Best Places to Work in Insurance 2013: Alltrust Insurance Inc.

Alltrust takes the extra step to help staff members get to know one another, employees say, and that camaraderie is noticed by clients.

A compassion for its employees and a warm environment makes Alltrust Insurance Inc. a great place to work, its employees say.

“This is an agency that cares about its employees,” says Suzy Circle, a senior benefits consultant with Palm Harbor, Fla.-based Alltrust.

“If you need, for example, time to take off because of a family situation, there never are any questions,” Ms. Circle said.

At the same time, Ms. Circle said, “the office atmosphere is warm and inviting, it is about having fun and working.”

Alltrust also is a company that takes the extra step to help employees get to know one another better and work together as a team, which, in turn, helps them as well as their clients, Ms. Circle said.

“We close early Friday afternoons so we can talk with each other about issues” such as “how did the week go and what can we do better?” Ms. Circle said.

Joe Part, who founded Alltrust in 1994, describes the work environment as open. “Rarely do you see a closed door. There is a sharing of information,” he said.

Employees often eat together in a conference room, which further tightens their relationships with one another. “When you eat and laugh together, it is psychologically bonding. We are an eclectic group, but also a very tight group,” Mr. Part said.

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That tightness comes through when employees are going through difficult times. For example, Mr. Part recalled a situation involving an employee who was going through a difficult pregnancy.

“The day her doctor said she needed to stay at home, everyone in the office said, "What can we do to pick up the load for her?' Everyone at the firm was praying for her and was concerned about her. There wasn't a week that went by where I hadn't heard from employees asking what they could do for the woman,” Mr. Part said.

The compassion of employees extends beyond the office, Mr. Part said. “Employees have projects in their communities, whether it is in social services, the arts or charities. Employees take a lot of pride to help make our community a better place to live, and that, I think, is very binding,” Mr. Part said.

That camaraderie is noticed by clients. “I don't think a week goes by that we don't share a note from a client saying how we have” excelled and taken that extra step beyond the normal scope of services, Mr. Part said.

“We share those emails among colleagues, and it is very special to see the trail of congratulatory notes,” he said.