The Kforce Story: 50 Plus Years of Great People Delivering Great Results

Core values are only successful when they are embraced and displayed at the very top of the management team and no one lives them more fully at Kforce than CEO Dave Dunkel and President Bill Sanders. While associates recite what they affectionately refer to as Bill Sanders’ “mantras”—on time, fully prepared, and fully engaged, for example—they nonetheless adhere to them with as much respect for the mantra as for the man himself. Dave Dunkel, the personality polar opposite of Bill Sanders, learned the same core values from his father, Al Dunkel, though he wasn’t always as practiced at living them as he is now. Scott Hitchcock, who leads the Tampa Bay C12 chapter, a Christian-based CEO roundtable, first met Dave back in 1982 when he owned the Dale Carnegie franchise in Tampa. “Back then,” he said, “Dave was not your most sensitive, warm, touchy- feely kind of person,” but Scott is the first to commend

Dave for the metamorphosis he has undergone as he has matured both as a person and as an executive. “Dave understood that his management style back then didn’t always yield the best results,” said Rich Cocchiaro. “He also came to understand that, while one smart idea might be good, the collective wisdom of his executive team would lead to ‘the best business answer.’ From that point forward, Dave encouraged Howard and I to challenge each other so we would be taking advantage of the ‘collective wisdom’ to come to unity on an issue.” Years later, as Michael Blackman said, “Dave’s greatest legacy is that he has, through sheer relentless focus and force of personality, taken that culture across a multi-thousand person organization. That’s no small feat.” Dave is a man of unabashed Christian faith, a faith he is happy to nurture in others without proselytizing. In 2005, he established the non-profit, charitable Fezziwig-WWJD Foundation, personally providing the seed money for the organization. Taking its name from the affable and charitable employer of the young Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens’ The Christmas Carol , the foundation provides assistance for Kforce associates with emergency needs and to charities within the community. Though it is not officially affiliated with Kforce Inc., associates across the country participate in a variety of ways, most notably with the purchase of a Jeans Day Pass which grants associates the privilege of wearing jeans every Friday throughout the year, the funds going to the charity of their choice. During 2011, Kforce and its associates donated an impressive $800,000. Leveraging Talent Kforce’s leadership never forgets its greatest asset is its people and over the years, they have displayed an amazing ability to identify talents in their associates. “Kforce offers people an opportunity they might not be afforded in another company,” said David Kelly. “As a result, people rise to the occasion and give more than the standard performance. It’s a two way street.” Dedication and loyalty likewise are two-way streets. As part of the kforce.com initiative, Manish Mohan was hired as director of strategic initiatives in 2000 and

Top Performers Casey Jacox, Alex Hein, Todd Lowry, and Derek Hutchinson with Bill Sanders in Cabo, 2009.

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