142 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 10, ISSUE 10 “Other than to come to Astro,” he continues, “because of the service—how we service them.” Special relationships with customers and workers alike Talking of that special relationship with customers, Hess notes that when they learn Astro has a highly successful ESOP model in place and is 100 percent employee-owned, they realize they’re dealing with a very winning and highly reputable company. Gift concurs. “It’s definitely having a positive impact,” she says of the ESOP. When employees come to work and know they’re part of the actual business, says Gift, with shares and thus a stake in the company, too, they work harder and take greater pride in their work. “Not that they didn’t before,” she adds. “It just gives a different element, a different level, to why you’re coming to work and what you’re doing each day.”
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