How to Build a Great Company

The most important factor in building a great gearbox is great people. We don’t profess to have the answer of how to build a great company, but we know it starts with great people and a great culture.Master PT Employee photo - great company

The older I get, the deeper respect I have for the importance of culture in the success of an organization. I have seen people accomplish more than they ever thought they could in a great culture and sadly I have also seen people check out because of culture.  The results of companies follow suit.  The intersection of happy people, working hard for something they believe in in an environment of trust and respect is what makes companies great.  Culture is everything.

When we formed Master PT in 2010, we were blessed with a strong and experienced team who recognized our opportunity to build something special. We wanted, from the very beginning, for Master PT to be more than a paycheck.  We deliberately set out to make MPT into a cause that people wanted to be part of.

GREAT PEOPLE

Our employees are multi-generational, hardworking individuals who make our company great. We work hard side by side for a common cause – our customers, our pride in crafting quality products, AND by knowing each other personally.  We celebrate births and weddings together and celebrate business success together.   We work side by side to help those in need and we mourn together.  We aim to be friends who know and can count on each other

GREAT CULTURE

Knowing each other very well builds trust and better communication. Better trust and communication makes the organization more efficient, more satisfying and ultimately more successful.

Pysch award websiteWe aim to be a great place to work. In April, The South Carolina Psychological Association presented MPT with the 2016 Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award in the Small/Medium For-Profit Category.

What does it mean to be a “Psychologically Healthy Workplace”?  The five measured categories are: Employee Involvement, Health & Safety, Employee Growth & Development, Work-Life Balance and Employee Recognition. We would be the first to say that we are not perfect in any of these areas, but healthy does not mean perfect – it shows the balance is largely in the positive, and the end result is that we scored well enough for the recognition. For MPT both in Greenville, SC and Columbus, IN it means we work for a company that values our contribution in more than the fiscal sense, and therefore we contribute more – encouragement and appreciation of each other as well as efforts to work together as a team regardless of our geography or role.

GREAT COMPANY

Yes, the purpose of MPT is to produce quality gearboxes and supply them to customers following our motto “Faster@Master”, but in that process are a million steps in between that require communication, smart hiring, staying safe, skills cross training, independent thinking, and a host of other qualities that result in a great product produced by a great company.

Some of these qualities start at the top: providing a framework in each of the five categories, but most of the benefits come through individuals leveraging the framework to develop a healthy environment for themselves and those immediately around them. For instance – the company may provide for elective flu shots, but when an employee chooses to take it, not only can they avoid a lengthy illness for themselves and their families, but also help our customers by avoiding an absence. While some motivation and family atmosphere is created at management levels, the cultivation of these elements happens at the interpersonal level every day.

Why celebrate? MPT is a great place to work! Besides, we try to celebrate everything! We are truly building something very special at MPT, and we’re very proud of it.  Yes, we’re not perfect, but it is in the purposeful effort to be a great place to work that we find ourselves being honored.  We are grateful for our incredible employees and for what they do to make our customers successful!