reflected in employee survey responses that landed the firm in the No. 1 ranking among small employers (fewer than 150 employees in the region) in Hearst Connecticut Media’s Top Workplaces awards for 2023 This year marks the first Top Workplaces recognition for Young’s, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary.

Thirty-four other companies were recognized in the small employers category of Top Workplaces. At No. 2 was Norwalk-based software company Criterion. It has made three previous appearances in Top Workplaces, including firstplace rankings in 2020 and 2021 At No 3, in its second appearance in Top Workplaces, was Masters In Home Care,

Dan Rella is partners with Chris Couri in Young’s of Ridgefield, which includes Young's Fencing and Young’s Landscaping. Young’s of Ridgefield is the winner in the small employer category of Hearst Top Workplaces for 2023.

TOP SMALL EMPLOYERS

No. 1: Young's of Ridgefield Employees in region: 36 Headquarters: Ridgefield

No. 2: Criterion

Employees in region: 55 Headquarters: Norwalk

No 3 Masters in Home Care Employees in region: 72 Headquarters: Rocky Hill

which provides residential health care services across Hartford and New Haven counties and has offices in North Haven and Rocky Hill.

“The values and principles we place on recruitment and retention begin with engendering an inclusive environment, where our highly trained clinical and administrative teams bring with them a ‘patient first’

Small continues on S18

H John Voorhees III/Hearst Connecticut Media

Edgar Sanchez, right, and Anthony Palta, who are fence crew members with Young’s of Ridgefield, make an adjustment to a gate at a home in Ridgefield on Aug. 28. Young’s is the winner in the small employer category of Hearst Top Workplaces for 2023.

H John Voorhees III/ Hearst Connecticut Media

“

SMALL

From page S16

mentality to a team based work environment,” Peter Carlson, Masters in Home Care’s human resources manager, said in an email. “With that as the foundation, we frequently review and update our compensation and total rewards packages, thus helping us recruit and retain the best team members in the industry.”

Young’s landscaping manager Arnie Nielsen joined the staff 25 years ago after selling his landscaping business to Young’s “I like the way we do things. We really care about the customers,” Nielsen said, adding that he has stayed for the family feel.

Edgar Sanchez, a fencing specialist who has worked at the company for 14 years, cited the solidarity among employees.

MOVING

From page S3

“They listen to us, so it’s a good place to work,” said Sanchez, as he finished adjusting a gate at a home in Ridgefield “We have good teamwork here ”

Marketing manager Kirstin Cerulli is a relative newcomer, having worked at Young’s for

about three-and-a-half years. She said that she foresees staying at the company for many more years

“The work-life balance is amazing, said Cerulli, who has a daughter in college and a son in high school. “I never feel like I have to choose between

work and family. I’m able to work from home when needed, although I prefer to be in the office because I enjoy being around my co-workers.”

The business’ headcount peaks during the spring and summer when high school and college students join as

seasonal employees and then decreases somewhat as business slows in the winter. “Our employees bringing friends or relatives that has been the best source,” Rella said. There should be plenty of work for the Young’s team in the years ahead,

as the business seeks to further expand in Fairfield County and Westchester County, N.Y., according to its owners. Young’s completed approximately 150 projects in 2022, and it is on on pace to carry out 200 projects this year. Those undertakings include pool fencing; perimeters to contain pets such as dogs and keep out wild animals such as deer, coyotes and bears; and landscaping jobs, which are mainly done on commercial sites and large residential properties

“It’s very controlled growth,” Couri said “We’re positioned really well ”

In addition to Young’s, other newcomers this year in the small employers category include the New Haven-based Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, a nonpartisan organization that represents nearly all of the 169 cities and towns in the state.

nial top finisher among large employers.

Splash has expanded rapidly by buying and opening new locations but its existing locations are turning out more work with the same staff, Curtis said. Everywhere, employers are having to rethink their operations in the weird sort of economic pressure that’s so hard to figure out.

But then, that's what Top Workplaces companies tend to do anyway. Cheryl Lytton-Smith, senior director of human resources at Genworth in Stamford, a new member of the winners list, said process runs deep.

