A Michigan native, Hekman received a Bachelor of Business Administration in 2000 at Grand Valley State University, where he was voted "Outstanding Finance Student of the Year" by the faculty. He received a Doctor of Philosophy in Management from the University of Washington in 2007.
Hekman is most notable for his research focusing on improving organizational health. His examination of the pay disparity between white men and women and minorities, has been widely summarized and written about in leading popular press outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, The Atlantic, and Forbes. In 2000, was hired by aerospace manufacturing company Goodrich Corporation.
In 2002, Hekman began teaching undergraduate and Master of Business Administration business courses at the University of Washington.
In 2005, Hekman was hired as a consultant to Mark Emmert, University of Washington president In 2007, Hekman was hired as a research faculty in the University of Washington School of Public Health.
He teaches courses in health care management and strategic management at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Hekman"s research focuses on improving organizational health by minimizing organizational problems and increasing workplace virtues.
Hekman examined the pay disparity between white men and women and minorities, finding that customers who viewed videos featuring a black male, a white female, or a white male actor playing the role of an employee helping a customer were 19 percent more satisfied with the white male employee"s performance.
In a second study, he found that white male doctors were rated as more approachable and competent than equally well performing women or minority doctors. Hekman also examined physicians attachment with their employers, physician technology resistance, and reduced healthcare quality, finding that an employee"s weak attachment is socially contagious, ultimately leading coworkers to leave the organization. Hekman has also studied how to promote virtue in the workplace.
He observed that leader humility involves leaders modeling to followers how to grow by engaging in the three behaviors of admitting weaknesses, appreciating followers" strengths, and modeling teachability.
He identified four main types of workplace courage: standing up to authority, uncovering mistakes, structuring uncertainty, and protecting those in need.
