How Koch Is Giving One Man a Second Chance at His Future

How Koch Is Giving One Man a Second Chance at His Future

Tuesday, May 10, 2022 - 3:40pm

内容:文章

早上通勤时,汽车被一群来自温菲尔德惩教所的人放大,沿着高速公路捡起了垃圾。

It wasn’t glamorous work for Richard McMichael, but it at least got him outside. It was a welcome change after having already spent nearly four years in prison. Every day as the group moved its way along Kansas State Highway 96, Richard would often look up at one of the only buildings he could see from the road – Koch Industries' headquarters – and watch with fascination as people arrived for the day and entered the building.

“I was so jealous,” Richard said. “I just always wondered what they're going to do in there and what it looked like in there.”

一年后,他不必再想象了。他现在是科赫矿产和交易的会计师。科赫给了理查德“第二次机会”。第二次机会招聘是雇用具有犯罪记录的个人的做法。他的旅程说明了在服刑后撤离劳动力的人们如何消除障碍可以使这些人,雇用他们的公司以及他们居住的社区的公司相互受益。

当理查德(Richard)第一次到达劳伦斯(Lawrence)学习石油工程时,在科赫(Koch)工作并不是该计划的一部分。为此,两者都不会入狱。他是一个来自德克萨斯州的聪明孩子。学校总是很容易,尤其是科学和数学。因此,理查德说,他并没有真正认真对待学校,并开始做出错误的决定。

首先,他在酒吧打架后因加重殴打而被捕。然后,为了支付账单 - 包括律师费的账单 - 他转向出售毒品。

他说:“一旦开始这条路,很难停止做出错误的决定,因为这会升级。压力不断发生,您不断做出更多的错误决定,使情况变得更糟,这促使您做出更糟的决定。这是一个永无止境的周期。”

Richard said he was not a very good criminal and was eventually caught and charged. He pled guilty. A judge sentenced him to 61 months in prison.

他说:“突然之间,你在牢房里,然后就像,'好吧,现在呢?’”

他在监狱生活的单调中感到沮丧和毫无用处,他开始花时间做少数允许的事情之一 - 阅读。理查德(Richard)阅读了很多文章,但其中一篇文章在其余文章之上脱颖而出。当时是科赫工业总法律顾问马克·霍尔顿(Mark Holden)。它列出了刑事司法改革的案子,包括科赫支持第二次机会招聘的支持。

Richard knew only a little about Koch at the time, but the article sparked an insatiable interest.

他阅读了有关业务及其理念的所有内容,基于市场的Management®。他的妈妈会向他发送她可以找到提到科赫的每篇文章。最终,他掌握了查尔斯·科赫(Charles Koch)的书《良好的利润》。

从那时起,他的目标是在科赫找到工作。这个目标将成为他的北极星,并在他服刑的其余刑期并忍受了被监禁的艰辛时推动他前进。他不再让他过去的错误定义将来会成为谁。

“I got a lot of pushback,” he said. “I don't know how I convinced myself that it was a realistic goal, but I did. I was confident if I tried to apply the principles I was learning from the book, such as Principled Entrepreneurship™ and a continued dedication to learning and improving myself, that I was going to get there.”

当他开始运用自己正在学习的“良好利润”的原则时,他决定需要完成学位,然后才能开始实现自己的梦想。这并不容易,但是理查德获得了开始从科罗拉多州亚当斯州立大学上课的许可。学校会给他邮寄工作,他要完成它并将其寄回。

他说:“当我第二次上学时,我真的很认真。”

大约两年后,他获得了工商管理学士学位并毕业。

With his degree in hand, Richard thought he was finally ready to reach out to Koch, even though he still had about a year left on his sentence.

He wrote several letters. One made its way to John Buckley, who leads Koch’s second chance hiring efforts.

“We want to create opportunities for justice-involved people to be contributing members in our society again,” John said. “We're creating that opportunity through employment.”

One in three Americans has a criminal record. Helping those individuals contribute valuably to society again by removing unnecessary barriers to employment is beneficial for the individual, the business and society, John says.

这就是为什么约翰正在努力帮助全国各地的科赫公司与惩教部门和社区团体(例如诚实的工作)建立关系。188bet网址怎么打不开2021年,科赫还与其他主要雇主合作,组成了第二次机会商业联盟。它旨在帮助主要雇主提供一套工具,人际关系和专业知识,以帮助他们成功雇用和支持具有犯罪记录的人。摩根大通(JPMorgan Chase),通用汽车(General Motors),家得宝和目标等企业都是组织的一部分。

In addition, Koch "banned the box" in 2015, meaning it doesn’t ask applicants about their criminal history, and has worked to encourage other companies to do the same.

