For the third consecutive year, Plante Moran is the No. 1 large company in the Detroit Free Press Top Workplaces competition. And when asked to explain his company’s sustained high performance in the competition, Jim Proppe, managing partner of the Southfield-based audit, tax, consulting, and wealth management firm, pointed to one question posed by his leadership team at the beginning of the year.

“In 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, we said we wanted to come out of this stronger than we were going in, so the question for us coming into this year was are we doing enough for our staff?,” Proppe explained.

However, while Proppe may have posed the question to his leadership, he revealed that the group most qualified to provide a response was, in fact, Plante Moran’s entire workforce and once that was done, the real fun began.

“We asked the staff what will help them the most?” Proppe recalled. “But that’s like going out and asking 40 people on the street about something. You’re likely to get 40 different ideas, and one size fits one.”

Ultimately, Proppe said an answer was found which addressed the needs of Plante Moran’s entire workforce in the form of a “balance fund,” that provides reimbursement for personal experiences and activities that bring balance to the lives of individual team members. A short list of ways the fund has been used reported includes student loans, technology, child care, support for parents and cooking classes.

And just as the fund has reimbursed team members for a wide variety of helpful and empowering endeavors, Proppe says the way team members and their families have expressed their approval has come in many forms as well, including a note penned by a staff member which read: “Thanks Plante Moran for help with our vacation!”

Plante Moran

Industry: Professional Services

Top leadership: Jim Proppe, managing partner

Home: Southfield

Employees: 3,135 (Global); 1,943 (Michigan).

Website: plantemoran.com

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Asking the right question produces an empowering outcome at Plante Moran