W&B Service Co., a mobile refrigeration and trailer dealer, has been ranked No. 5 on this year's Top Workplaces list among the Houston region's small companies, as determined by Workplace Dynamics.
Mark Chadwell, branch manager of the Houston operation of Duncanville-based W&B, said he and owner Tracey Maynor have tried to make it a fun place to work where everyone is treated with respect.
Chadwell, who used to be a customer of W&B when he purchased its trailers, said he tries to make sure employees and customers understand that W&B—a Carrier refrigeration dealer and Hyundai Trailer dealer that also provides mobile refrigeration service trailer repair—is a service company, not a refrigeration or trailer company.
"People are everything," he told the Houston Chronicle. "We are not a group of buildings. We are a group of people."
Chadwell holds staff meetings every Tuesday involving his 52 employees, recapping information shared during his Monday branch-manager conference calls with managers from around the 400-employee company.
W&B, which has 19 branches, gives $25 or $50 gift cards to gasoline stations, Lowe's Home Improvement stores and restaurants around town, along with other incentives such as a new program that rewards the most organized mechanic in the shop in a contest that is co-sponsored by W&B and Carrier.
"It's amazing — we are seeing much organization from these mechanics," Chadwell said. "They are labeling things, and everything is in place."