约翰说,打破与犯罪记录的人相关的污名也是他工作的重要组成部分。

“We've all made mistakes, and you don't want somebody to suffer for their entire life because of a mistake they made,” he said. “They paid their dues, and that’s why we call it second chance. If they can demonstrate the virtues, then there's no difference in my mind between them and somebody who has not had any criminal past.”

堪萨斯州惩教部长杰夫·兹穆达(Jeff Zmuda)说,人们常常没有意识到几乎所有被送入监狱的人都会被释放。建立企业与惩教部之间的合作伙伴关系,以帮助消除就业障碍并创造第二次机会,这是为这些人提供成功机会的重要一步。

“Business benefits by having a good worker,” Jeff said. “Communities benefit by having someone that’s less or no threat to the community. Families are reunited. They’re no longer a drain on the tax system. It’s a win-win-win.”

约翰收到理查德的信后,他与他联系。约翰告诉理查德,他不能保证他的工作,但他会在可能的地方提供帮助。其中包括一些激烈的简历批评和采访教练课程。

“I was very critical, and he was open to that,” John said. “I think that gave a good sign of his ability to adapt to the culture. He's willing to take criticism and he openly seeks criticism.”

到这一点上,理查德已被转移到威奇托工作释放设施,并准备找到工作。工作释放设施可帮助人们在判决结束之前过渡到社区。188bet网址怎么打不开

约翰告诉理查德(Richard)去kochcareers.com,找到理查德(Richard)的五个或六个职位,认为他可以填补并将工作描述发送给他,以便他可以帮助理查德(Richard)制定简历。

理查德说:“我认为与约翰合作为成功做好了准备,并给了我信心。”“我感到胆怯的人要采访犯罪记录,仍在监狱中。但是约翰向我伸出援手,看起来好像,‘哦,这可能会发生。这里有机会。’”

第一次采访后,理查德灰心。他认为情况并不顺利,但是在电话的另一侧那些不同意。科赫给了他职位。

Lynne Baker is Richard’s supervisor now and was a part of the interview team. Because Koch banned the box and removed the requirement for applicants to disclose prior criminal records during the application process, Lynne didn’t know about Richard’s situation before the interview. And even after he told her that he was still in prison during the interview, she didn’t make much of it.

林恩说:“他拥有我们想要的技能和知识。”“他有正确的价值观和信念,与为科赫工作如此兴奋的人交谈真是令人兴奋。”

她最大的担忧是他处境的后勤工作。对于大多数其他科赫新员工而言,物流并不关心。她有诸如他将如何上班和下班?他有规律的衣服要去办公室吗?对于大多数人来说,看似简单的事情对于理查德来说要困难得多。

But he was used to overcoming obstacles and was ready to do whatever it would take to achieve his goal.

这意味着大多数日子理查德在早上3:45左右起床,因此他有足够的时间骑自行车,从威奇托(Wichita)工作释放设施,穿过威奇托(Wichita)市区,到达城市边缘的科赫办公大楼(Koch)办公大楼。他的早期开始时间意味着他通常准备在凌晨6点到他的办公桌前 - 在正常办公时间开始之前两个小时。

He's usually one of the first people into the office and the last one to leave.

理查德说:“我坐在哪里,你可以沿着窗户走,看看我曾经捡到垃圾的高速公路,这是一个很好的提醒,总是谦虚。”“每当工作中发生任何事情时,我想让烦恼或激动,我要做的就是看高速公路。然后,我只是回去微笑,然后重新上班。”

他说,他在科赫获得的机会允许他在生活中再次重新开始 - 有机会拥有未来。他不再觉得自己对社会的流失。他为自己的工作感到自豪。最重要的是,他说妈妈终于再次开心了。

Richard has only been working full-time at Koch for about six months, but it’s already better than he thought it would be. He hopes to stay working at Koch as long as possible.

他的大多数同事直到最近才知道他在监狱中。理查德说,他想证明自己可以在告诉他们之前做这项工作。他说,自从他开始以来,少数几个人都非常有帮助,尤其是坐在他旁边的基拉(Kiera)。

他说:“他们坐在我们团队中知道一切的人旁边。”“她非常开放,没有判断力。坐在她旁边是一个巨大的祝福。”

约翰说,虽然专注于在科赫的第二次机会招聘相对较新,但他们已经看到了成功并增加了对该计划的兴趣。他希望看到更多的故事,例如理查德(Richard)作为经理和人力资源代表(内外),开始看到它可以带来的互惠互利以及它可以改变的生活。

“He's a model employee,” John said. “And I think he's a great example for not just folks who are reentering society, but all of our employees.”