Your Favorite Vinyl CompanyGet to know Best Vinyl

Developing As A TeamRecognizing dysfunctions that hold us back

Lake Powell Leadership ConferenceWarm up your spring at Lake Powell

The Voice of Best VinylTalking with Kat Tingey about phone calls and concerts

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March 2012

A magazine for associates and partners of Redmond, Inc.Redmond Incorporated475 West 910 SouthHeber City, UT 84032

”The first choice we make each and every day is, will we act upon life, or will we merely be acted upon?” ~Stephen R. Covey

You can find Kat’s music on iTunes or kattingey.com.

Take in a live performance with Kat at Thanksgiving Point’s Tulip Festival on April 14.

If you had reason to call Best Vinyl in the past few years, you probably heard the voice of Kat Tingey, who answers the phone and greets visi-tors in the lobby at the company’s American Fork location. If she placed your call on hold, you would have heard her voice again, in a very diffe-rent way: she wrote and performed the hold music.

“I started playing guitar my senior year in high school, and picked up the chords really quickly compared to the piano,” Kat said. Finding it ea-sier to sing along while playing, she started writing her own songs and discovered a talent. She pursued her music in college, ultimately earning a degree in guitar performance from Utah State University in Logan, and has recorded two albums of her own.

During the day, Kat’s work isn’t especially musical. In addition to answering phones and greeting visi-tors, she inputs customer contracts

and other information that keeps customer interactions contracts going smoothly. “I’m kind of a geek,” she says. “I actually like typing, so I really enjoy the data entry part of my job. But the best part of my job is the people I work with.”

Kat started her job after Best Vinyl had been purchased by a private equity firm – not the rosiest period in the company’s history – so she appreciated the change when Redmond got involved in late 2010. “Maybe the difference isn’t as extre-me as night and day, but it’s been much better,” she said. Becoming a division of Redmond allowed the company to renew its original focus on people, which the equity firm had abandoned.

Music means a lot to Kat, but she’s not sure she wants it to become a career. “I worry it would start to feel like work,” she said, “and I like my job here, anyway. I don’t plan to go anywhere else.”

The Voice of Best Vinyl

Recognizing dysfunctions that hold us back.

In February’s Strive to Thrive meetings, Redmond re-viewed Patrick Lencioni’s book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. Lencioni discovered that most teams stru-ggle because they “fall prey to five natural, but dange-rous pitfalls” he calls the five dysfunctions of a team. Like a chain with just one broken link, teamwork de-teriorates even if a single dysfunction is allowed to flourish.

Absence of Trust

The fear of being vulnerable creates a lack of trust among members of the team. Teams that succeed are made of members who admit their weaknesses, ask each other for help, accept input, offer feedback and assistance, and appreciate one another’s skills and experiences.

Fear of Conflict

When a team develops trust among its members, they become more willing to ar-gue with each other. Society teaches us that conflict is impolite, but mature teams understand that harmony is unproductive if achieved by people holding back their concerns or feelings. When teams view conflict as an opportunity instead of a pro-blem, they engage in healthy debate, create interesting solutions, and minimize politics.

Lack of Commitment

A team that hasn’t accepted conflict as a key to its success will likely struggle with lack of commitment. “Great teams ensure that everyone’s ideas are genuinely con-sidered,” said Lencioni, allowing people to create clear priorities and move forward without hesitation, expecting to learn from mistakes.

Avoidance of Accountability

“Once we achieve clarity and buy-in,” said Lencioni, “we have to hold each other ac-countable for what we sign up to do.” A team that holds one another accountable understands the importance of improvement. There is mutual trust and respect among team members when they are all held to the same high standards.

Inattention to Results

Everyone wants to be successful, but people sometimes focus more on personal goals than on a team’s success. Teams who hold each other accountable see their work as an important part of a larger project and focus on results that help the group reach its goals.