"Rather than being a 'doing more with less' conversation for Genworth, the past few years has given us an opportunity to think differently about how and why we

do the work that we do and then make the changes to our organization that both allow our teams to do their best work and feel connected to our purpose and each other,” Lytton-Smith said in an email

The advantage of the right culture comes down to supporting employees in ways that invite them to stick around. “If you’re a processor and you want to be an underwriter, we try to put you on that path,” Bill Schettler, chief production officer at Total Mortgage, told Hearst’s Alex Soule “The woman who runs our processing department started as a receptionist.”

Several executives told us they’re seeing more applications for openings just in the last few months “The softening of the labor market is maybe getting people to think twice about making that jump,” Curtis said “We’re able to attract good people and

keep good people because we treat ‘em well.”

The winners of this year's Top Leaders award, especially secondtime winner Sonja LaBarbera at Gaylord Specialty Healthcare, described a lot of ways they’re nurturing employees including mindfulness. “We have this beautiful 400-acre campus here, so we encourage employees to take time outside. We’ve created some specific garden spaces that both patients and staff can go out to to get some fresh air.”

Garden spaces, not every company can offer. Of course, at Young's of Ridgefield, the No. 1 winner among small employers, that’s their job as a fencing installer and landscaping firm. Young’s won the top honor in its first year on the list and its coowners, Dan Rella and Chris Couri, also won the Top Leader award.

Whether you’re a manager, owner or a regular employee,

Check out the stories and interviews for ideas on how to make your workplace better

A couple of things you should know about Top Workplaces. It’s overseen by our news department based on scientific surveys; it’s not a popularity contest.

Our advertising and marketing teams sell ads into the section after the list is prepared. Those ads have nothing to do with picking the winners and in fact, those teams don’t see the winners list in order of how they finish until the news is public; they only see a list in alphabetical order.

We make sure employees taking the surveys aren’t encouraged to give the “right” answers, so these winners are the real deal, with responses required from at least 35 percent of their local workforce to participate. Energage doesn’t pay Hearst and Hearst doesn’t pay Energage for preparing the winners list; Ener-

gage makes money by delivering consulting services to companies. The cost for companies to participate in the contest is zero.

This year’s list includes 14 firsttime winners including three industrial firms, a waste management franchiser, the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities and Edgewell, the personal products company with a bevy of national brands. Just one company, ICON International Inc , the corporate barter firm, has been a winner all 13 years.

If your company is here on the list, congratulations. If your employer isn’t on the list and should be, get a head start on 2024 by clicking on wwwtopworkplaces.com/nominate/hearstct.

Alexander Soule /Hearst Connecticut Media

Chris Pankratz, CEO of Masters In Home Care, outside the firm’s headquarters office in Rocky Hill.

Hearst Connecticut Media file photo

Criterion CEO Sunil Reddy stands in his company’s offices at 301 Merritt 7 in Norwalk on Sept. 18, 2021.

Dan Haar (dhaar@hearstmediact com) is senior editor and columnist at Hearst Connecticut Media and is editor of Top Workplaces.

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TOP LEADERS — SMALL EMPLOYERS: Q&A WITH CHRIS COURI AND DAN RELLA

Teamwork pays off at fencing-landscaping business

By Paul Schott STAFF WRITER

Young’s of Ridgefield does not have a chief executive officer but there is hardly a leadership void at the fencing-andlandscaping business.

Owners Chris Couri and Dan Rella have worked together since 2000, when Couri came on board, a couple of years after graduating from Babson College in Wellesley, Mass

They have known each other for more than 40 years Rella, a Queens, N.Y. native, joined Young’s, at age 26, in1981, and he became an owner a couple of years later.

Couri’s parents, John and Elaine Couri, bought Young’s in 1978 They took over from Bob Fowsky, who bought the business in 1973 from Joe Young, who started the enterprise in 1948.

Reflecting the effectiveness of their longstanding partnership, Couri and Rella have won the Top Leadership Award for small employers in the 2023 edition of Hearst Connecticut Media’s Top Workplaces. Young’s, as a whole, was also recognized, placing first in the small employers category

In an interview, Couri and Rella discussed their management of the business, including their keys to collaborating as owners and strategy for engaging employees. The conversation was edited.

Q: As the owners of Young’s, how do you manage the business?

Rella: I’m very old school, and he is new school. And between the both of us, we figured it out. I get a lot of referrals because I’ve been here so long and know so many people But he’s getting all the new stuff, going online and doing different things. We complement each other, and it works out well.

