In April, Modern Machine Shop (MMS) magazine’s Editor-in-Chief Brent Donaldson joined members of the National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA) on a technical tour throughout Italy.

While riding the bus between manufacturing facilities with NTMA members, Donaldson asked the business leaders on board “What technology, process or strategy has made the biggest impact on your machine shop?”

He subsequently summarized their replies and published them in MMS’s May issue and the response from our president and CEO, Alan Ortner, was among them. However, it was a different reply than most.

While the majority of other leaders cited the implementation of automation, software, and process improvements, Ortner highlighted Sirois Tool’s corporate culture.

“The most important thing for us is our culture”, he said. “We always say customers come first, but the employees are just as important. We don’t have much turnover because we treat people right.”

That seems to be a problem among other companies in recent years.

In its 2025 “State of Global Workplace” report, Gallup reported that global employee engagement declined 21% last year. And when employees aren’t engaged, they typically leave.

This isn’t a problem at Sirois, which has one of the lowest employee turnover rates in the industry. In 2023, one of our toolmakers celebrated his 50^th anniversary with us.

In another survey, Gallup noted that it costs between one-half to two times an employee’s annual salary to replace them – and this doesn’t include hidden costs that are difficult to quantify, like lost productivity or decreased morale and engagement.

Again, these are costs Sirois Tool doesn’t have to absorb.

But it isn’t just about the money. Every employee – from top to bottom – wants to believe that the work they do matters. They want to know they’ll be heard when they have an idea or a problem, and they want to be respected as a valued member of the company.

It’s not hard to meet these needs. When company leaders truly respect all employees and value the work they do, it just happens. A collaborative, engaged corporate culture organically develops. And when it does, everything else becomes easier.

In his response to Donaldson, Ortner also mentioned purchasing a Grob G350 with two pallets. Implementing this equipment, which Ortner said, “opened our eyes to new ways of doing things”, wouldn’t have been as successful without the support of his engaged team.

“Having the right tools and processes is important,” Ortner says, “but without an engaged team your shop won’t reach its full potential. Our corporate culture really has had the biggest impact on our success.”

If you’d like to join this culture, visit our careers page.