Commercial Integrator April 2023 - 44

INTEGRATOR PROFILE Inside PTG
anything to do with AV at all. " We got all
kinds of takeaways, " Fons recalls. " It was a
fun way to start the work week. "
Since, at the start of the pandemic, there
wasn't much work for PTG to do, company
leadership decided to come up with
programs and contests to keep employees
engaged. Graphic artist Marissa Land
developed custom Zoom backgrounds,
which are now used during online meetings.
The backgrounds are proudly printed
on poster boards in the 70,000-squarefoot
headquartered building. Employees
dressed up for themed Zoom meetings
and hosted a " Shark Tank " -like contest in
which various departments came up with
new products that the company could later
use, such as sanitizing kiosks and medical
carts. The company invited customers to
vote for their favorite product. Although
PTG didn't sell very many of the products,
PTG and the
Entrepreneurial
Operating System
(EOS)
Since 2020, PTG has been operating
in accordance with the EOS system,
a business-process tool that helps
companies quickly identify what
the employees are seeing and helps
drive solutions faster.
" The folks in the trenches meet
Mondays; managers meet Tuesdays;
and the leadership team meets midweek, "
Fons says. " And, by the end of
the week, there's an update given to
the owner about how the business is
doing, along with what changes, investments
or decisions are needed. "
He adds, " It's also about making
sure that people understand their
job, that they want the job they're
in and that they're capable of doing
their job. And that's evaluated on
a continuing basis throughout the
year. " Concluding, Fons remarks,
" I can't imagine operating without
doing that system today. "
During the pandemic, Bill Fons (above),
company president, hosted a weekly company
meeting for employees, often then
bringing in a special guest. This evolved
into " The Morning Toast " podcast.
the initiative kept them busy, engaged
and, most importantly, together.
Over time, the weekly company meetings
turned into an open invitation. " We
had one of the producers of the Oscars
come on, talking about what it was like to
produce the show, " Fons recalls. " We had
the CEO of [media company] Nitro Circus,
which does stunt shows, talking about how
long it takes to prepare for stunts. " In fact,
he adds, PTG even had a Pixar animator talk
about how they produced a movie, with
everybody working from their living rooms.
With a smile, Fons also recalls a musician
coming to the meeting and creating an
on-the spot jingle. This later would be used
as the opening theme for " The Morning
Toast " podcast!
Post-pandemic, as business came back,
PTG went back to its normal cadence
and " The Morning Toast " podcast took a
backseat. However, employees missed it
so much that they demanded Fons keep
it going. Since the pandemic, he's refined
the effort a lot, transitioning it to a monthly
series. Nevertheless, it's still going strong,
attracting a substantial audience both
inside and outside PTG. " 'The Morning
Toast' podcast was certainly a gem that
came out of a very difficult situation for our
44
Commercial Integrator APRIL 2023
Find " The Morning Toast "
podcast by PTG on YouTube
@themorningtoastbyptg5655.
company, " Fons reflects. " And it fell right in
line with what our culture is all about. "
Award-Winning Culture
PTG prioritizes keeping its staff members
connected and working together as a
team. In fact, if you ask Fons, he'll tell you
this is part of who PTG is. Thus, the company
prefers employees to come into the
office, rather than working remotely. After
the pandemic, leadership invited employees
to bring their pets into work with them,
adding another note of fun to the workday
experience. " On any given day, there could
be seven or eight pups running around at
any moment, " Fons says happily.
Clearly, the PTG team appreciates the
company's ethos of caring for its employees.
There's no better evidence than the
company recently having been recognized
as one of the " Best and Brightest
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Commercial Integrator April 2023

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