Couri: We’re partners. Dan is really the heart and soul of Young’s He’s developed and

built it out. I have another business and another couple of things that I work on. The landscaping piece is where I focus a lot of my time and energy, and Dan really runs with the fencing and kind of the overall dayto-day operations.

Rella: We help each other. If I have a problem with fencing, and I’m not sure which direction I want to go in, of course I’m going to go to Chris and say, ‘Hey, what do you think about this?’ And the same with landscaping. He focuses on landscaping, but sometimes I might know the customer and he might come to me Nothing’s

really carved in stone.

Q: What are some of the ways in which you strive to keep employees engaged and motivated?

Couri: We’ll host lunches, breakfasts, team meetings Part of the meetings are really just catching up with everybody and talking about what’s happening in their lives.

Rella: It’s about five minutes on actual business and 40 minutes on everybody’s personal life!

Couri: We have a great team and people know what they need to do.

Q: The operations of

Young’s today are much different than they were in1948, when it began as an agricultural feed, lawn and garden supply store. Changes in recent years have included the closing of the feed and garden store and the equipmentrental business in 2010, when John Deere pulled the licensing rights for Young’s. Since then, the fencing business has expanded. How does Young’s continue to evolve?

Couri: For years, we didn’t advertise. It was word of mouth. Then with the internet, we started getting involved there. As we’re looking to scale up,

we’re doing a lot of online advertising. We updated our website. ... When you tell someone you’re celebrating 75 years in business, that gives you a certain level of credentials or trust. They know we’re not going anywhere.

Rella: Everybody keeps asking me, “Dan, when are you going to retire?” I’m going to be 69 years old But I don’t want to retire because I have so much fun How many places can you say that you get up in the morning and want to go to work? To me, that’s a big thing and I’ve been doing it for almost 50 years

H John Voorhees III/Hearst Connecticut Media

Dan Rella, left, and Chris Couri, owners of Young’s of Ridgefield, a fencing-and-landscaping business, stand in the company's showroom at 99 Danbury Road in Ridgefield on Aug. 28. Young’s is the winner in the small employer category of Hearst Top Workplaces 2023, while Couri and Rella also received a leadership award.

TOP LEADER — LARGE EMPLOYERS: Q&A WITH SONJA LABARBERA

Take care of staff and keep growing

By Liese Klein STAFF WRITER

Expanded meditation and wellness programs, a certified nursing assistant academy and added opportunities for research are among the initiatives at Wallingford’s Gaylord Specialty Healthcare spearheaded by President and CEO Sonja LaBarbera

LaBarbera, 49, took the top job at Gaylord in 2019 and soon faced the challenge of dealing with the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic while keeping the nonprofit health system’s expansion on track.

During the worst of the pandemic, LaBarbera worked to stabilize the system, moving many of its rehabilitation programs into the hospital setting while endeavoring to maintain staff morale. In the years since, she has expanded efforts to support Gaylord’s nearly 1,000 employees while adding programs and facilities

This is the second time LaBarbera was named winner of the Top Leader award in the large employers category in the Hearst Connecticut Media Top Workplaces contest; she also won in 2021 She spoke with Hearst about her efforts to support Gaylord’s workers and expand its services. The conversation was edited for clarity and length.

You took the job of president and CEO a year before COVID hit. What has been the pandemic’s impact at Gaylord?

Some of the topics that are most relevant in a post-COVID world do relate to the workforce It’s not only about finding and recruiting and retaining staff, but the needs of the staff are different in a post-COVID world. We put in a lot of wellness programs, programs focused on staff resiliency, teach-

ing them just how to take a moment and sort of regroup and refresh during the day. You almost have to give people permission to take care of themselves Then they’re better to take care of the patients. So much of what we do here is about really providing the patients with individualized care and making sure that they have everything that they need. If we don’t apply that same theory to our employees, then they can’t give their best to the patients at the bedside.

What are some of those

new programs?

We’ve done a lot with mindfulness and meditation: We brought in facilitators from the Copper Beech Institute to help train our staff to be mindfulness facilitators for both patients and staff. We have this beautiful 400-acre campus here, so we encourage employees to take time outside We’ve created some specific garden spaces that both patients and staff can go out to to get some fresh air.

