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Contacts: Rick Melcher: 312-795-3550
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Winning Workplaces: New Organization Helps Create Great Workplaces
Evanston, Ill., June 6, 2002 – For small and midsize businesses, access to the information and resources to help build a better workplace has been out of reach – until now. The launch of Winning Workplaces (www.winningworkplaces.org), a Chicago-based, not-for-profit, brings proven, practical, and affordable tools and services to this long under-served market.
Winning Workplaces grows out of the passion and experience of its founders, the Lehman family, and extensive research that demonstrates the interest of smaller organizations in programs that can help build better workplaces. “We wanted to go where there is the greatest need to help put in place the building blocks of a great workplace,” says Kenneth Lehman, founder and chairman of Winning Workplaces and a member of one of the families that formerly owned, Fel-Pro, Inc., the auto parts manufacturer widely noted for its profitability and workplace values and practices.
Winning Workplaces is firmly rooted in the proven connection between good people practices and business success. Fel-Pro, which was recognized by Working Mother as a great workplace and ranked No. 4 on Fortune magazine's list of 100 Best Companies to Work For in 1998, was a showcase, and study after study draws the connection at scores of other companies. With its online clearinghouse for research and original “Success Story” profiles, its easy-to-use Tool KitsTM, and consulting services, Winning Workplaces provides the information and resources that for too long have been out of reach for all but the largest organizations. "We want to demonstrate to other employers that great workplaces are better for people and better for business,” says Lehman, 58. “There is an abundance of evidence showing that employees in great workplaces are more loyal and productive and treat customers well,” says Lehman.
Winning Workplaces’ Building Blocks
The foundation of a great workplace is constructed on commonsense principles,
or Building Blocks: Open Communications; Rewards and Recognition; Trust,
Respect, and Fairness; Learning and Development; Teamwork and Involvement;
and Work/Life Balance. The “Success Stories” on Winning Workplaces’
Web site illustrate how the values of the Building Blocks underpin high-performing
organizations. The original profiles on organizations as diverse as Patagonia,
Tom’s of Maine, and the Greater Chicago Food Depository demonstrate
low-cost ways of strengthening employee morale and loyalty, improving output
and retention, and holding down recruiting costs. The Web site also includes
abstracts of the most important workplace research and a list of the best
workplace books. “Our Web site gives small and midsize organizations
access to the same kinds of management tools and information the big guys
have,” says Winning Workplaces’ Chief Executive Jill Wine-Banks.
“We are showing that there are a lot of small, low-cost steps to improve
the workplace.”
Supporting Employers with Tool Kits, Employee Surveys, Consulting
In another example of Winning Workplaces’ goal of delivering practical
and inexpensive how-to advice, the organization is providing employers with
custom-designed Tool Kits. Created by workplace experts, the Tool Kits are
easy-to-use, do-it-yourself guides to affordable programs that help small
and midsize organizations improve their people practices. Included in the
three-dozen Tool Kits currently available are guides to creating an employee
forum, developing an internal company newsletter, and building a career-counseling
program. A sample Tool Kit is available on their Web site.
Winning Workplaces also offers an Employee Survey, which helps gauge employee views on workplace programs and practices, and points to changes that are needed. The Employee Survey was developed with assistance from Ed Gubman, one of the country’s leading organizational development specialists and a Winning Workplaces’ board member.
Kenneth Lehman knows that creating a great workplace is a never-ending process: “Building a great workplace is a continuous journey. You can be on the road to success no matter what the size or scale of your organization. And, you don’t have to spend a lot of money to begin the journey.”