The Spark
ICC International is a precision job shop in Maryville that manufactures commutators and slip rings for direct and alternating current motors. Every unit is custom-built for each application. Nothing is mass-produced. That means every employee is highly skilled, and it takes at least a full year of training before the company sees a return on a new hire. When an outstanding production worker came to CFO and General Manager Tracy Queen and said he had a child care problem but wanted to keep his job, Tracy did not treat it as a policy question. She treated it as a business question: this person took a year to train, is excellent at what he does, and is asking for help. Why would we not figure this out?
The Solution
ICC does not have a child care program. It has a process. When an employee raises a child care issue, management sits down with them and their production supervisor, puts all the cards on the table, and works out a schedule adjustment that meets both sides. The employee commits to specific hours and responsibilities. The company commits to the flexibility. Both sign a written agreement with a defined time frame, and it goes in the employee’s file.
The solutions are as varied as the situations. One production worker on the 6 a.m. shift needed to drop his preschool-age granddaughter at child care, which did not open until 6. He committed to arriving by 6:30 every day and staying 30 minutes later. A salaried office employee shifted her lunch to late afternoon so she could meet her child at home after school, get them settled until another family member arrived, and return. She made up any extra time by coming in early or staying late. Another employee’s daughter changed high schools and lost bus access. She rode to work with her father at 6 a.m. and sat in the break room doing homework until he clocked out to drive her to school at 8, then clocked back in. When school closures have left parents with no options, ICC has let them bring children into the break room with cartoons and coloring pages, with the whole team voluntarily taking turns checking in.
The common thread is documentation. Tracy is emphatic about this: every arrangement is written, signed, and filed. If another employee asks why someone gets a different schedule, there is a documented agreement explaining the situation, the terms, and the time frame. That protects the employee, protects the company, and prevents the perception of favoritism that kills morale in a small shop.
The Results
As of 2026, every employee that ICC has worked with on a child care arrangement is still with the company (or left only when a job closer to home eliminated a long commute, which the company fully supported). The daughter who used to sit in the break room doing homework? ICC hired her. She is now in an apprenticeship program to become a machinist, following in her father’s footsteps. That is a recruiting story no job posting can buy.
The broader culture shift has been dramatic. ICC experienced high turnover before and during COVID. In 2024, leadership overhauled the company culture, implemented an entrepreneurial operating system (EOS), and made retention a core metric. Turnover has declined sharply. New hires are greeted by name on their first day. Existing staff donate their own sick days and vacation days to colleagues facing health crises. Tracy frames it simply: when you have people who fit your culture and want to stay, you figure it out. And you document it.
THE BLUEPRINT
Investment: $0 direct cost. No stipend, no facility, no contract. The only investment is management time for the conversation, the schedule adjustment, and the documentation. For a company that spends a full year training each skilled employee, the cost of flexibility is a fraction of the cost of replacement.
Timeline: Immediate. Each arrangement is negotiated and documented within days of the employee raising the issue. No approvals, no committees, no construction.
Partners: None required. An employment attorney is recommended to ensure documentation protects both sides, but the solution is entirely internal.
Key Decision: Documenting every arrangement. Each flexible schedule agreement is written up with the employee’s commitment, the employer’s commitment, and the time frame, then signed by both parties. That documentation prevents the “why does so-and-so get special treatment” problem and makes the benefit scalable, repeatable, and legally defensible.
Their Advice: “Before I told them anything, I’d ask: what is your biggest fear about having this conversation? Let’s find out what’s behind the hesitation, because when you have an excellent employee who comes to you with a problem and says they love their job and want to stay, if you’re a smart employer, you figure it out.” – Tracy Queen, CFO & GM