We’ve tried to look at flexible scheduling; we’ve done some

creative things with job shares and with some different shift lengths. People want flexibility and they want a wellness focus We’ve also brought back all of our employee recognition programs. We got away from that all during COVID, and now we’re trying to bring it back because it does help with retention If people feel connected to their employee family, it’s easier to stay in a job

Many health-care systems have reported great difficulty in finding and hiring qualified staff in the post-CO-

VID era. What has Gaylord done to address workforce issues?

We’ve started our own certified nursing assistant (CNA) academy We found that we weren’t really able to find qualified, certified nursing assistants, enough of them to meet our needs. After they are trained, we hire many of them right into staff positions afterward

With nurses, we’re doing a lot more collaboration with local universities to create pipe-

Gaylord Specialty Healthcare/Jennifer Lani Photography

Gaylord Specialty Healthcare President and CEO Sonja LaBarbera, right, with mobility tech Shekinah Hawkins at the Wallingford health system's main campus.

What’s the future of AI in your workplace?

By Bob Helbig

While most workplaces are not using artificial intelligence (AI), the technology is getting attention and raising some concerns, a recent Top Workplaces survey shows.

Workplaces are bringing human resources technology and AI onboard While organizations are embracing HR tech solutions, Top Workplaces research reveals that AI adoption remains relatively low. That said, AI holds immense potential, from streamlining operations to enabling data-driven decision-making and unlocking valuable insights

In the big picture, AI is the use of computing to perform tasks normally carried out by people. It most often refers to projects that capture information and deliver it in a way that simulates actions, purpose, reasoning, meaning, or learning. AI is used in manufacturing (think robots), self-driving cars, healthcare management, financial investing, booking

LABARBERA

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travel, social media monitoring, and chatbots

In human resources, AI can be used for things such as scanning resumes, social listening, data aggregation, background checks, measuring employee satisfaction, optimizing benefit offerings, and a host of other uses.

“There’s a lot of opportunity to use AI to make people’s jobs easier or better, so they can concentrate more of their time and efforts on higher-level tasks, or things they just enjoy doing more,” said Kinsey Smith, senior people scientist at Energage.

Energage recently surveyed more than 15,000 employees to get their feedback on HR technology and AI. The survey revealed 1 in 6 employees are concerned about AI impacting their work, especially those who work in advertising and marketing; hospitality, entertainment, recreation, and travel; and financial services and insurance.

Furthermore, 1 in 9 employ-

ees believe AI may replace their job in the next five years, particularly in utilities and communications; hospitality, entertainment, recreation, and travel; and financial services and insurance.

The survey feedback revealed:

• People are both excited and worried about the potential impact of AI.

• Few organizations currently use AI for HR tasks or issues.

• Most organizations have human resources information systems, onboarding, and performance management solutions

• More than 1 in 3 organizations do not have tools for employee listening or employee selection.

• Responders were most satisfied with their employee appreciation and onboarding tools.

• Human resources information systems and recruiting technologies were considered most valuable

• Common obstacles hindering the value of these tools included integration and set-up effort

• Senior managers expressed little concern about AI in the workplace, whereas team members showed more concern

Organizations were most likely to lean on third-party tools for human resources information systems. They used homegrown solutions most often for employee appreciation and performance management

While the majority have not yet adopted AI technology, responders said talent acquisition was the task they most hoped the technology could assist in the future.

Smith says the best use of AI should be seen as a resource that supplements work, not something that supplants workers AI can be a springboard for more thoughtful strategies and conversations, for example.

“It’s just a tool,” Smith said, and it’s up to organizations to

figure out the best uses, and the wrong uses, of that tool

There are safeguard considerations, she said Organizations need to consider how AI interacts with data, from a privacy and legal standpoint, as well as whether it creates security concerns

Also, is the information it creates fully accurate or truthful? Humans will still need to verify the outcome of the work. AI does not necessarily operate with a level of morality, she said

“Trying to understand how all of those pieces fit together is interesting,” she said.

“It’s something we will have to grapple with as a society. Technology will move us forward, and new jobs will also be created. We will have to be thoughtful about what tasks we want to be taken on.”

Bob Helbig is media partnerships director at Energage, a Philadelphia-based employee survey firm. Energage is the survey partner for Top Workplaces

lines and add clinical placements. We’re taking a lot more nursing students, a lot more therapy students, to give them the experience here because if they have a good student experience here, it’s a great recruitment opportunity We also have a nurse residency program.

