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Does
Kindness
Pay?
by Betty
Dowdy (TNU
2008)
In an
article
titled
Workforce
Management,
Jessica
Marquez
asks
whether
kindness
pays
off.
In 1995,
Rocky
Flats,
Colorado
was not
a place
where
people
wanted
to
work.
Dangerous
levels
of
radiation
prompted
an FBI
raid at
a former
nuclear
weapons
plant.
The
plant
soon
closed
and the
difficult
process
of clean
up
began.
The
Department
of
Energy
estimated
the
cleanup
would
take 70
years
and $36
billion
dollars
to
finish.
Kaiser-Hill,
a Denver
based
engineering
and
construction
firm,
won the
contract
for the
cleanup.
The
company
beat the
Energy
Department
estimates
by 60
years
and came
in $30
billion
under
budget.
Company
executives
attribute
their
success
to a
corporate
culture
based on
using
positive
strategies
to
motivate
employees.
CH2MHILL,
the
parent
company
of
Kaiser-Hill,
has
spent
more
than $5
million
since
1999.
The
company
put 700
senior
managers
through
the
University
of
Michigan’s
Ross
School
of
Business
training
program.
The
school
focuses
on a
philosophy
called
“positive
organizational
scholarship.”
The
program
is based
on the
idea
that by
using
positive
communication,
companies
can
demonstrate
superior
performance.
“Their
approach
of
embracing
the
desire
to not
only be
the best
in the
world
but the
best for
the
world
really
spoke to
the core
of its
culture.”
The
company
puts 120
executives
through
the
program
each
year.
Its
annual
overall
training
budget
is more
than $20
million.
CH2Mhill
is part
of a
trend to
spend
training
dollars
on
creating
a kinder
and more
positive
culture.
Disciples
of
positive
organizational
scholarship
admit
they
cannot
correlate
culture
and
results.
Even so,
they
believe
it is
worth
the
investment.
CH2MHILL
says its
positive
culture
has
allowed
it to
grow
into the
international
firm it
is
today.
During
the
period
from
2001 to
2006,
both the
number
of
employees
and the
company’s
revenues
doubled.
Executives
say
employee
surveys
back up
the
theory
that
company
culture
is the
driver
of its
growth.
“Our
employees
say the
top
motivator
to work
is the
challenging
nature
of what
we
do.”
However,
the
second
reason
they
come to
work is
the
respectful
nature
of the
workforce.
Money
comes
third.
Company
executives
were
clear
about
the
challenges
they
faced at
Rocky
Flats
when
they won
the
contract.
On top
of the
dangerous
work,
there
was a
huge
sense of
mistrust
among
the
former
workers.
Previous
contractors
at the
site had
operated
in a
“command
and
control”
style.
Rarely
would
hourly
employees
feel
that
they
could go
to the
company
president
about an
issue.
Despite
the
challenges,
the
company
kept the
workers
instead
of
replacing
them
with its
own
people.
However,
the
company
replaced
much of
the
former
management
to
instill
a new
culture.
Executives
worked
alongside
the
employees
while
they
tore
down a
building
of
executive
offices.
This act
was to
show the
workforce
they
were
valued.
According
to Amy
Lyman,
“Over
time
there is
a
cumulative
effect
that
says
the100
Best
Places
to Work
are
better
financial
performers
than
others.
These
companies
have
established
trust,
which is
the glue
that
helps
employees
work
well
with
each
other.”
This
article
definitely
correlates
with the
class
readings.
The
organization
had very
effective
leaders
who
assumed
their
responsibility
and got
their
jobs
done
effectively.
Obtainable
goals
were set
and
incentives
were
available
and
given to
the
workforce.
The
organization
knew the
challenges
they
were
dealing
with.
They
willingly
took the
time to
help
restore
some of
the
broken
trust
that had
previously
existed.
Deeply
embedded
in the
core of
the
executives’
beliefs
is the
vision
of what
their
company
represents.
Works
Cited
Marquez,
Jessica.
“Kindness
Pays…Or
Does
It?”
Workforce
Management.
Costa
Mesa: 25
June
2007:
86.
ProQuest.
Trevecca
Lib.,
Nashville.
15 March
2008:
http://0-proquest.umi.com
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