ATAS International, Inc. has been awarded a 2019 Top Workplaces honor for the fourth consecutive year by The Morning Call. The organizations who receive a Top Workplaces award are determined solely on the results of an employee engagement survey administered by Energage, a research firm that specializes in organizational health and workplace improvement. Several aspects of workplace culture were measured, including employee engagement, leadership, alignment, and connection, just to name a few. Engaged employees are known to drive productivity and results at work, which benefit the organization’s own team members, as well as their customers. Based upon Energage’s research, the national average for employee engagement is 31 percent. For culture-aware companies, that rose to 46 percent. Companies that earned Top Workplace awards had a 58 percent employee engagement rate. The top three culture drivers for Top Workplaces in the Lehigh Valley are potential, direction, and appreciation.

“Top Workplaces put the employee at the center of things, and focuses on creating the right environment to unleash potential and inspire performance, “said Doug Claffey, CEO of Energage, The Morning Call’s research partner for Top Workplaces of the Lehigh Valley area of Pennsylvania. This year, 69 organizations agreed to take the employee survey. Combined, they employ 28,844 people. For this year’s winners list, 45 Lehigh Valley employers earned recognition as Top Workplaces based on the employee feedback.

ATAS International is honored to once again earn this prestigious award. Comments made by ATAS employees while completing the survey were not only shared with the owners and managers at ATAS, but with all the employees. Along with the positive feedback were suggestions on areas for improvement, which will be reviewed and considered for implementation. Some of the survey comments made anonymously by the ATAS team members include:

• I enjoy being a part of the solution, not the problem.
• I like that there is a new challenge every day.
• A nice work environment with good, hardworking coworkers and bosses that motivate me.
• Professional, yet relaxed, friendly, and social working environment, with a sense of family.
• ATAS will move an employee into a different position if they find it is a better fit for that person’s strengths.
• I feel there is a respect for all employees without micromanaging.
• I love my job because I have a wide variety of different responsibilities every day.
• My co-workers are kind, generous, caring, and fun.
• ATAS is operated with strong family values and the owners and senior management have an open-door policy.

As the ATAS point of contact for the Top Workplaces survey, Anne Hicks, Executive Assistant, stated, “ATAS strives for consistent improvement which benefits customers and staff. Everyone works hard to do their best and teamwork makes the job easier and fun. We respect each other like family. It’s great to see ATAS and their employees recognized with this award for the past four years.”

Jim Bus, Executive Vice President at ATAS International, said, “Our employees and their efforts are what truly makes ATAS a Top Workplace, and we are thankful to all of them. This year we are celebrating 35 years in the Lehigh Valley, and it is also our 56th year in business. Since moving to the Lehigh Valley, ATAS has seen tremendous growth of our product offering and geographic reach in the use of our products, which has in turn led to growth in staff members. We are proud to support our employees with training and advancement opportunities, and encourage them to provide us with feedback and ideas on a continuing basis. Many of their suggestions have been implemented to improve our products and services, and our work environment.”