The 2012 Greatest Companies To Work For

HALO Branded Solutions (UPIC: HBS)

Category: Distributor
Location(s): Sterling, Illinois with sales offices in Baltimore; Chatsworth, California; Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio; Culver City, California; Denver; Houston; Kansas City; Nashville; Orlando; St. Louis, Missouri; and Tulsa

Number of employees/contractors: 510 employees (250 support employees, 260 sales employees); 500 independent contractors

Years in business: 60

Culture: Terry McGuire, CAS, senior vice president of marketing, who has worked at HALO for 12 years, says the company’s culture is balanced. “We are driven to constantly improve our service to our customers, our sales and our profitability,” McGuire says. “Yet, we are equally as focused on enhancing the quality of life of our employees, our customers and our community. It’s this balance that draws people to work here and allows us to enjoy a very high retention level for support staff, salespeople and clients.”

Work environment: “I have been in this industry for more than 25 years, working for various distributor organizations,” says Melanie Clegg, account manager, who has been with HALO for less than a year. “This company has the best business model, culture and working environment I’ve experienced in our industry. With unmatched internal support and tools, I am freed up from all the day-to-day tasks and financial worries so I can focus on building business and strengthening client relationships. I’ve never had this much support and encouragement. We share in decisions, ownership and revenue. I love it here at HALO and wish I had joined the company years ago.”

Career development: HALO offers tuition reimbursement and job shadowing in non-related departments, and it financially sponsors industry continuing-education efforts.

How we celebrate success: Ginger Hutter, account executive, who has been with the company for six years, says HALO provides opportunities to participate in several generous bonus programs. “HALO highlights the top 25 sales achievers each week and, based on sales volume, the company offsets the cost of attending The PPAI Show in Las Vegas as well as our annual sales conference,” Hutter says. “HALO also hosts an annual dinner in Las Vegas at which time they celebrate the success of each individual sales executive. HALO also celebrates the personal successes of employees/sales executives through the company’s intranet site.”

I love working there because: McGuire says HALO shows genuine concern for employees at all levels, and this “got-your-back” concern creates a low-hassle, high-performance working environment. “Every employee gets access to key financial and operational performance metrics each day, and there is a well-developed feedback loop for employee suggestions for improvement,” McGuire says. “Also, we have tons of fun. Every fall we hold a tradeshow and kick-off event for our annual sales contest. Employees earn additional compensation based on the performance of account executives, so the support team is aligned with the goals of the sales force. Every employee receives HALO promotional products throughout the year, and we support community involvement by our staff.”

How the company is different: Hutter says HALO offers compensation and bonus programs that are not available elsewhere. Additionally, account executives receive unparalleled support. “The company provides the sales executives with a vast assortment of technology, marketing, sales and training tools that are very user-friendly,” she adds. “As a sales executive, you have a personal customer service representative that works with you on all aspects of the order process. In my opinion, the support HALO provides the sales executives is the best in the industry.”