Lensing Building Specialties and Architectural Sales (Lensing), a family-owned building materials distributor in Evansville, was named a Top 20 Best Places to Work in Indiana among medium-sized companies by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. Lensing finished 16^th among Hoosier companies with 75 to 249 employees.

While Lensing first opened its doors in 1948, this was the company’s first application for the Best Places to Work in Indiana program, resulting in a top 20 finish. The rankings are based on the companies’ applications and thorough, anonymous employee surveys administered by a third party.

The leadership team at Lensing credits this designation to the past and current talent on the team and a long history of building a workplace where team members feel supported and valued. This approach to do right by team members and customers showed in the survey results.

The company received 90% or higher satisfaction scores about the quality of the core employee experience, benefits, work-life balance, employees’ sentiments toward their roles, workplace communication and culture, diversity and inclusion and relationships between employees and managers.

“We were excited to see the high marks from the employee survey. We spend a lot of time and energy evaluating and improving the employee experience, and this was validation that our team agrees we’re moving in the right direction,” says Susie Traylor, human resources manager.

Lensing prides itself in doing things a little differently from the average local business.

The family-owned company bridges connections between current and retired team members to maintain camaraderie among generations of employees. Retirees are invited to multiple employee events throughout the year and receive the company’s monthly employee newsletter. The connection to the company doesn’t stop when team members transition to retirement.

While respecting the company’s past is engrained in Lensing’s culture, the company is forward thinking when building upon its heritage of being a quality employer in Evansville.

In the last five years, Lensing has:

• Introduced a wellness clinic for all full-time and part-time employees to access free primary care;
• Added on-site solar power arrays to three of its four buildings in Evansville;
• Launched an e-bike program, allowing employees to ride electric bikes on their breaks or lunch for free;
• Built an electric vehicle charging station for team members with EVs to use for free;
• Provided Dashlane password security services to employees and their families for free;
• Introduced a scholarship program to help the dependents of Lensing employees cover some of the costs of college or trade school;
• Established a company-wide informative and fun wellness program composed of employees from all departments to deliver engaging initiatives focused on five key pillars: physical, nutritional, environmental, mental and community well-being.
• Strengthened its commitment to workplace safety through an active Safety Committee, quarterly safety drills, annual Safety Weeks and a revamped Emergency Action Plan designed to keep team members informed, prepared and protected.
• Earned Certified Contractor Status through Indiana OSHA and Coalition for Construction Safety after implementing changes to our safety program;
• Increased the company’s 401(k) match, which is provided in addition to annual profit sharing bonuses; and
• Revamped the company’s time-off policies to better accommodate the demands of life outside of work.

While finishing in the Top 20 is a great honor for the company, Lensing’s leadership team is fast at work identifying ways to take the employee experience to the next level based on the survey results.

“We’re a pretty competitive team at Lensing,” said Joe Theby, company president. “Our goal is to use the survey results to improve the areas where our team members are calling on us to do more, reapply for next year’s award and try to finish closer toward the top of the list.”