Gas South, HR Value Partners, and Young Presidents Organization

This week I hosted the President and CEO of Gas South, Kevin Greiner, along with VP HR and External Affairs, Meredith Hodges to talk about the company’s recent recognition as a Best Place To Work. HR expert and consultant, Peter Jundt explained why it’s so important to have experts managing your HR functions, even for a small business. And Allan Young joined us to introduce us to Young Presidents Organization, a professional social network of highly-successful young entrepreneurs and business leaders around the globe.

Gas South was named among the Best Places to Work in Atlanta according to an independent employee survey conducted by Workplace Dynamics and hosted by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. This is the first time the Cobb County business has been honored on this list.

According to the survey, Gas South’s practices of encouraging new ideas and communication of company decisions received the highest survey scores, earning more than 20 percent above the telecommunication and utility industry category average.

“I was thrilled that Gas South scored particularly well on questions related to organizational alignment, execution and communications,” said Kevin Greiner, Gas South president and CEO. “These areas have been a focus for our business operations for several years as we’ve implemented programs and policies to increase transparency in all departments and at every staffing level. It’s comforting to know that our staff agrees and feels included in the direction we have set forth for the future of Gas South. Most importantly, these results give us a benchmark to make improvements in other areas.”

I met Peter Jundt at the recent Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce Business Expo, learning about the company’s array of HR services to serve the small- to mid-sized business. Peter explained why it is so important for businesses to have true HR experts managing their HR functions, particularly today.

Numerous State and Federal regulations affect these businesses today, and non-compliance can mean large fines and worse. The consultants at HR Value Partners are each HR professionals with years of experience and who are well-versed on all compliance and legal issues relevant to their business.

The company has the ability to customize their services around existing HR resources in a given client, whether that is consulting with a business’s HR staff or a full-service, out-sourced HR solution. The firm also provides C-suite executive search with a client-centric approach. Rather than making fees contingent upon the final compensation of the hired candidate, HR Value Partners establishes a set rate for a given placement that is not tied to compensation. In this way, their clients can be confident the recruiter truly has the business’s needs as the driving force rather than negotiating higher salaries to earn a larger commission.

Young Presidents Organization provides successful young entrepreneurs (45 years and under) and business leaders who achieve high-levels of accomplishment with a social network of peers, mentors, and thought leaders. The organization’s website describes it this way, “Founded in 1950, YPO today provides 24,000 peers and their families in more than 130 countries with access to unique educational and networking experiences designed to support their business, community and personal leadership.

Members of YPO are peers who share in common the achievement of success at an early age (before 45); a commitment to learning as a lifelong adventure; and a desire to connect authentically in an environment of trust and confidentiality.

At the age of 50, members transition to YPO’s graduate group, WPO (World Presidents’ Organization). WPO is a global community within YPO of current and former chief executives dedicated to enriching each member’s lifelong journey of leadership, growth and significance through education and idea exchange.”

Special Guests:

Kevin Greiner, President/CEO, Gas South