To understand the corporate culture at Irvine-based Resources Connection Inc., look to what the company does.
Resources maintains a collection of independent consultants who it hooks up with companies in need of accountants, human resources administrators, lawyers and others on a project basis.
That gives Resources an entrepreneurial, hired gun mentality. Many of the company’s executives are former contract consultants themselves.
Working at Resources is what you make of it, they say. Everyone is responsible for bringing in business and getting work done. There’s no hand holding. There’s no micromanaging by the top brass.
That’s because many executives and managers are physically on their own in a separate building in Costa Mesa near South Coast Plaza. Others are spread out across the country.
The company’s executive chairman, chief executive and other senior executives and administrators work at the company’s Irvine headquarters.
“It’s very entrepreneurial,” said Don Murray, the company’s founder, executive chairman and chief executive from the late 1990s until last year. “We don’t have prima donnas here.”
Early Days
The company’s mindset was forged when Resources got its start as a unit of Deloitte & Touche LLP in 1996 and then split off three years later.
The company’s lifeblood of contract consultants has helped it stay scrappy, even as Resources has grown to more than $800 million in yearly sales serving some 2,400 clients.
Clients include Houston-based ConocoPhillips, Japan’s Makita Corp. and Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc.
Resources has a pool of 3,700 consultants who do work around the world.
The company also has something of an underdog mentality, as it competes with big accounting and other professional services firms.
“We’ve literally had to tell our story one person at a time,” said Terry Goldfarb-Lee, senior director of business development. “It’s something we continue to do.”
Murray, who spent most of his career as an audit partner at Deloitte, knew the ins and outs of working at a Big Four firm.
When he led a management buyout of Resources, he said he wanted to create a company of highly skilled professionals that wasn’t bureaucratic.
The workplace should be focused on clients, not competition between employees, he said.
As the company’s founder, Murray casts a long shadow at Resources.
“Don has always amazed me,” said Tony Cherbak, Resources’ president of international operations in Irvine. “He really cares about people.”
New CEO
Last year, Murray turned over chief executive duties to Tom Christopoul as part of a succession plan.
While Murray’s career largely has been in accounting, Christopoul has worked at public and private companies.
He most recently was president of New Jersey’s Somerset Shore Associates Inc. and was chairman and chief executive of the marketing services division of now defunct Cendant Corp. of New York.
“Tom is a great operator,” Cherbak said. “He’s extremely sharp and a quick study on issues.”
Both executives let employees do their jobs and are appreciative of what they do, said Tanja Cebula, senior vice president and regional manager at the company’s Costa Mesa office.
“There’s a genuine sense of appreciation, respect and trust from them to us,” she said.
Christopoul served on Resources board for some three years.
“The fact that he was on our board gave us all confidence that he knew our culture,” Goldfarb-Lee said.
Working Moms
When Murray talks about the company’s executives and consultants, he never fails to point out that a good chunk of them are working mothers.
“They’re wonderful at multitasking,” he said.
Resources draws accountants, human resources administrators and lawyers who are looking to work as consultants because they want more flexibility.
A lot of women at the company happen to be raising families, too.
The company also appeals to seasoned executives who want to work as part-time consultants because they’re tired of the daily grind at big professional services firms.
Some consultants work their way up at Resources to be office directors and managers.
Executives can’t help but stifle a cringe when asked about the company’s reporting structure.
“There’s a reporting structure, but it doesn’t feel like you have to report to anyone,” said Lisa Ashworth, managing director of Resources’ Costa Mesa office. “Everyone is important.”
There’s open discussion about work matters, said Liz Dick, Los Angeles-based regional managing director for Southern California.
“There are no boundaries,” Dick said. “We all interact.”
Executives don’t work on commission. So their merit isn’t based on how many hours they’ve put into a project, Murray said.
“It’s about results,” he said.
Murray said the model helps quell office politics.
Employees share kudos when they complete a project.
“A win is an office win,” Goldfarb-Lee said. “No one gets singled out.”
Brian Goodman came to Resources Connection in 2004 to head up the company’s legal services department from Costa Mesa.
He worked at large law firms and companies and said he was refreshed by the lack of competition among employees.
“At other firms you might see associates fighting for more work or infighting between executives,” Goodman said. “But you don’t see any of that here.”
Resources doesn’t do routine employee evaluations.
“If someone isn’t performing, the team lets you know,” Murray said. “The teams don’t tolerate underperformers.”
