Committed Employees Strive to Provide Exceptional Service

Golden West employs 172 people with service ranging from less than one year to 50 years. Collectively, the group has served Golden West for 2,142 years, which averages to 12.5 years per employee.

Golden West prides itself on longevity in terms of service, customers and employees. As of December 2020, employees have a combined 2,142 years of service; that’s great for the company and even better for its customers.

Longevity Benefits the Customer

Long-term employees develop a better understanding of available products and services and the role they play in customers’ lives. By getting to know customers personally, Golden West staff provide better service.

Director of Human Resources Savannah Williamson believes relationship building is key. “Because our employees immerse themselves in the communities, they’re recognizable,” she explains. “They get to know our customers, and our customers get to know them. People are more comfortable asking questions, calling for assistance, and having them come into their homes.”

General Manager and CEO Denny Law tells about a member who worked from home and was dependent upon a reliable broadband connection. He says Golden West employees repeatedly made sure to contact her well in advance of any planned service upgrades so she could plan accordingly.

“That’s a function of a company that knows and understands its customers,” Law says. “Long-term employees provide that kind of knowledge and benefit.”

Recipe for Longevity

Amy Tomes, Member Service Associate

Law attributes employee longevity to multiple factors. “It’s a testament to what individuals bring to Golden West and what they want to accomplish in their careers in terms of work that interests and motivates them,” he says. “It’s also a testament to the organization; we have a long history of proving we’re a quality employer who treats employees well and provides opportunities for growth. Add those together, and it can be the right fit for a lot of people.”

Golden West employs 172 people with service ranging from less than one to 50 years. The group averages an impressive 12.5 years of service to Golden West per employee.

Williamson believes culture is a motivating factor, as well — particularly in terms of corporate social responsibility. “We give back to our communities, which ties in with our Golden West culture,” she says.

Member Service Associate Amy Tomes recently celebrated her 20th anniversary with Golden West, and she echoes many of those sentiments. “I love my coworkers,” she says. “Everyone cares about each other and the customers we serve. The company is very generous to the communities we serve and provides the employees competitive benefits. Golden West is my family, and I can’t say enough positive things about it.”

“Because our employees immerse themselves in the communities, they’re recognizable. They get to know our customers, and our customers get to know them.”

Savannah Williamson
Director of Human Resources

Always Looking For New Team Members

Dalton Richter, Field Service Technician

Even with many employees devoting significant portions of their careers to the organization, Golden West routinely looks for new team members.  Dalton Richter will testify to that. He joined Golden West as a full-time field service technician in 2017.

“Golden West offers competitive wages and benefits that allow me the opportunity to raise my family in the same small town I grew up in,” Richter says.

Recruitment efforts include high school and community job fairs and programs at universities and technical schools, like one for first-year students at Mitchell Tech seeking internship opportunities. These interns gain valuable real-world experience by accompanying service technicians for a couple of weeks before heading out on their own to complete service calls.

“We want them to develop their skills, whether they go to work for us or somebody else,” Williamson says. “A lot of them go back to school and serve as student ambassadors for Golden West, sharing their positive experience.”

Hire for Attitude, Train for Skill

It’s all part of an ongoing effort to attract quality candidates. This process involves looking not just at needed skills, but also how well an individual will function as part of a team.

“’Hire for attitude, train for skill’ is an adage we subscribe to,” Law says. “We don’t expect people to know everything from A to Z; we’ll train for that. We look at a wide variety of factors – your skills and talents, yes, but also what drives you and how those attributes will serve the team and our customers.”

The Golden West formula isn’t magic, but it is working. Law explains, “The people, the culture, and the mission … how we are able to connect those dots to provide a necessary service to customers spread across the state has been key.”

“We have a long history or proving we’re a quality employer who treats employees well and provides opportunities growth. Add those together, and it can be the right fit for a lot of people.”

Denny Law
General Manager/CEO