The Greatest Boss Contest Winner
Mark Bartle
Project Manager
KIRA, Inc.
Ft. Carson, CO
For-Profit Organizations Category
Nomination Essay
Mark Bartle exceeds all other managers in a variety of ways. He treats his employees with respect and gives them tools to create their own success story. Mark provides unsurpassed leadership and has accomplished much throughout his journey to becoming The Greatest Boss.
Mark’s division has the lowest turnover rate within the company and is far below industry standards. Because of his positive leadership, more people request to be transferred to his division than any other division. It’s easy to see that Mark’s management skills are superior because the people within his job site are excited to come to work every day. This is obvious when examining the growth of his division which has increased in value, employee count, and workload by over 50% in the past four years. Remarkably costs have been effectively cut while this exponential growth is occurring. Mark is continuing to use best practices and innovations to drive more efficiency into the contract while saving the customer money.
Employees within Mark’s division respect and look to him for guidance. Employee morale at Fort Carson exceeds other sites. He has the lowest number of employee complaints of any manager within the company and is instrumental in resolving issues before they reach an elevated status. Mark stays connected with the workforce by maintaining an approachable and friendly demeanor. Employees know that his door is always open to them. Mark maintains that anything that is important to the workforce is in turn important to him. No problem is ever too small for him to personally address despite his busy schedule.
One of the main elements of an employees’ morale is directly correlated with how safe they feel in their workplace. Mark supervises quality and safety for every site within the company. He has implemented programs that help employees understand the importance of safety while offering rewards to those that maintain excellent safety records. Any time there is a safety incident or issue Mark holds a Safety Concern Meeting with the person involved to discuss how to alleviate the problem and prevent it from reoccurring. Mark’s innovations and safety conscious management led KIRA to becoming the first facilities maintenance company in Colorado to receive the prestigious Safety Health Achievement Recognition Program (“SHARP”) award from OSHA.
In 2010, Mark’s division was nominated by the Government for the Global Contractor of the Year award. This is an esteemed award bestowed only once a year to an outstanding Army civilian contractor. The nomination in itself is a tremendous accomplishment that Mr. Bartle led his contract to through his tireless push for excellence and positive results. The nomination is a tribute to Mark, KIRA and all of the employees that devotedly supported the pursuit of this accomplishment. Mark Bartle is The Greatest Boss because he is leading his division and this company down the road to monumental achievements while supporting, encouraging and rewarding the people that enabled him to get there.
