{"id":21023,"date":"2023-11-22T16:47:46","date_gmt":"2023-11-22T16:47:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/?p=749455"},"modified":"2023-11-22T16:47:46","modified_gmt":"2023-11-22T16:47:46","slug":"best-agency-to-work-for-midwest-bronze-winner-greater-insurance-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/2023\/11\/22\/best-agency-to-work-for-midwest-bronze-winner-greater-insurance-service\/","title":{"rendered":"Best Agency to Work For \u2013 Midwest Bronze Winner: Greater Insurance Service"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul class=\"nav nav-tabs tabs tabs-entry\">\n<li class=\"active\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/midwest\/2023\/11\/22\/749455.htm\">Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/midwest\/2023\/11\/22\/749455.htm?comments\" rel=\"nofollow\">0 Comments<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"article-content clearfix\">\n<p>Sherri Gjermo, CEO of Greater Insurance Service Inc., is the second generation of leadership in the family business. And the third generation is already waiting in the wings.<\/p>\n<p>Founded in 1974, the Madison, Wisconsin-based agency was built on a philosophy of responsive, innovative customer service and a sense of camaraderie in the workplace, Gjermo said. Those values helped the agency earn the Bronze Regional Award for the Midwest region in Insurance Journal\u2019s annual Best Agencies to Work For competition.<\/p>\n<div class=\"bzn bzn-sized bzn-intext\">\n<ins data-revive-zoneid=\"79\" data-revive-block=\"1\" data-revive-id=\"36eb7c2bd3daa932a43cc2a8ffbed3a9\"><\/ins> <\/div>\n<p>Gjermo joined her father\u2019s agency after working as a flight attendant until 9\/11. The attacks drove her to pursue a new career path.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt that time, my father welcomed me into the family business, and I never looked back,\u201d Gjermo said. Her father, Richard Grams, CEO and founder, unexpectedly died of COVID three years ago.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis leadership and mentorship put me in the position to lead the organization,\u201d Gjermo said. Her daughter recently started with G.I.S. and will continue as the third-generation leader. \u201cMy succession plan is in place to carry on his legacy.\u201d<a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/app\/uploads\/2023\/11\/ij-best-agencies-to-work-for-2023-bronze.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-749072 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/app\/uploads\/2023\/11\/ij-best-agencies-to-work-for-2023-bronze-150x150.png\" alt width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/app\/uploads\/2023\/11\/ij-best-agencies-to-work-for-2023-bronze-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/app\/uploads\/2023\/11\/ij-best-agencies-to-work-for-2023-bronze.png 250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Gjermo takes pride in the agency\u2019s ability to provide the resources, education, and camaraderie needed to allow its team to take ownership of their work. She leads by example and encourages her team members to lead as well.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEmpower the workplace,\u201d she advises other agency owners. \u201cIt allows you to capitalize on the team\u2019s talent, validates their contributions and assists them in feeling more invested.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Employees, too, appreciate the path set forth by Gjermo and her father. One nominating employee cited the agency\u2019s unified efforts as one of its most valuable attributes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis legacy continues because of the longevity of the employees and agents around the state of Wisconsin who have continued to make this a successful business,\u201d wrote another nominating employee. \u201cAdditionally, ALL employees are treated like family and are fortunate to be provided with flexibility, benefits and most of all, kindness and appreciation for the work they do each and every day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another wrote, \u201cWe are a family-owned business and valued by our peers. We all work well together and are able to do so much very efficiently by utilizing the many talents of our employees. We have an amazing atmosphere and strong community-based way of thinking and working.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One testament to the agency\u2019s successful team building is that employees stick around and new potential employees are easy to recruite.<\/p>\n<p>Longevity of employees is an important part of having a successful business, Gjermo said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMany employees have been with G.I.S. for over 30 years,\u201d Gjermo said. \u201cOur employees are the core of the organization.\u201d She says a key part of the agency\u2019s success is that employees feel empowered to exhaust their talent and expertise thereby minimizing feelings of micromanaging.<\/p>\n<p>One nominating employee wrote, \u201cI have been working for the agency for the past 35 years, and I am very happy with the operations of the company.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another said, \u201cIt\u2019s hard for<\/p>\n<p>\u2018experienced\u2019 employees to feel valued. At G.I.S., they value our experience. All ages work together to grow our agency.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The agency draws talent because of its stellar reputation in the industry and with its customers, wrote a nominating employee.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019ve heard what a great company that we have and that goes from the owner to management to the agents to the customer service reps \u2014 all together this makes an amazing organization to work for,\u201d they wrote. \u201cI will retire working for this company.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>See All Winners: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/best-insurance-agencies-to-work-for\/\">Best Insurance Agencies to Work For<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"bzn bzn-sized bzn-intext-2\">\n<ins data-revive-zoneid=\"162\" data-revive-block=\"1\" data-revive-id=\"36eb7c2bd3daa932a43cc2a8ffbed3a9\"><\/ins> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-poll\" data-post=\"749455\">\n<div class=\"article-poll-vote\">\n<p>Was this article valuable?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-poll-feedback voted-no\">\n<form class=\"feedback-form\">\n<p>Thank you! Please tell us what we can do to improve this article.<\/p>\n<p> <textarea placeholder=\"Enter your feedback...\"><\/textarea> <button type=\"submit\" class=\"submit\" disabled>Submit<\/button> <button class=\"cancel\">No Thanks<\/button> <\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-poll-feedback voted-yes\">\n<form class=\"feedback-form\">\n<p>Thank you! <span class=\"percent\"><\/span>% of people found this article valuable. Please tell us what you liked about it.<\/p>\n<p> <textarea placeholder=\"Enter your feedback...\"><\/textarea> <button type=\"submit\" class=\"submit\" disabled>Submit<\/button> <button class=\"cancel\">No Thanks<\/button> <\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-poll-more-articles\">\n<p class=\"thank-you-text\">Here are more articles you may enjoy.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"author-byline clearfix\">\n<div class=\"author-byline-content\">\n<h4 class=\"author-byline-name\"> <small>Written By<\/small> Jahna Jacobson <\/h4>\n<p class=\"author-byline-bio\"> Jahna Jacobson is an Assistant Editor for Insurance Journal Magazine. <\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/author\/jahna-jacobson\/\" class=\"author-byline-more\"> More From Author <i class=\"fas fa-caret-right\"><\/i> <\/a> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"subscribe-banner subscribe-banner-in-content-2\">\n<div class=\"content\">\n<h4>The most important insurance news,in your inbox every business day.<\/h4>\n<p>Get the insurance industry&#8217;s trusted newsletter<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Article 0 Comments Sherri Gjermo, CEO of Greater Insurance Service Inc., is the second generation of leadership in the family business. And the third generation is already waiting in the wings. Founded in 1974,&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21024,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[426,427,13,1],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/best-agency-to-work-for-midwest-bronze-winner-greater-insurance-service.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21023"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21023"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21023\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}