The other big thing from an academic standpoint and creating a pipeline of jobs here is we started a physical medicine and rehab residency program two years ago in collaboration with UConn and Hartford HealthCare Prior to that, you couldn’t train as a rehab physician in Connecticut the residencies were either in New York, Boston or other areas of the country.

Is the health care hiring crunch easing up from your perspective?

It’s getting a little easier, at least for us. We’ve had a few great months as far as recruiting staff now the key is

keeping them We’ve seen our retention numbers get significantly better over the last two years I think the schools in Connecticut are doing a really good job of building that pipeline back up. And now it’s our responsibility to get them properly trained, hire them and retain them.

What other new programs have helped attract staff to Gaylord?

We opened the Milne Institute for Healthcare Innovation in 2020 We started doing a lot more clinical research, and we’ve been involving bedside clinicians in clinical research. In a lot of places people do research, but they have to do it all themselves

We created an infrastructure with the Milne Institute where we have research scientists that are helping and partnering with the clinician, so they’ve got the infrastructure to really make it easier.

About two years ago we also launched an innovation committee what we’re really trying to do is gather innovative ideas from frontline clinicians and staff

members

There are QR codes hanging up all over the hospital and if you have an innovative idea either for a problem to solve or a product that we might need to look into developing, you can click this QR code and submit it.

The top idea that came out of this process last year was the CNA academy, which has already trained six cohorts of eight CNA students. This innovation committee really is another way for people to be engaged in improving care, improving practice here.

What are some challenges you are facing now?

Costs have skyrocketed for everything from supplies to drugs to staff and reimbursement has not been commensurately increased. It is becoming more challenging to have a profitable business model when costs are up and reimbursement is still lagging.

We’ve spent a lot of time talking to the state, talking to our federal legislators about the fact that the current model of

reimbursement may not be sustainable

We have to look for more cost-effective ways to do what we do

What are some growth areas for Gaylord?

People want to age gracefully. They want to age at home. And so you know, as a provider of physical medicine and rehab, our focus is really improving function, and helping people maintain their highest level of function throughout their life I think there’s always going to be a need for those services and I think even more so in the years to come.

I’m spending a lot of time talking to community leaders, thought partners, industry leaders and finding out what they need.

What are they looking for in an innovative health care provider and how can we do things differently? Because I think if you’re too internally focused, and you’re not looking outward to the community and what the needs are in the community, you’re going to miss opportunities

Zoom, which thrived on the remote work revolution, wants workers back in office part-time

NEW YORK The company whose name became synonymous with remote work is joining the growing return-to-office trend.

Zoom, the video conferencing pioneer, is asking employees who live within a 50-mile radius of its offices to work onsite two days a week, a company spokesperson confirmed in an email. The statement said the company has decided that "a structured hybrid approach –meaning employees that live near an office need to be onsite two days a week to interact with their teams – is most effective for Zoom."

The new policy, which will be rolled out in August and September, was first reported by the New York Times, which said Zoom CEO Eric Yuan fielded questions from employees unhappy with the new policy during a Zoom meeting last week.

Zoom, based in San Jose, Calif., saw explosive growth during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic as companies scrambled to shift to remote work, and even families and friends turned to the platform for virtual gatherings.

But that growth has stagnated as the pandemic threat has ebbed.

Shares of Zoom Video Communications Inc. have tumbled hard since peaking early in the pandemic, from $559 apiece in October 2020, to below $70 on Tuesday.

Shares have slumped more than 10 percent to start the month of August. In February, Zoom laid off about 1,300 people, or about 15 percent of its workforce.

Google, Salesforce and Amazon are among major companies that have also stepped up their return-tooffice policies despite a back-

lash from some employees. Similarly to Zoom, many companies are asking their employees to show up to the office only part-time, as hybrid work shapes up to be a lasting legacy of the pandemic

Since January, the average weekly office occupancy rate in 10 major U.S. cities has hovered around 50 pecent, dipping below that threshold during the summer months, according to Kastle Systems, which measures occupancy through entry swipes

Haven Daley/Associated Press

A woman works at Zoom headquarters on Feb. 3 in San Jose, Calif. Zoom asked employees who live within a 50-mile radius of its offices to work onsite two days a week.

The headquarters for Zoom is shown Feb. 3 in San Jose, Calif.