FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

A TULSA COMPANY IS ELIMINATING JERKS/STRESS IN THE WORKPLACE

TULSA, OKLA. (June 2009) — As Road Science, LLC™ embarks on its new beginning in the road paving industry, the company has become an early adopter of the “Jerk-Free Workplace” with the help of The People Group, LLC, a Tulsa company specializing in positive people practices consulting. Adopting this policy adds Road Science to a short list of only 15 companies in the United States, and the first in Tulsa, who have made a commitment to establishing a jerk-free and bully-free work environment.

According to the employee experience brochure, “Road Science is committed to providing all Team Members a healthy and safe work environment,” and labels bullish behavior as “unacceptable, because it breaches principles of equality and fairness.” Kevin Kennemer, founder and partner of The People Group, holds a passionate view on the importance of operating a workplace free of incivility and bullying. Kennemer said, “jerks can be high performers, but create problems. By Road Science adopting an intolerance to bullying, it will prevent harmful workplace issues, and allow the company to provide, undoubtedly, the best work environment in Tulsa.”

In addition to providing a positive work environment, The People Group and Road Science hope to prevent health-harming issues that are a product of continuous psychological mistreatment and result from being subjected to bullying. Stress-related illnesses can cause employees to withdraw from their peers, friends and family, and can also cause performance on the job to suffer, ultimately, leading to a negative impact on the entire organization.

Brian Majeska, Chief Operating Officer at Road Science, commented, “our management team believes that extraordinary businesses care about three people: the teammate, the customer, the owner. Today, one of our primary focuses is the teammate; each other. Any success we achieve in the future will be based on the environment we are creating today; an ethical environment of trust, belief, collaboration and innovation.

Through this partnership, The People Group is able to provide positive people practice strategies to Road Science in order to attract and retain the best talent through innovative compensation and benefits, as well as a revolutionary, healthy and attractive work environment.

For more information about enacting a Jerk-Free and Bully-Free work environment, please contact The People Group at 888.797.9992.

Road Science, LLC is the leading technology company for the road paving industry. The company focuses on developing long-term business relationships with contractors, manufacturers and agencies. With a team of nearly 100 professionals, Road Science specializes in differentiated products and services for contractors and asphalt manufacturers, as well as assists agencies in creating greater value by protecting and re-using pavements.

www.roadsciencellc.com

The People Group, LLC was founded on the premise that positive people practices are primarily the missing component of average performing companies. Founder Kevin Kennemer, a Tulsa, Okla., native, has twenty years of valuable people practices experience and was formerly the chief human resource officer of an international energy company that rose from obscurity to #5 on Forbes list of largest privately help companies, and was known for their great work environment.

www.thepeoplegroupllc.com

Media Contacts:

Amy Chiconas
Road Science, LLC
Office 918.524.7100
achiconas@roadsciencellc.com

Kevin Kennemer
The People Group, LLC
Office 888.797.9992
kevin@thepeoplegroupllc.com

During lunch the other day I was seeking marketing advice from a good friend and respected business leader.  Full of wonderful and relevant ideas, she mentioned my writing style tended to be very direct.  This Tulsa business leader said a couple of articles seemed to reach out and grab the reader in a more threatening tone.  Because I greatly respect her opinion, I wanted to share some thoughts.

First, I apologize if my writing is too aggressive at times. Unfortunately, we work in a business climate today where overly aggressive behavior is rewarded. The “just get the job done” attitude is not the way to build long-term, viable organizations. Short-term thinking and decision-making, along with greedy behavior, will eventually lead to an organization’s failure.

Why So Direct?

It is not my intention to offend people, just help them think about important people issues at work.  Typically, leaders have no problem being excruciatingly direct with employees.  My role is to be direct with business leaders while trying to avoid a harsh tone.  Your job is difficult.  I feel your pain.

When I played tennis I found improvement was gained when playing against better tennis players. Good tennis players don’t go easy on you.  They serve hard and aggressively attack the ball. Reading challenging people practice articles, whether on this blog or other sources, is a good way to bring reality, objectivity, sincerity and best practices into your organization’s people initiatives.  However, I promise to not throw my racket at you or hit you in the head with a tennis ball – on purpose anyway.

My Dream Became a Nightmare

In my last corporate position the company was full of promise and the possibilities, both personally and professionally, were a dream come true.  I have not met many business people who have had the opportunity to help start a company and be part of the team to see it grow into a multi-billion dollar enterprise with national recognition.  It was a dream come true in many respects.

