The People at North American Signs
While conducting interviews with employees in various departments within North American Signs, we came across a common theme. When asked, “What is your favorite part of working at North American Signs?” The most popular answer was the people.
Long Time Employees
Thais Ladas worked at the company for more than 30 years, and has since retired. She saw many employees walk in and out of the doors over the years and enjoyed friendships with nearly all of them. “I love the people I work with and, you can imagine over the years, they have changed many times…it is nice to know that the bulk of the people that you’re working with are wonderful.” Though it was hard to leave North American Signs, she felt she was leaving it in the right hands. It was partially due to the employees that made retiring an easy and hard goodbye. Knowing all of her hard work was going to be taken care of was a relief, but not seeing all of her friends at North American Signs made Thais’ retirement bittersweet for everyone.
Fun People
While not everyone’s story is as heartfelt as Thais’, the same general answer came from the question, “What is your favorite part of working at North American Signs.” Some employees, like Bret, hesitated at first, racking his brain for the best answer. Bret concluded, “The people. I mean I enjoy the type of work, but I enjoy the people more.” Some, like Randy, enjoy the employees because of the comic relief they bring. “They got some great people here; we have a lot of fun together.” The people who make up North American Signs encourage each other to get things done through comic relief .
A Family
A couple employees even consider the people they work with as family. Brian described the employees he works with saying, “It’s like a family…I spend more time with the people here than I do with my own family.” After being with coworkers for hours on end, Brian and others start to consider the other employees family because of the relationships they form.
The family environment that exists at North American Signs also makes work much more enjoyable. Derek Tobolski said, “It’s a big family…we’ve went through some rocky times, some hard times, but at the end everybody seems to come together and I think that makes coming to work more enjoyable.” An enjoyable workplace is one of the reasons why many employees have been working at North American Signs for 10 plus years.
In conclusion, the employees at North American Signs are what make the company great. The culture is best described by the sign above the employee entrance to the building. “Through these doors pass the finest sign people in America.”
Interviews conducted by Iris Fry