10y
Thank you for your review. I appreciate your feedback and hearing what you think my honest response would have been to the question you asked me three years ago. I do sincerely regret that I didn’t give you a better answer to your question - an answer you would have remembered instead of leaving you to fabricate one here on my behalf. Clearly, I should have done a better job answering your question.
I would like to point out that meeting in Phoenix was nearly three years ago and a lot has changed in the past three years. We are a vastly different company, I think, and I am different, more mature and thoughtful leader.
I want to address your comments that we don’t treat team members like assets. I do value and care about team members and we have made recent major strides and improvements that illustrate our serious commitment in this regard. For example, in the past year alone we instituted lucrative 401(k) matching, started covering a lot more (and in many instances 100%) of family medical coverage and invested and are investing in management training. Despite these improvements, however, we still have room to grow when it comes to providing opportunities and creating value for our team members, including better career paths for all positions so that every position at Access can be a career, not just one that will advance your career.
Right now we are taking a closer look at what is “working” at Access and where/how we can improve at each and every location. In addition to attentively listening these reviews on Glassdoor, we are using focus groups (and have met with over 300 team members in over 15 locations in the past 45 days), “town hall meetings” at some of our branches and team member satisfaction surveys to gather real and direct feedback from the team. We are investing in these opportunities to hear directly from our team members to understand what improvements are needed most – and changes are underway. Further, we are continually exploring ways to provide opportunities to promote qualified personnel into leadership positions as this is a great way to provide opportunities for team members, to build stronger team member relationships and improve morale.
Additionally, the rumor that we are being sold to Iron Mountain has been around since we were founded over 10 years ago. I have heard this every month for nearly a decade, yet, it still hasn’t materialized. What is true is that we did just receive a new equity investment from another partner last year and remain committed to sustainable growth. And, yes, we have an acquisitive growth strategy and are acquiring and have acquired many companies, some relatively large, some small and some in between. We have also incorporated the development of a comprehensive digital and electronic content management solution as a core part of our growth strategy in the past year. We are evolving and maturing as a company in this regard, as well. So, while I certainly don’t agree with you that we will someday be obsolete, nor are we a dying dinosaur, I do believe the incorporation of an innovative digital strategy is vital to our long term continued success.
I want to make one thing here abundantly clear: We are far from perfect, but our growth strategy creates value for our clients, team members and for the communities in which we operate. And, yes, we also create value for our shareholders (including me). It is profitable and growing companies, like Access, that truly create opportunities for team members and we will continue to invest in growth to create value for our clients, team members and the communities in which we operate.
Finally, I have addressed unethical practice assertions in other reviews, and here is what I said, which bears repeating: "any “borderline unethical practices” and lying to clients simply won’t be tolerated, at any level. If a team member is aware of any unethical practices taking place, I ask him or her – right now – to reach out to me directly, so I can immediately address it.”. Our contracts, which are based on industry standard term and conditions, are legal, just and fair. As such, the value we extend to our customers is secured by our contracts which protect them as the customer as well as Access as a company with world class facilities and a dedicated team that manages and protects highly sensitive and valuable information for our clients.
Again thank you for your feedback. I believe that you will see positive changes as Access continues to grow.
