Rio Grande Fence Co. of Nashville Wins Tennessean Top Workplace and Special Award

Quality fencing is no longer the only thing Rio Grande Fence Co. is known for. Employees for the company have landed RGF among the top places to work in Middle Tennessee.

RGF won 2nd Place in its category and a special award for New Ideas being encouraged in the company. The Top Workplaces list is based solely on employee feedback gathered through a third-party survey administered by research partner Energage, LLC, a leading provider of technology-based employee engagement tools. The anonymous survey measures several aspects of workplace culture, including alignment, execution, and connection, just to name a few.

RGF's mission may be to bring award-winning service and the best perimeter security solutions to businesses in the Southeast, but the company values of collaboration, stewardship and service excellence speak to how they run the business internally.

"A company of any merit that wants its employees to give great service has to give its employees great service," said RGF's Chief Operating Officer Derek Smith. "We wanted to offer our employees high-quality, turnkey solutions so their personal lives were less stressful and their interaction with the human resources department was consistently handled with care. It's very important to us to give our employees the tools they need to make their lives easier. We wanted to provide them with a benefits package that was the same as the one our family uses. We wanted them to be able to go to top-notch facilities and get great care."

One employee said Rio Grande is fair, loyal, respectful and goes out of their way to show love for each employee. "I am encouraged and trusted with responsibility to help me and my coworkers grow."

In addition to supporting local organizations monetarily, each year, Rio Grande Fence Co. also selects a deserving, local nonprofit and provides all materials and installation of a new, commercial-grade fence at no cost. Additionally, the company's VP of finance, Debbie Vincion, has been a longtime supporter of the annual Breast Cancer Awareness walk in Nashville. Rio Grande Fence Co. of Nashville supports her initiative through a T-shirt fundraiser. Employees support Vincion's favorite charity, the American Cancer Society, through the purchase of a special edition RGF shirt. All of the donations go toward Vincion's walk team as the company funds the purchase of the T-shirts.

"Becoming a Top Workplace isn't something organizations can buy," Doug Claffey, CEO of Energage, said. "It's an achievement organizations have worked for and a distinction that gives them a competitive advantage. It's a big deal."

"Ranking as a Top Workplace verifies we attract and hire only superlative candidates in the battle for construction industry talent." said Smith, "More importantly, receiving the 'New Ideas' award for Middle Tennessee demonstrates the collaborative work environment we encourage, where the newest hire's to the longest-serving employee's voices and ideas influence decisions."

"I'm encouraged to make things better for everyone here," one employee said. "I have the financial backing of my boss to implement plans to make people safer and stock items on trucks or shelves to make our product lines better as well as make our crews feel they have the best tech to get jobs done."