Exterior Pros home remodeling company among businesses new to Top Workplaces list

Thirty-one small and mid-sized businesses were selected for the first time as Top Workplaces in southeastern Wisconsin by the employee survey company Energage.

It is the 14th year that the Journal Sentinel has partnered with Energage to survey employees of participating companies in 10 counties in southeast Wisconsin. It is free for employers to participate in the survey.

Most employers who participated were ultimately chosen as Top Workplaces, with 70% of the roughly 230 participating employers deemed a top place to work.

Energage ranks employers based on employees’ responses to a 24-question survey. Those employers who exceed certain benchmarks are then deemed Top Workplaces. Energage does not disclose what individual employers scored or what those benchmarks are, due to “proprietary reasons,” said Bob Helbig, media partnerships director for Energage.

“The companies that are surveying are making a decision to survey their employees. Every company that participates probably thinks they’re going to make the list,” he said.

Which employers were chosen as a "Top Workplace" for the first time?

The employers new to the list this year ranged from banks to schools to senior living facilities.

They included 19 employers in the small business category and 12 mid-size companies.

One of the highest ranking employers new to the Top Workplaces list is Exterior Pros, a home remodeling company based in Sussex that ranked second in the small business category.

What is Exterior Pros?

Exterior Pros' services include roofing, windows, exterior doors, siding and bathroom remodels.

The firm began a little more than a decade ago when owner and CEO Sheila Hibl and husband Doug went door-to-door offering home repairs following storms that had caused hail and other damage, said their daughter Taylor. Sheila had previously worked in property and casualty insurance.

The company now has about 50 employees, from sales representatives and purchasing agents to project managers and window and bath installers.

Why do employees like working at Exterior Pros?

The company works to foster a family-like atmosphere, including by throwing a Christmas party every year and organizing outings to Brewers games and other events, said Taylor Hibl, creative director at Exterior Pros.

"With our culture, we really try to — both inside and out of the office — give it that family-oriented feel," Taylor Hibl said.

What did employees say about Exterior Pros?

In answer to the prompt, "I love my job because," several Exterior Pros employees who took the survey described feeling like part of a family and enjoying working with their co-workers.

One employee called owner Sheila and husband Doug "more like co-workers" than management, while another said the management treated them as "equal" and "don't put themselves above you." Another described their co-workers as "some of the most helpful, open minded people I have ever met."

How has the pandemic affected the workplace?

As part of the construction industry, Exterior Pros was more insulated than other businesses from the ill effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The business has not suffered from many of the workplace woes that others have, Taylor Hibl said. Still, Exterior Pros is not immune, she said.

“It is really hard to find really good employees, and we really try to find people that share the same vision and really want to commit to our core values,” she said.