That dream turned into a nightmare for me and thousands of other stakeholders.  As the chief human resources officer, I began to sense there was something terribly wrong with the leaders and was trying to cautiously work behind the scenes to identify the issues and work with the CEO.  Eventually, my efforts to help address the company’s leadership issues failed, but not without great costs to me personally, physically and financially.

Most whistle-blowers end up being harassed, bullied or disciplined. Fifty-percent of whistle-blowers are fired.

The targets of workplace bullies typically suffer from devastating physical affects.

That company is now in the midst of a nasty, disorganized and prolonged bankruptcy.  The SEC, FBI and IRS are all investigating the events leading up to the bankruptcy filing.

My Writing Style

So why do I write the way I do?  It is my hope your company’s employees will avoid the pain and anguish associated with leadership failure.  Business leaders should take seriously their brand of corporate culture.  All organizations should treat employees with dignity and respect and adopt and model positive people practices.

Everything Rises and Falls on Leadership

Great companies can fall, and quickly. Employees do not destroy companies, the top leaders possess this power to build up or tear down an organization.

I was fortunate to escape that smoldering house before it went up in flames.  Actually, I was thrown out a second story window with only the clothes on my back while the owner was secretly dousing the place with gasoline.  The others inside were either unaware or uninterested in my observations about the company’s future.  Sadly, my predictions came true.

My motivation is to help prevent another leadership meltdown. When leaders fail, they bring many innocent people with them.  The risks are too great to sit and be silent.

Will you join me in spreading the message of Positive People Practices?

While attending a Great Place to Work Institute annual conference an organizational consultant told the story of a client who prominently displayed posters throughout their offices with the message, “Our valued employees are always treated with trust and respect.”   Yet the consultant noticed employees underwent exhaustive and intrusive security searches when entering and exiting the offices each day.  It was obvious the employer did not really trust their people.  The consultant observed the employees were quite uncomfortable with the invasive nature of the security process.

Considered a highly unusual practice for a civilian organization with very little security concerns, the consultant questioned the leaders about the conflicting message of “trust and respect” while employees were subjected to daily body searches. The organization stopped the security searches.

Avoid Conflicting Messages

In this case, the leaders were oblivious to the conflicting message of building trust and the ongoing practice of their security measures. That’s why business leaders should carefully consider the environment they want to create for their employees.  A well planned and executed people strategy will help you avoid these big, hairy contradictory messages that create barriers between employees and management.

Since corporate culture flows down from the top, determine in advance what message you want your employees to receive through your leadership team’s actions.

People Strategy is Mission Critical

When preparing your business plan, seriously consider the people strategy component of your enterprise.  People strategy is as important as your marketing strategy or finance statements. Many CEO’s will boast in their annual reports, “Our people are our most important asset” because that is what a CEO is expected to say in print or on camera.  But in reality do most CEO’s develop a Great Workplace strategy where employees are treated as whole persons and where leaders are measured on their soft skills? Based on the vast numbers of unhappy, unfulfilled, disengaged and burnt out American workers across this great nation, my educated guess is a resounding “no!”

A business owner should seriously consider their written and unwritten people strategies and make room for this subject in their business plan, whether you have ten or ten-thousand employees.  Even solo-practitioners rely on other people, including business associates, partners, affiliates, vendors, and other professionals, to accomplish their goals.  A well-developed people strategy is critically important to any businesses long-term viability.

Most Successful People Like People

First of all, it helps if you like people. To some leaders, overseeing people is like dealing with the IRS: they avoid them at all cost.  I cannot count the times leaders have told me they hate dealing with people issues.  However, many leaders allow the people component of their business to be formulated by chance.  It is difficult to succeed in business if you don’t like people.  It is not a good idea to outsource your people function to uncaring, unattached outsiders.  Even if you outsource merely the transaction components of human resource management, a leader cannot outsource the employee relations component without disastrous consequences.

If business leaders are not involved in corporate life, the company’s culture becomes a process of evolution, mutation, and happenstance in an uncaring environment.  These are great ingredients for stirring up a prison riot, but not such a great way to develop a great working environment.

Sometimes the temptation is to ignore people problems altogether and hope the problems magically disappear.  However, poor decision-making, or lack of decision-making, can lead to a toxic work environment and a multitude of people issues.

