The team at Armor Protective Packaging® is flying high, over-the-moon and is on cloud nine over the news that ARMOR was named to the Crain’s Detroit Business Best Places to Work in Michigan list for the sixth time! Winners of the Crain’s award, which was formerly called Cool Places to Work in Michigan, are determined through employer and employee input. Employers complete an in-depth questionnaire about company policies, practices and benefits and employees complete an online survey to provide anonymous, honest feedback about company culture, leadership and their experience working at the company.
“It is so gratifying to know that our team recognizes the unique culture we have here at ARMOR – one that is not only fun, but that evokes a feeling of comfort and belonging,” said Ryan Gingery, President of ARMOR. “One of our company core values is ‘people and relationships come first, profits will follow’ – it not only applies to our customers, it applies to the ARMOR team – the people we work with, side-by-side, day in and day out.”
If you want the specifics on what makes ARMOR so cool, just ask the people who work there. As part of the Best Places to Work selection process, employees are asked to anonymously provide input and examples of why ARMOR’s company culture is special. This employee input represents 75% of the final ranking. The list includes things that you might expect such as flexible hours; a casual dress code; a 3 percent company contribution to employee 401(k)s (regardless of whether employees contribute themselves); company outings; a sales-based profit-sharing program; and a monthly company luncheon that concludes with a “Celebrate Your Date” recognition of employees on the anniversary of their hire date.
“It is hard to believe that this our company’s sixth time winning the Crain’s award and I have to admit, it still feels amazing,” said David Yancho, CEO of ARMOR. As a company, ARMOR promotes work-life balance; puts people and relationships before profits and encourages employees to be AuFUNtic – the ARMOR term for authentic, genuine, and fun. “We have been at this long enough to realize that it is a pretty simple formula – great people make great teams and great teams make great places to work,” Yancho said.
Additional examples that spotlight what makes ARMOR unique include:
- August’s ARMOR Sip-N-Dip – an afternoon company outing to a unique Disney-themed swimming pool with a slide and swim-up bar for lunch and relaxation.
- A pre-Easter Eggstravaganza with egg McMuffins for breakfast, an egg toss using cornhole boards and a building-wide egg hunt for “golden eggs” worth $25 for the lucky winners.
- First day of summer launch party featuring grilled burgers and dogs, a slingshot-style water balloon launch competition and sweet treats delivered to each employee by the ARMOR mobile ice cream cart — aka, a large cooler-on-wheels full of ice cream bars and popsicles that travels through the building.
- ARMOR’s most distinctive annual event – Groundhog Day – called the Groundhog Day Observation/Super BOWLing Celebration of 2023 and festivities included lunch, a game of identifying ARMOR employees by their shadow outlines, Superbowl squares, and a unique twist on bowling that featured a groundhog bonus pin and prizes for winners.
Also contributing to ARMOR’s award-winning company culture is its commitment to community and support of volunteerism. All ARMOR employees are given 24 hours a year of paid release time to volunteer within the community. In 2015, ARMOR established the employee-led ARMOR VALOR Committee – VALOR stands for Volunteers of ARMOR – and they created the outline and structure for ARMOR’s volunteer program.
In addition, ARMOR hosts its annual Great Pumpkin Classic Car Show to raise funds for the Livingston County Salvation Army and participates in school events such as Manufacturing Day and the Job Shadow Development Program.
“Being named by Crain’s Detroit Business as one of Michigan’s Best Places to Work is confirmation that ARMOR is a place where people want to come to work, where they can be themselves and they feel supported to do their job successfully and with enjoyment,” Yancho said.
