Who dresses you for work? For 24,000 chefs, mechanics, orderlies, bakers, drivers and janitors in New England, the answer is Cintas Corp. in Cumberland.
Based in Cincinnati, Cintas has 412 facilities in North America, according to its Web site. Along with supplying and servicing work clothes, the company provides cleaning, first aid and safety supplies; fire protection; document shredding and storage; and restroom and hygienic services.
The Cumberland laundering and distribution facility has been in operation for two years after a move from Taunton. Every day, the facility cleans and delivers 23,000 garment pieces, 3,000 floor mats, and 50,000 towels, said its general manager, Matt Semonick.
Cintas also delivers to its 188 employees a workplace where they feel appreciated, rewarded, and challenged. Semonick said all Cintas employees are called “partners,” to emphasize the company’s belief that all workers should feel like part owners of the business. This is reinforced by a 401(k) plan and an employee stock option and profit-sharing plan. “We take people on as part of the ownership of the organization,” Semonick said.
Other ways to build morale and strengthen bonds between the company and its workers include an open-door policy and lots of personal contact between managers and workers, frequent employee appreciation events, and opportunities to advance.
“We inspire people to do well by coaching, mentoring and giving people things to do that they are going to be successful with,” Semonick said. “We have instances where people at entry level have worked their way up to management in a short period of time. People see that hard work and persistence pay off.”
Semonick said the company tries to help employees develop a career at Cintas. “The best way to reward someone is to show him the possibility of growth with an organization.” Other rewards, he said, include a good benefits package that is continuously reviewed and “only gets better.”
Ninety percent of employees stay more than a year, which he called “a very competitive survival rate” for unskilled work. The company has a 12-month rolling turnover rate of 23 percent of the work force, which Semonick, said is about average.
Roxanne Young has worked at Cintas for 11 years. She rises at 2 a.m. to commute to work and be on the job by 5 a.m. She is section leader for seven to eight people who check garments and sew on labels and emblems. Young said her grown children have been trying to persuade her to retire, but she won’t do it.
“It is a lot of fun,” she said. “The day goes by fast.”
Among the aspects of the job that Young said she loves are the cleanliness of the place, the pleasant atmosphere, a “spectacular” lunchroom, and the company of friendly co-workers, many of whom are Hispanic and are teaching her to speak Spanish.
Young said management personnel move around the building and speak to all the workers frequently, offering congratulations or condolences for happenings within workers’ families. “They treat you just like a relative,” Young said of the company’s managers. “They make you feel like you’re a person.”
