October is National ESOP Month!

R/M has always operated as an employee-focused organization, a mindset that started in 1946 with founders John Mielke and Frank Ruekert Sr. John and Frank understood that the success and happiness of R/M’s clients was directly linked to the success and happiness of their employees.

John’s son, R/M CEO Bill Mielke, shared that mindset and carried it with him as he stepped into his role as President/CEO and the firm’s majority shareholder. In 1995, it was Bill who made the decision to transfer 40% of the company’s stock to R/M employees.

20 years later, in 2015 R/M proudly became 100% employee-owned.

Co-founder John Mielke and R/M CEO Bill Mielke

Employee-Ownership is something to celebrate

As an employee-owned firm, every staff member at R/M has a personal and financial stake in the success of the organization and the success of our clients. This commitment is reflected in every aspect of our business.

“I always want our clients to know that whenever you’re talking to an employee at Ruekert & Mielke, you’re talking to an owner of the company.”

— Stanley R. Sugden, R/M President

Employee-owners team up to give back to the communities we serve

“I think the decision to transition to a full ESOP is representative the nature of R/M’s core work as municipal engineers. We often talk about the fact that our staff live, work, and play in the communities we serve, which means that our families and friends drink the water we help clean, drive on the streets we design, and swim in the rivers and lakes we help protect. That kind of work is deeply personal. Employee-ownership takes that a step further. Our clients’ success is quite literally our success.”

— R/M Staff Member

recognizing the impacts of employee ownership

Employee ownership has had a significant impact on the level of satisfaction reported by R/M staff. R/M has been named a Top Workplace by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel four years in a row. The Top Workplace designation is determined by a scientific employee survey process where employees are asked 24 questions related to workplace satisfaction and culture ranging from the relationship with their manager to their perception of appreciation within the company.

Employers are then ranked among groups of a similar size to most accurately compare results. Those that score high enough are recognized as Top Workplaces.