'I Work for the Best Company in Texas' - Longnecker Staffer Loves His Job

HOUSTON, TX, October 20, 2010 (Press-News.org) Josh Henke, age 30, loves his job. He says even though Longnecker & Associates deals with serious issues (executive pay and corporate governance), the company promotes a fun and unique atmosphere.

"We dress informally unless we have client meetings, strategic planning doesn't all come from the top, and we have flexible work hours," said Henke, managing director, who has been with L&A for six years.

For employee or team meetings, instead of a big conference table, leather easy chairs are gathered in front of a fireplace hung with an original G. Harvey Western painting. The informality of "circling the wagons" permits all team members to feel comfortable in tossing out ideas for ways to reach client and L&A goals.

"Our Texas-themed office reminds us that our strategic goal for the company is to be the best Executive Compensation consulting firm in Texas--we have a lot of short-term goals, too, and as we meet those, Brent (CEO Brent Longnecker) has lunch catered in which is a great time to get to know each other," said Henke.

Unlike companies that are numbers driven, L&A puts employees and their families first. It trusts employees to make decisions on their own, according to Henke, who maintains it all starts with the type of people who work there: humble but competitive.

At L&A, employees know their specific roles but first they need to understand the big picture objective of the firm and its clients. Employees require a general business background plus must be well educated in tax laws, accounting, and legal issues for several years to get ramped up for client consulting. The hardest thing for him to learn was not just how to delegate but how to work as a team. "One person can't do it all and once you learn to train and trust your team, you know you can rely on them," said Henke.

Executive Compensation landmines to avoid include predicting where Congress is going, where the stock market is going and being aware of executive egos, said Henke. The L&A team sees first hand how company boards function by attending board meetings.

It must be working. L&A was recently named as one of the Best Companies to Work for in Texas 2011, a project of Texas Monthly magazine, the Texas Association of Business, the Texas State Council for the Society for Human Resource Management and Best Companies Group.

Henke says there is such a thing as a "free lunch" at Longnecker and perhaps it was one of the things that made L&A stand out to judges of Best Companies to Work for in Texas:
Employees receive free lunches based on revenues. "This is a great perk," said Josh Henke. "We have them catered from a variety of restaurants and this keeps everyone eating together, a team-building exercise in disguise."

Other things you'll find at Longnecker:
Continuing Education: L&A encourages employees to get additional degrees; they can come in early and leave early to attend night classes. CEO Brent Longnecker provides compensation news for staff and clients so they are constantly learning. L&A publishes books and articles to educate those in the HR and business community and enrich the profession. Longnecker books include The Power of Restricted Stock and Stock Option Alternatives.
Community Charity: Employees annually participate in charity events and donate to underprivileged children.

Longnecker & Associates is a small team of 17 people but is the largest executive compensation firm in the Southwest with clients in the largest Texas cities and worldwide including SWA, Key Energy, World Bank, ChuckECheese, Cinemark and The Scooter Store.

The Houston-based executive compensation and corporate governance firm is experienced in analysis, design and implementation of innovative performance, governance enhancement and cost-saving programs for private, public and not-for-profit organizations.