Redmond associates who haven’t read The Five Dysfunctions of a Team can get a book from their team leader. Each copy includes a survey to help assess where your team is in the process of overcoming these dysfunctions.

Developing As A Team

Redmond acquired Best Vinyl in November of 2010, prompting some people to wonder what building fences and decks had to do with a salt company. The answer to a ques-tion like that is, well, nothing at all. But it might not be the best question to ask.

“Redmond isn’t a salt company,” said Rhett Roberts, the company’s CEO. “We aren’t a farming company, and we aren’t a vin-yl company. We’re a people company.” The decision to work with Best Vinyl was based on common values, confidence in people, and a shared vision for the future. With that foundation in place, the details

of Best Vinyl’s business provided icing on the cake – a summer revenue cycle to com-plement Redmond’s winter deicing season, and potential to enjoy steady growth in the nation’s fencing market.

Redmond associate Vance Barrett started Best Vinyl in the year 2000, hoping to pro-vide a great customer experience, not just a fence. In the twelve years since then, Best Vinyl has installed fences made from vinyl, wood, chain link, concrete, wrought iron, and concrete, and diversified their offerings to include decks, gazebos, pergolas, and rela-ted products.

“Whether it’s a fence or a gazebo, Best Vinyl has always been about installing high quali-ty products that will stand the test of time,” said Brandon Brooks, Best Vinyl’s vice pre-sident of sales. “From St. George to Brigham City, Utah homeowners recognize our white trucks and trailers, and they know we’re a company they can rely on for products and customer service unlike any other.”

Roughly 60 Redmond associates work in the Best Vinyl division, most from the main office in American Fork, Utah, with smaller groups in Layton, Utah, and an office in Ka-polei, Hawaii, from which they fabricate and install fencing and decking products across the islands.

In addition to retail and contractor sa-les under the Best Vinyl name, the com-pany owns two divisions of its own. Rocky Mountain Vinyl Products sells raw fencing materials to other fence companies throug-hout the western United States and Hawaii, extending excellent customer service to an industry that has traditionally been under-served. DIY Vinyl Products sells ready-to-install fencing products directly to end users over the internet, giving homeowners the ability to install their own fence with the highest quality products available anywhe-re. The DIY market accounts for only 5% of Best Vinyl’s sales, with tremendous poten-tial for growth in the coming years.

Best Vinyl fabricates and installs the highest quality fences available, but the company’s reputation was built by focusing on the cus-tomer experience. Customers consistently commend the people of Best Vinyl, from sales to installation and customer service, and these same people are ultimately what attracted Redmond to a partnership with Best Vinyl in the first place.

Get to know Best Vinyl

Your FavoriteVinyl Company

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Lake Powell Leadership Conference

Last April, while a spring storm brought rain to the Redmond office and snow to Heber City, a handful of Redmond associates spent the day fishing and relaxing in the sun at Lake Powell. This year, it’s your turn to follow the sun. Full-time associates can still reserve one of the re-maining spots at Redmond’s spring Lake Powell trips by contacting Leslie Smoot or Kris Hum-mer.

Food When you go to Lake Powell with Redmond, you eat very well. Enjoy favorites like steak and crab legs, and snack all day on treats and ice cream from Real Foods Market. There’s plenty of space available if you want to bring your favorite snacks and drinks, too.

Discussions Interact with your friends and coworkers in comfortable, air-conditioned houseboats. Most days, we’ll spend about an hour discussing in-teresting ideas that help us become more true to who each of us is. People are surprised how much they enjoy these discussions.

Weather The springtime sun at Lake Powell is incre-dible--perfect for hiking, exploring, or just remembering after a long winter what it feels like to relax in the sun.

Activities Of course, there will be plenty of fishing for those who want to fish, but this spring we’ll be mixing things up, too. We’ll enjoy ATV rides, kayaking, golf, hikes, and a tour of the dam.

Space is limited! Call Kris Hummer or Leslie Smoot to reserve a room on one of the house-boats.