We are proud to announce that we have won a Best Companies for Diversity Comparably award! This award reflects our ever-growing commitment to recognizing potential from all backgrounds.
“Employers who create workplaces that inspire, encourage, and support all diverse voices and contributions are critical to business growth, creativity, and innovation,” said Comparably CEO Jason Nazar. “Our annual Best Companies for Diversity list highlights organizations that diverse employees have collectively given top marks on in important core culture metrics, including compensation, leadership, and career opportunities.”
Automation Group sees the value in having people with different backgrounds on board to drive the success of the company. We hire based on attitude and aptitude. We see the potential success of a hire, and all details beyond that are trivial.
Collectively, Automation Group speaks at least 12 languages. These languages are key to being able to provide high-level service to clients.
“When I’m in the field and I meet another Hmong, we can connect really quickly. We understand each other on a different level,” says Teng Lee, a Senior Controls Engineer. Teng is Hmong and was a refugee as a child, like much of the Hmong people in America. He has been with Automation Group since 2005 and has seen the company’s growth and its difference from other companies.
“Automation Group is a healthy workplace. Every day I don’t have to worry about anything else other than doing my work.” As simple as that sounds, diverse employees around the country deal with racial jokes or people avoiding interactions with them. That is not the case with Teng. “I’m happy here and that makes me more productive. It’s a happy environment. I feel respected here, and it feels good when someone needs my help and asks me for it.”
Automation Group employees in each department anonymously reviewed the company on Comparably.com. The reviews publicly provide curious browsers with perception reports of the company’s CEO, culture and diversity. Winners were determined based on a number of questions employees answered regarding the topic (in true/false, yes/no, 1-10 scale, or multiple choice). The answer to each question was given a numerical score and then compared to similar size companies for fairness and accuracy.
One hundred percent of diverse employees of Automation Group that responded rated their work environment as positive.
“America is a jungle; you learn to survive.” In 2015, young adventure-seeking Bipin Parajuli arrived alone in Arkansas from Kathmandu, Nepal. He was to earn his master’s degree in electrical engineering at Arkansas Tech University. Bipin knew nothing about his new country but had to learn quickly. After earning his master’s in Arkansas and working a few jobs, he packed up an old car and drove 1,800 miles to Automation Group to become a Controls Engineer. Here, he found more than just challenging work, he found a family. “We are coworkers for 8 hours, but after that, we’re friends. It’s like family.”
The systems integration industry can be incredibly difficult, and for a new controls engineer, it can be sickenly overwhelming. Bipin has seen critical moments and was able to rely on Automation Group, “When there was nothing else for me to try when a plant was shut down and I was the only one to fix it, I reached out to my coworkers. Everyone has each other’s back and supports and respects each other.”
Automation Group is very selective when it comes to hiring team members. We choose people with well-rounded backgrounds and experience in life. We can problem-solve around language barriers and are happy to work with people with different stories to tell.
Read the press release.
