Since its launch more than 25 years ago, Clarke has always been focused on people. It’s a family-owned corporation, with two generations of Clarke family working together in the business today. Clarke’s connection to the appliance and kitchen industry go back a third generation, to Jim Clarke, Sr., who owned an appliance store in Connecticut before he joined Sub-Zero founder Westye Bakke as his first New England sales representative. Each Clarke generation has been about customer service excellence, great industry partnerships and treating their employees well.
All of these factors converged this week when Clarke Distribution was named one of the Top Places to Work in Massachusetts in the 11th annual employee-based survey project from The Boston Globe.
According to The Boston Globe, Top Places to Work recognizes the most admired workplaces in the state, voted on by the people who know them best – their employees. The extensive survey measured employee opinions about the employer’s direction, execution, management, work, pay, benefits and engagement. The voluntary, anonymous methodology used in the survey is designed to encourage candid responses from all participating workers.
The project surveyed more than 81,000 employees at hundreds of Massachusetts organizations. Participating companies were placed in one of four categories: small (50-99 employees); medium (100-249 employees); large (250-999 employees); and largest with more than 1,000 employees.
Clarke ranked number 19 among small businesses participating. As part of the announcement, The Boston Globe Top Places to Work Editor Katie Johnson summarized the results in one thought, “Our winning companies know that their people are their most valuable assets.”
This validation for Clarke comes on the heels of an extensive customer perception study conducted earlier in 2018. The study results highlighted the fact that the unparalleled expertise of Clarke showroom consultants is the top reason homeowners visit a Clarke showroom to research their appliances and their kitchens. The study also identified Clarke as the homeowner’s most important resource for researching not only appliance selection, but also kitchen design.
President Sean Clarke and his father, CEO Tom Clarke, were honored by the vote of confidence from the Clarke team. “Having our stellar employees share their vote of confidence on the direction of the company in this way is the best reward,” said Sean. “We will continue to make business decisions with our staff and customers front and center, because that’s why we are in business in the first place. This is a great way to wrap up 2018 and we’re look forward to an even better year ahead.”
To see all Top Places to Work results, you can visit globe.com/topplaces