Positive People Practice Questions

When developing or evaluating your business plan, ask and answer the following Positive People Practice (also known as P3) questions when creating a People Strategy section in your business plan:

• Company Culture - Every company has one and no two are alike.  What type company culture do you want for your enterprise?  The culture will typically mirror the personality of a strong leader or CEO. It is good to establish in writing the foundation of the company’s personality.
• Flexibility - How flexible will your company be with employees?  Will you automatically say “no” to reasonable requests or seriously consider and evaluate employee requests for work/life flexibility?  Flexible employers are known to be more productive and profitable.
• Results Only – Are you prepared to base employee performance on results rather than the outdated practices of brown-nosing and face time?
• How Results Happen – How results happen are as important as the results. Will employees and leaders be accountable for their behavior in getting work accomplished?  Make sure results at any cost is not condoned by your leadership.
• Telecommuting – Will employees have the flexibility to work away from the office as long as they get their work done on time and with the quality expected? Today’s technological advances have made telecommuting a practical solution for a number of positions.
• Recruiting by Cultural Fit – Will you carefully screen each new hire to determine if they will live and work according to your company culture? Potential new leaders should also be subjected to a culture fit analysis since this is where many problems crop up.
• Dress Code - How are employees expected to dress for work? Business, business casual, casual, beach attire? Make sure leaders dress like your employees too.  Opportunity seeking leaders will be tempted to dress up in a dress down environment to gain a psychological advantage over other employees.
• Corporate Values - What are the values and guiding principles of your organization?  These guidelines communicate a great message to job applicants and help existing employees and leaders make decisions when faced with difficult circumstances?
• Code of Conduct - How are employees and leaders expected to act during the work week?  What is considered acceptable or unacceptable behavior? Is business ethics taken seriously?
• Jerk-Free Workplace – Will you consider instituting an anti-bullying and jerk-free workplace policy where workplace terrorists are terminated after one official warning? Unfortunately the incivility of our society is creeping into the workplace and business leaders need to stop hiring jerks at work.

Seriously consider these people strategy issues when developing your business plan and your chances of outlasting, outperforming and outmaneuvering the competition will increase exponentially.

Your chest is pounding. Anxious feelings resurface as painful office altercations replay in your mind causing a sick feeling in your stomach. Your shoulders and neck begin to tighten and ache. Your mind ruminates over last week’s noxious encounter with a bully manager and his evil recruits. Although Sunday is supposed to be a restful day to invigorate your mental and physical wellbeing, you find yourself mentally clocked-in at the office, clocked-out at home, and woefully dreading the next day to begin. Sound familiar?

Unfortunately, this is a common Sunday afternoon mental exercise American workers relive at the beginning of many work weeks. Sadly, the recurrence of fear and trepidation on Sunday is well-founded. Researchers discovered a few years ago the deadliest time of the week is Monday morning as workers return to their job. There are twenty percent more incidents of heart attacks on Mondays due to the stress of returning to toxic company cultures with abusive managers.

Although brave soldiers have sacrificed and the United States have spent billions to stop violence against defenseless countries and our world allies, our nation has not gained control of the increasing psychological violence inside the borders of the American workplace. Civility, trust and respect seem to be losing ground to schoolyard-type bullies who work in the corner office. Competition for promotions, raises and bonuses can bring out the worst in people. If results at any cost are rewarded, company managers and employees may resort to bullying behavior to get things done; an unethical, inhumane, but perfectly legal management technique in America.

Although it is illegal to discriminate against women or minorities based on sex or race, it is perfectly legal in the United States for an unreformed-schoolyard-bully-turned-executive to yell, scream, berate, curse, belittle, exclude, or be downright cruel to employees. According to Dr. Gary Namie, Workplace Bullying Institute, “Bullying is mostly legal. Employers can ignore it with little risk. However, it is four times more prevalent than illegal status-based discrimination.”

Some companies encourage and reward bullying tactics that force employees to cower and passively accept their role to do what you are told. Typically, an employee who complains of such bullying behavior to human resources will eventually be terminated in a matter of days, weeks or months. Although human resources should review, investigate and resolve each employee relations issue in an objective manner, human resource professionals and friends of the bully tend to turn against the target of the bullying behavior.

When company leadership adopts, models and promotes positive people practices and initiates the process of creating a great place to work, the toxic levels inside the organization will begin to fall and employee energy and engagement will begin to rise.