Everyone is responsible for results, said Kate Duchene, chief legal officer and executive vice president of human resources at the Irvine headquarters.
“There’s no hiding in our organization,” she said.
The company looks for people who have what it calls “TIEL”,talent, integrity, enthusiasm and loyalty,an acronym Murray came up with in Resources’ early days.
“Without talent you never get good results,” Murray said. “You need someone who has integrity. You want people who are enthusiastic and positive. Being loyal and being a good teammate is also important.”
Every Resources office kicks off the day with a morning huddle where executives meet, talk about issues and help each other solve problems.
“It’s important to have the morning huddle so no one feels lost,” Ashworth said.
Resources’ offices are like those of other professional services firms,they’re quiet.
There are some quirks.
Pictures of Homer Simpson belting out an encouraging “Woo hoo!” are taped around the Costa Mesa office.
Executives high-five and do a little celebratory dance in the hall when they close a project.
The Costa Mesa office has one wall that’s completely covered with baby pictures.
Sometimes you’ll find a baby or Ashworth’s Yorkshire terrier poking around.
With offices in America, Asia, Europe and elsewhere, travel is part of the job for senior executives and regional managers.
All of the company’s offices are on the same computer network. Beyond that, executives rely on BlackBerrys.
“You would be amazed at how much you can do when your plane is delayed on the runway,” Cherbak joked.
The company’s executives are an active bunch.
They run marathons, surf, scuba dive, do yoga, swim, rock climb and play other sports.
“We work hard and we play hard,” Ashworth said.
Others spend time with family, read or catch a happy hour with colleagues. The company has its own foundation for donating money to various charities.
Local charities Resources donates time and money to include Human Options Inc., an Irvine-based group for battered women.
Cebula, a breast cancer survivor, cofounded Be Aware Foundation, a Tustin nonprofit dedicated to educating people about breast cancer.
She and the employees at Resources’ Costa Mesa office took part in the Stomp Out Breast Cancer wine tasting and grape stomping contest and raised $90,000 for the foundation in November.
THE TEAM
– Don Murray: 61, executive chairman since 2008. Started Resources Connection in 1996 within Deloitte & Touche, where he was partner. Led Resources for most of the company’s life. Took company public in 2000.
– Tom Christopoul: 44, president, chief executive since 2008. Served on Resources’ board for three years. Chaired corporate governance, nominating, compensation committee. Previously ran investment adviser Somerset Shore Associates, held posts at Cendant, Nabisco, Pepsi-Cola.
– Karen Ferguson: 45, executive vice president, chief strategy officer since 1996. A company cofounder, one of its earliest employees. Created Resources Global Charitable Foundation. Prior to Resources, was director with Accounting Solutions, senior audit manager, Deloitte.
– Tony Cherbak: 54, president, international operations since joining in 2005. Prior to Resources, was audit partner at Deloitte. Led firm’s consumer business practice for Pacific Southwest, partner in charge of OC audit practice. CFO of clothing maker Mossimo, 1996.
– Kate Duchene: 45, chief legal officer, executive vice president, human resources since 2001. Came to Resources 1999. Before, practiced law for nine years with O’Melveny & Meyers, specializing in labor, employment. On board of nonprofit Human Options.
– Nate Franke: 47, executive vice president, chief financial officer since 2007. Prior to Resources, worked at Deloitte for 22 years, serving as audit partner. Part-time lecturer on financial reporting, analysis at UC Irvine business school.
– Colleen Cunningham: 46, global managing director, finance, accounting since joining in 2007. Previously was chief executive of trade group Financial Executives International, held posts at Havas Advertising, AT & T;, Touche Ross, Coopers & Lybrand.
– Tanja Cebula: 47, senior vice president, regional managing director since 2004. Joined in 1997 as founder of Portland, Ore., office. Moved to Southern California as regional managing director, 2000. Prior posts at Johnson & Johnson, Deloitte.
– Brandon Johnson: 43, chief information officer since joining in 2008. Served for 20 years in Marine Corps, including computers, intelligence systems.
– Tom Schember: 47, senior vice president, strategic account development since 2004. Joined in1998 after serving at Coopers & Lybrand.
– Tracy Stephens: 48, senior vice president, regional managing director since 2006. Joined in 2002. In 1995 cofounded services firm Procurement Centre, acquired by Resources in 2002.
– Les Sussman: 53, managing director, resources audit solutions since joining in 2005. Spent most of career at Deloitte, held post at Gemstar-TV Guide
