RICHFIELD, Ohio – Despite the growth National Interstate Insurance has enjoyed over the last 22 years, Chief Operating Officer Shawn Los still believes it is important to “do things the old-fashioned way.”
When Los joined the commercial transportation insurer as an underwriting trainee in 2001, the company employed about 100 people and had a portfolio of $100 million. It operated on one floor of an office building nestled at the very back of a small business park along I-271 in Richfield.
Today, the corporate headquarters, still in that same location, consists of three state-of-the art buildings, housing nearly 800 employees, and boasts $1 billion in business. But it is still not a household name.
“And that’s OK with me,” Los said. “When most people think of insurance, they can readily name Progressive and Geico and Allstate. Unless they are in the trucking or construction or busing industries, I doubt there is anyone who thinks of National Interstate Insurance. We are a niche company that has evolved.
“Despite the growth, our real success comes from still maintaining that small company mentality. And, you know, we do still do a lot of things the same way we always did. I firmly believe it is that human touch that matters, no matter how much we grow.”
National Interstate Insurance is ranked as the No. 2 best place to work among the large employers in the 2023 Top Workplaces in Northeast Ohio list.
Read more: For the 2023 Top Workplaces list, cleveland.com and the Plain Dealer have compiled 214 stand-out Northeast Ohio employers based on employee surveys. Find the full list and stories on the top three winners in each of four categories at cleveland.com/top-workplaces.
When a visitor walks through the door – or a client calls in – they are greeted with a smile and a warm welcome from two receptionists, both of whom have been with the company for more than a decade.
“I firmly believe visitors want to see a human when they walk through the door, rather than buzz and have to speak through a box. I think it is important that when you call on the phone, you get a person on the other end, not a ‘push 5 for X.’ If you don’t feel the warmth and see a smile when you walk through the door or call on the phone, then we have a problem,” Los said.
But it is more than how a client perceives that “personal touch” that matters to Los.
“We have plenty of celebrations here – marking employee milestones and promotions – just like other businesses, but we also try to celebrate those parts of our employees’ lives that happen outside of the office,” Los explained.
While many corporations have dropped company picnics or holiday celebrations, Los still believes they are a “big deal” and need to remain a part of his company’s culture.
Summer celebrations for the whole family involve taking over the entire campus – parking lots and grassy areas – with plenty of entertainment options for the kids, food and opportunities for relaxed conversation for the adults. Holiday parties happen in January because Los’ opinion is that families should be together for the holiday season, and he doesn’t want to add “one more thing” to an already busy time.
“Truthfully, and I know this sounds corny, but the people I work with have become like my second family. I just I love the people I work with,” National Interstate Insurance employee Julie McGraw gushed. “They’re just the best people I’ve ever worked with, and I’ve worked with some pretty great people in other jobs, but there’s just something about the camaraderie here.
McGraw has been with National Interstate for 17 years.
“We have each other’s back. It’s not like we don’t argue every day, because we do. And that’s what family does, right? But I just know that they’ve got my back and I’ve got theirs. I knew within six months when I started — and I took my first vacation — and I missed the people I work with. I genuinely missed the people. That’s how I knew I was in the right spot. And I have never wanted to look elsewhere.”
During the year, all the employees come together for monthly meetings, to get updated on the business side of things, but to also have the opportunity to bring new ideas or get their concerns before upper management.
“The goal is to get everyone’s voices heard. We want to hear what’s meaningful to them, what matters, because, you know, they’re the ones driving this ship on a daily basis and are really, whether we succeed or we don’t succeed with our objectives is tied to the people, the entire team,” he said.
That tenant resonated with Olivia Gilbert, who came to Interstate right out of John Carroll University two years ago as part of the company’s ‘Ignitor’ program.
“One of the best parts about starting a career at National Interstate is that you really do get to build your own path and go in any direction you choose – and you know that you have the support of management and your team,” she said. “I knew, coming in, that I wanted to work in business development and so I was really vocal about that. I did my best to get myself in front of opportunities whenever I could. If I said I wanted to pursue a project, they said ‘absolutely,’ and found a way to support me in that journey.”
“That’s our differentiator, that we have engaged and passionate people here,” said Los. “We can hire a lot of smart people. We can teach them insurance. But if they are not passionate and engaged in what they do, I don’t think we’d be as successful as we are. Obviously, we want to achieve our objectives, but that is not what gets people excited every morning to come in and do the best job they can do. And that filters down to our customers, our outside vendors and all the people that we work with.
“Other COOs talk about the ‘culture,’ but I firmly believe it is the people that sets us apart.”
