In August of this year, Aeronautical Center employees were asked to participate in a workplace survey hosted by Energage—an independent national employee survey company. The survey inquired about employee motivations and why people love their jobs. On December 6^th, at an event hosted by The Oklahoman and Energage held at the Criterion venue in Oklahoma City, the results of the Top Workplaces in Oklahoma were revealed.

Cheers of excitement could be heard throughout the audience as the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center was officially announced as a Top Workplace in Oklahoma! The Aeronautical Center ranked 17^th in the large-scale company category, those organizations having 350 employees or more. Several employees and leadership members attended to hear the first-hand news and share in the celebration.

Michelle Coppedge, Director of the Aeronautical Center, provided opening comments at the event. Later in the program, the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center was officially recognized as a Top Workplace. Coppedge explains, "Thousands of employees at the Aeronautical Center represent many skillsets to accomplish this extraordinary feat. With so many missions being accomplished at one location, it takes some serious competencies and expertise from highly dedicated individuals to achieve such global-reaching solutions."

Aeronautical Center employees have ranked the Center as one of Oklahoma’s Top Workplaces for four consecutive years. Employee engagement continues to rise, as indicated by an increase from 49% last year to 68% this year. To be considered a Top Workplace, organizations must have 35% or more of the employees respond to the survey, and the Aeronautical Center had our highest- response rate ever, with a 44% overall survey response rate. Some of the engagement strengths revealed by the Center attest that managers genuinely care about their employees and their desire to help them learn and grow. The Center has also remained above the 50^th percentile in this category for the past several years.

Employees were encouraged to provide a word that epitomizes why they love their jobs. Some keywords from their comments include "mission," "work-life balance," "flexibility," "support," "encouragement," and "culture."

Upon revealing our Top Workplace status, numerous emails were received from employees wanting to know more about this distinct award. This year alone, 67,651 employees from 2,823 organizations in Oklahoma participated in the Energage survey. Qualified employers are grouped into small, mid-sized, and large categories to compare similar employee experiences. Employers earn Top Workplace recognition if their aggregated employee feedback scores exceed national benchmarks. The employees are then ranked within the categories based on the strength of the survey feedback.

Based on employee survey feedback this year, 100 organizations earned recognition as a Top Workplace in Oklahoma. We were proud to be among the Top 25 employers who scored the highest in the large business category!

A Top Workplace ranking may not be surprising for a facility that has existed for 77 years. Having thousands of reliable and motivated employees certainly contributes to its success. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, growing a successful business is challenging, and only 25% of companies make it to the 15-year mark or beyond. Employees of the Aeronautical Center are glad that the facility and its mission have withstood the test of time.

Congratulations, MMAC, for helping unlock our potential and inspire extraordinary performance! Thank you to all who took the time to share your opinions and take the survey. To be a competitive employer, it’s even more critical that we focus on recruiting, retaining, and motivating employees. It’s good to work at a place where the culture is deliberate about employee engagement! Congratulations MMAC Employees!