COMPANY: Atlas Insurance Agency, Inc.

BEST PLACES TO WORK 2011 RANK: No. 9, Medium-sized companies (50 to 249 employees)

VACATION DAYS A YEAR: 10

VOLUNTARY TURNOVER RATE: 8 percent

BENEFITS: Employees who refer new hires receive a bonus; offers 401k match; company pays 100 percent of medical coverage premium

You might recall Atlas Insurance from our Best Places to Work story in April. It’s the company with its president, Myles Murakami, dressed as the Easter Bunny.

Since April, Atlas has planned and implemented three company goals: build a better business, better leaders and strengthen the community.

Atlas’s director of professional development, Greg Chilson, says, “A focus on our core business, on our people, and on our community is a far cry from our previous goals that were sales-focused.”

EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION: Atlas awards employees with $2,000 if they complete insurance-related professional designations, he says.

MORALE BOOSTERS: Employees have to be motivated to produce their best quality work for the company. Chilson says the company holds annual meetings to recap the previous year’s results and share goals for the future. And, of course, mix in some good grinds.

“During annual meetings we treat everyone to breakfast and lunch, and play inspirational videos of our year in pictures,” Chilson says.

AWARDS AND HONORS: In 2009, the Hawaii Better Business Bureau awarded Atlas a Torch Award for their trustworthiness, performance and integrity.

“That’s something every insurance company or agency craves to have on their resume, but we earned it,” Chilson says.

WHY ARE YOU A BEST PLACE TO WORK?: “Corny, overused, not always sincere when used by others, but I’m going to go with it anyway … our people,” Chilson says. “We’ve got some very talented people over here at Atlas that firmly believes in doing business the right way.

That’s important, particularly because we are in an industry that’s not always looked favorably upon. We’ve got lots of college graduates, lots of professional designees, lots of years of practical insurance experience, and lots of heart. We are regularly out there in our community letting them know who Atlas is, but more importantly, we are learning more about our community and finding meaningful ways to give back. Hawaii is our home after all!”

In April, Hawaii Business released the results of 2011’s Best Places to Work in Hawaii.

Since this assessment is only conducted once every year, we wanted to follow up with some of the companies to see how they are keeping business booming and employees happy.

Is your company a Best Place to Work? Register for free at bestplacestoworkinhi.com