NO. 4 MIDSIZE COMPANY
11-TIME WINNER
Private hotel and training-center firm based in The Woodlands, with one D-FW location and 388 local employees.
Benchmark Hospitality of Texas is serious about its employees having a good time. “Celebrate and have fun” are key values at the company, which is based in The Woodlands and manages hospitality services at Deloitte University’s 800-room hotel and training center in Westlake.
Benchmark shows its commitment to a congenial workplace in a variety of ways. For example, the company organizes an annual basketball tournament that supports various local nonprofits. It also raises charity bucks with a volleyball tournament — 12 teams recently participated, and another 30 employees cheered them on — as well as a cornhole competition. In addition, the company hosts a family picnic for 600 to 700 people each year, complete with face painting and pony rides, plus a dress-up holiday party with great food, a DJ and dancing.
Besides an array of benefits for workers, such as free lunches, tuition reimbursement and a matching 401(k), Benchmark offers a leadership training program for its supervisors and managers. “Sometimes you’re a manager, but you’ve never really been trained what to do,” said Mike Reisinger, the company’s regional director of human resources. “So we’ve put a lot of focus this past year on management development — ensuring our managers are taking care of the employees. Because ultimately, the employees are the ones who take care of the guests.”
Perhaps it’s not surprising, then, that Benchmark won our special award for managers, ranking highest of all Top Workplaces companies on these statements: My manager helps me learn and grow. My manager cares about my concerns.
“There hasn’t been one thing I’ve brought up that she hasn’t followed up on and taken seriously,” one employee said of their manager. “She is honest and direct, which I like, while being kind and understanding.”
Commented another worker: “The people I work with are amazing, and the managers are always there with a solution to any problem. It is an extremely warm and welcoming property, no matter which department you work in.”