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BizVoice/Indiana Chamber – May/June 2016
Cancun, here we come!
At Performance Services, staff and
guests are treated to a Mexican
vacation if ambitious annual goals
(revenue and sales) are met.
“It’s a great break for our employees
who work really hard,” asserts Tim Thoman,
president and CEO of the integrated design
and delivery engineering company. “Often
their spouses have to pick up the slack if our
people are working long nights, so it’s a way
to thank them for their contribution.
“It also creates these strong relationships.
We have a ball together. I’ll play literally five
hours of volleyball with the team and the
stories that come from that (are priceless).”
On this unseasonably pleasant March
afternoon, one doesn’t have to venture far to
experience the warmth at Performance
Services, which specializes in constructing
and renovating municipal, health care and
education facilities.
Sunlight pours into Thoman’s office,
which overlooks an iridescent lake where
employees explore their aquatic side via
kayaks (courtesy of the firm) during lunch
breaks or on weekends with their families.
Roman art, a gift to Thoman from his
wife, catches the eye.
“I thought it was kind of cool,” he
reveals, noting that he’s traveled to Rome
twice. “The history – both religious and
cultural – is amazing.”
Those very traits, faith and culture, lay
the foundation at Performance Services.
Guided by integrity
Thoman founded the organization in
1998. Today, it employs approximately 115
and spans multiple states: Indiana (where it’s
headquartered), Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan,
Missouri, Texas and Wisconsin.
“Most (of the employees) are based in
Indiana. We decided for culture reasons not
to buy existing firms, but to grow
organically,” he explains. “We try to find a
key person to build the office around,
someone who shares our way of treating
customers and of functioning. That makes it
easier to instill our culture.”
Performance Services achieved the top
spot on the Best Places to Work in Indiana list
in 2009 (small/medium, before those categories
were broken into separate classifications). But
it didn’t participate again until 2016.
“For a long time, we were just too busy
and were growing really quickly,” Thoman
confides. “You can’t do it all.”
Why apply now?
“We hired a director of talent acquisition
and human resources, so we have more
capacity,” he notes. “And the other piece is:
Employees want to know if a company is a
great place to work. That matters.”
Marketing director Arlene Gavin joined
the team in 2008. “I was employee No. 42,”
she declares as we plop down on a plush
couch in a room equipped with a big-screen
television, periodicals and a peaceful ambiance.
Gavin delights in Performance Services’
reputation as a firm of high integrity.
“Tim is the same man on the day he wins
a job as he is on the day he loses a job,” she
contends. “There’s no compromise in terms
of how customers are treated, how partners
are treated and how employees are treated.
Everybody can count on that.”
West Point graduate Scott Zigmond,
vice president of sales and marketing, seconds
that when articulating his own leadership method.
“I trust people implicitly,” he remarks.
“From an integrity standpoint, I start there.
My style, because of how spread out we are
(operating in seven states), is that we give
Performance Services
Breaking Ground and Giving Back
By Symone C. Skrzycki
2016 RETURNEE
A beaming Tim Thoman, president
of Performance Services, walks
hand-in-hand with Haitian children
while on a mission trip.