A lot of businesses had to adapt to working at home during the pandemic but things get a bit tricky when your main function is manufacturing.
Vista-based Watkins Wellness, which makes high-end hot tubs and aquatic fitness products, had no choice in the early days but to briefly furlough workers. It wasn’t long before the business was up and running again with workers inside the plant wearing masks and observing protocols to stop any spread of the virus.
For the rest of the workforce, it meant learning how to do their work from home. Despite being a manufacturer, there are a lot of jobs that aren’t necessary to take place in the Vista factory, such as positions that deal with the ordering and selling of products, and other logistics functions.
Watkins was surprised to find much of its workforce wanted to keep the work-from-home thing going even when things calmed down or, at the very least, some type of hybrid situation. The company responded by looking at jobs on a case-by-case basis. Some people work one day from home, others work three, some chose to come back full time and others are fully remote.
The flexibility is one of the reasons why Watkins was voted the No. 1 Top Workplace (large company category) for the first time based on employee interviews. Employees also say they enjoy the team atmosphere, lack of micro-management, opportunities for advancement and pride in the product they are building.
Watkins Wellness was founded in 1977 but has been part of the publicly traded Masco Corp. since 1986. Masco has a lot of well-known brands under its portfolio, including Behr paints and Delta faucets. Watkins has 760 employees across the United States but the majority, 700, are based in Vista.
Silvia Rocha-Espino, a vice president of people and culture (human resources), said the business gives flexibility to many of its workers depending on the task.
“There’s weeks when I’m not here at all, and others where I am here every day,” she said.
Rocha-Espino said about 70 percent of the workforce is in manufacturing, making it impossible to work from home, so there are other things that keep people around. Benefits included 401(k) programs with a 4 percent match; an annual bonus program; tuition reimbursement; discounts on products owned by Masco; a gift-matching program for charitable donations; and a profit-sharing program that employees are eligible for on Jan. 1 in the year following their date of hire.
She also said Watkins takes the “wellness” part of its name seriously with different programs to encourage employee health. One is a book where people can get points for different health-related accomplishments — going for a run, getting a flu shot, etc. — and then participate in a raffle where they give out prices based on points accumulated. Prizes range from dinners and gift cards to tickets to amusement parks like Legoland and SeaWorld.
Watkins says it has a 94 percent retention rate and an average tenure of 12 years. One of the employees to stick around for a long time, 10 years, is Robert Hall, an engineering lab manager.
He started as a quality inspector of its many hot tub products, moved up to engineering technician, then lab supervisor and then lab manager. He started at the company without a college degree but used Watkins’ tuition reimbursement program to obtain a degree in information technology through the online program of Colorado State University.
Hall said what keeps him there is working with the same people year after year that he likes.
“For me, that makes the job,” he said.
Watkins Wellness
A lot of workers take pride in Watkins’ final product. Its brands include Hot Spring Spas, which can seat up to seven people and cost up to $16,000 for the most luxurious models. Features can include its patented Moto-Massage jets, touch screen controls, multicolor lights and sound systems.
It also produces Endless Pools, at-home pools that allow a to swim in place or have an underwater treill. There are many different models that vary in price, but its high-end Elite Pool can start at $37,999. Its other spa brands include Caldera Spas, Freeflow Spas and Fantasy Spas.
Like many businesses around the world, Watkins has had to deal with supply chain shortages. However, it also produces many of its own parts at a separate facility in Tijuana.
One of Watkins’ newest employees is Eden Allen-Duenas, an assistant manager of production control, who started about 13 months ago. She works three days at the office and two days at home.
Allen-Duenas said working from home two days a week is a major help because she has two daughters at home, one 5 years old and another 17. Her husband is full-time remote, but she still said being there two days a week at their home in Temecula really helps out.
Allen-Duenas, who has worked at similar roles in other companies, said she likes the culture of Watkins and lack of a dress code.
“Everyone is really down to Earth,” she said. “There’s no uptight corporate feel.”
