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| Jeanette Kersten |
Menomonie, WI — Two
experts on helping companies operate at maximum efficiency through wise use of
their employees have authored a new book: “The Human Factor to Profitability —
Building a People-Centered Culture for Long-Term Success.”
The book is by Jeanette Kersten, associate professor
in the College of Management at University of Wisconsin-Stout, and Kelly LaVenture, assistant professor at
Bemidji (Minn.) State University.
Kersten is the UW-Stout
People Process Culture endowed chair, an effort funded through gifts from Robert and Debbie Cervenka, owners of
Phillips Plastics Corp. until 2010, to improve organizational efficiency and
effectiveness through research-based human resources principles.
Kersten said the book she
was using for her organizational culture class (INGMT 416/616 People Process
Culture) needed updating.
 |
| Kelly LaVenture |
“We were using a book from
1994 for the People Process Culture course and were unable to find a suitable
replacement text that matched the PPC concepts and met the curriculum
requirements,” Kersten said. “That prompted the research proposal for writing
this book.”
In the forward to the
book, Debbie Cervenka described the practices used at Phillips Plastics to
retain its people and enhance the company’s performance.
“When you run your
organization, valuing all people (and) respecting all people, you find that
those people take ownership and pride, and the end results become meaningful.
Because we built the best products, our sales grew as a direct result of having
people committed to the organization — people who wanted to excel and who
didn’t just want a job.”
Kersten said the major
points covered in the book are:
· All people are important
· A strong belief that people shape the
best organizational cultures
· Happy people working together perform
at higher levels and, as a result, all people benefit
 |
| Debbie Cervenka |
Kersten added: “These principles are the basis
for the seven key elements of a people-centered culture: leveraging
people-first core values; leadership that walks the talk; open communication;
high levels of trust; aligned operations and work environments focused on human
resources and talent development practices; change responsiveness; and
organizational resiliency.
These principles are
backed by extensive evidence-based research, Kersten said, as well as practical
applications gleaned from dozens of interviews. The results of implementing
these practices are higher retention, greater productivity and increased
profitability.
The book is published by
River Grove Books and is available from online booksellers, including Amazon
and Barnes & Noble.
More information on the
Cervenka People Process Culture at UW-Stout is available at www.uwstout.edu/ppc.
For a complete copy of the company’s news release,
please contact:
Doug Mell
Executive Director of
Communications and External Relations
715-232-1198
melld@uwstout.edu
