"No aspect of my job has become more efficient by being in Anchorage, my cubicle is simply in a geographic location far removed from the ground where most of my work is done," Hackney wrote, requesting to be transferred back to Fairbanks. "There have been no enhancements in communications, supervision, coordination, or scheduling as to my work. The required move to Anchorage has caused loss of skilled and experienced personnel that cannot readily be replaced ... This has a direct impact on the safety of our operations."
A day after the email was sent, Hackney, who had sued the company for unknown reasons after he raised safety concerns, entered into a settlement with Alyeska and was transferred back to Fairbanks.
Additionally, Truthout has learned that one of the company's integrity management supervisors is being transferred to Anchorage while the key engineers he's going to supervise will remain in Fairbanks, an exception the company recently made for those individuals. The decision further contradicts statements by Egan and other Alyeska officials that the transfer of integrity management employees to Anchorage was about "efficiency" and "synergy" and being located in the same building.
Flawed Survey
During the course of Thebaud's probe, Alyeska also commissioned Dittman Research & Communications to conduct an "open work environment survey" to try and get a sense of how employees felt about raising safety concerns, according to a copy of the 62-page report of the results of the survey Dittman provided to Alyeska in May.
But the survey was fundamentally flawed and designed specifically to shield Hostler from criticism, one of the most damning findings of Thebaud's investigation. Thebaud's report said "the 2010 Dittman survey missed a substantial opportunity to measure directly the workers' perception of [Hostler]."
According to Thebaud's report, the reason was due to the fact that a previous survey conducted in 2007 by a different research firm resulted in numerous employees complaining about Hostler's management style.
"In the 2007 survey, the Executive Summary provided eleven 'Areas of Needed Improvement,'" Thebaud's report said. "One specifically addressed the need [for Hostler] to improve the workers' perception of him: 'Some respondents indicated that certain behaviors and actions of the Alyeska President and CEO have been perceived as having a negative organizational effect.'
"The 2007 survey results contain numerous examples explaining the data. For example, in response to a question about the Code of Conduct, the 2007 survey indicates, 'Of the 110 comments provided, 31 discuss the President's behaviors as a concern.'"
Guim, the human resources director, who Alyeska employees leveled numerous complaints about, was largely responsible for skewing the questions in the 2010 survey in such a way that it would not reflect poorly on Hostler or other Alyeska executives.
Guim told Thebaud that she did that because the "2007 survey results were filled with employees 'venting' against [Hostler] in highly personal and inappropriate ways, which provided no real insight or value to the survey."
Hostler appears to have had a say in the 2010 survey as well. He told Thebaud the" 2007 survey was filled with 'personal attacks' on individuals and executives. Consequently, [Guim] indicated that the Company did not provide the opportunity for similar unhelpful venting in 2010."
Thebaud said his investigation did not attempt to "validate or refute" any of the data in the 2007 or 2010 surveys. But the fact that Hostler's conduct was a major issue in the 2007 survey, caused Thebaud's investigation to seek information as to why the same questions weren't included in the most recent survey conducted by Dittman.
"Workforce surveys - particularly anonymous workforce surveys - almost always include some amount of emotional venting and personal challenges to the character and conduct of some managers," his report said. "Sophisticated survey analysts and reviewers recognize this reality and can properly dismiss or account for outlying information, personal attacks and other suspect information ...
"Alyeska's decision to design a survey that precluded the receipt of such data, creates a potential perception that it designed the 2010 survey to avoid the receipt of harmful information. By not addressing the issue specifically raised in 2007 about the effect of [Hostler's] conduct, the Company does not have survey data to describe or characterize the current perception in the workforce or to determine the effectiveness of any corrective actions taken during the past three years."
Alyeska has not decided who will replace Hostler when he leaves the company in September.
Truthout intern Deb Weinstein contributed to this report.
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