8 Pillars of Premier Employers

PREMIER EMPLOYER PROJECT | 1

8 PILLARS: PREMIER EMPLOYERS

DRIVE PROFIT THROUGH AN ENGAGED WORKFORCE

REAL WORLD BEST PRACTICES FROM INDUSTRY LEADERS

BASED ON RESEARCH FUNDED BY

2 | EIGHT PILLARS of EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

PREMIER EMPLOYER PROJECTThe Premier Employers Project is part of a national search for businesses, across several industries and sub-sectors, whose innovative strategies benefit both shareholders and lower-wage workers. It has long been understood that some businesses offer a particularly great place to work, in terms of benefits, salaries, career opportunities, and a supportive workplace culture. Hitachi Foundation began to wonder: are there employers who offer similarly great places to work for low-wage Americans who are at high risk of poverty? And moreover, can such businesses actually benefit in terms of higher profits or a competitive edge by building a highly engaged workforce? This project sets out to answer those questions.

NORTHWEST FOOD PROCESSORS EDUCATION & RESEARCH INSTITUTE Incorporated in 2007, Northwest Food Processors Education Research Institute (ERI) exists to enhance the overall economic health of the Northwest food processing cluster and the communities it supports. ERI provides research and support to the food processing industry.

THE HITACHI FOUNDATION The Hitachi Foundation is an independent nonprofit philanthropic forging an authentic integration of business actions and societal well-being in North America. From 2009 to 2013, the organization pursued a five year strategic focus on discovering and expanding business practices that create tangible, enduring economic opportunities for low-wealth Americans, their families, and the communities in which they reside—while also enhancing business value.

EXECUTIVES FOR ENGAGED EMPLOYEES

Executives for Engaged Employers is a boutique consulting firm delivering real world solutions to companies ready to drive profit to stakeholders and opportunities to workers.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Visit www.3-eee.org or contact Rose Marshall at

[email protected]

Writer: Jennifer RuwartEditors: Rose Marshall Scott Wagoner Design: Alicia Nagel Yoshini Gunawardena


DO YOU WANT TO HAVE A....•Company that outperforms its peers?

•Workforce that contributes to top-line growth and sustainable profitability?

•Reputation as one of the best places to work?


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©2013 Executives for Engaged EmployeesEight Pillars of Smart & Engaged Executives: The Foundation of a Premier

Employer by Executives for Engaged Employees is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

LOOK NO FURTHERTHIS GUIDE CONTAINS 8 PILLARS TO DRIVE PROFIT TO STAKEHOLDERS AND OPPORTUNITIES TO WORKERS.

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INTRODUCTIONIn the fall of 2010 the Hitachi Foundation approached the Northwest Food Processors Association (NWFPA) about an initiative to identify Premier Employers in the food-processing industry. Premier Employers are companies that benefit their customers and/or shareholders by strategically investing in their lower-wage workers, who are often the most underutilized human asset in a company. These companies go beyond typical ideas about great places to work and demonstrate how you can actually align the interests of employees and management to create better results for entire communities—while also improving business results, sometimes dramatically.

The Hitachi Foundation wanted to know two things:

Did these companies build sustainable businesses by genuinely investing in the professional development of their low-wage employees, often leading to greater responsibility and higher wages?

If so, can other companies adopt similar practices to achieve similar business results?

The education and research arm of NWFPA, Northwest Food Processors Education & Research Institute (ERI), embarked on a journey to find the answers. After months of research and interviews, ERI wrote case studies about 11 Premier Employers in the Western United States: Bolthouse Farms, Bellingham Cold Storage, Dave’s Killer Bread, GloryBee Foods, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Henningsen Cold Storage, New Seasons Market, Oregon Spice, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, Standing Stone Brewery, and Tim’s Cascade Snacks.


This project showed that these companies have in fact figured out how to engage and harness their employees to build sustainable businesses and stronger communities. The case studies call out the unique culture and practices of each company. For example, Henningsen Cold Storage practices a participatory style of leadership that emphasizes employee safety above all else. Dave’s Killer Bread, formerly known as NatureBake, believes paying a living wage and offering second chance opportunities to people who demonstrate a commitment to change is key to its success. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters sees continuous learning and personal transformation as core principles contributing to the company’s competitive edge.

As a result of their employee engagement practices, these companies boast impressive results, including:

Tenfold revenue increase over 7 years

100% customer retention

<5% turnover rate in an industry known for high turnover

Significant reductions in absenteeism

Resiliency during economic downturns

Reputation as “the best place to work” in the community

New product lines created by employees

And much more

Hitachi and ERI are not the only ones figuring this out. A 2012 Towers Watson study across 50 global companies confirm that companies with high levels of employee engagement outperformed other companies in operating income, net income growth, and earnings-per-share growth.1 Gallop research found that the best-managed teams have fewer accidents and fewer quality defects.2

Although the companies are as varied as the products they sell, eight pillars of employee engagement emerged. The pillars presented in this guide build on and intersect with each other and, as such, can be read in any order. In total they represent the practice areas a company might implement to develop a fully engaged workforce in any manufacturing company.


Companies with high levels of employee engagement outperformed other companies in operating income, net income growth, and earnings-per-share growth.

—2012 Tower Watson Study

8 PILLARS OF ENGAGEMENT

1: COMMUNICATE Create Alignment Around Company Values and Mission (page 9)

2: HIRE FOR FIT Bring the Right People on Board (page 13)

3: ONBOARD Start New Hires Off on the Right Foot (page 17)

4: TRAIN Develop an Internal Pipeline of Skilled Employees (page 21)

5: PROMOTE Reward Top Performers (page 25)

6: COMPENSATE Help Employees Thrive (page 27)

7: RECOGNIZE Appreciate Your Employees. Sincerely and Often. (page 31)

8: NURTURE Support Work Life Balance (page 35)

These pillars highlight the rich exchange between employee and employer who share in the risks and the rewards of staying competitive and profitable in business. They show that engagement begins before a person is hired and continues throughout employment.

Building an engaged employee base can feel intimidating—and expensive—especially when just getting it off the ground. It takes time and dedication, and it starts at the top. Based on our learnings, we recommend you start with communication and hiring to fit. Having the right people on board who believe in the company’s vision and are committed to the success of not only their team, but also the business as a whole, will improve key metrics across the organization.

It bears repeating. It starts with you. Read this book. Watch our videos. Join our LinkedIn group. Read from our bibliography. Send us your comments. A full list of resources is on the last page.

Good luck!The ERI, Hitachi Foundation and Executives for Engaged Employees Team




COMMUNICATE“I BELIEVE EMPLOYEES SHOULD BE VIBRANT MEMBERS OF SOCIETY AND GREAT AMBASSADORS FOR THE COMPANY.”

—KEN GROSSMAN, FOUNDER AND CEO, SIERRA NEVADA

1: COMMUNICATECreate Alignment Around Company Values and Mission

It’s no surprise that employees tell stories—to each other, about each other and about you. Humans are natural storytellers. The key is to tap into this instinct and encourage your employees to tell the right stories by creating a destination and roadmap employees can follow.

Not sure what messages to share with your employees? How about starting with your company’s vision and goals and then:

Articulating the roadmap to get thereEmphasizing your employees’ contributions to the big pictureListening to their ideas about everything from improving their workspace to increasing efficiency, safety and quality on the production line

Repeated often, this simple practice can increase alignment across the company by firing up employees about the mission and objectives of their company to motivate them to adopt and evangelize the right messages.

‣COMMUNICATION IN MOTIONThe following are just a few of the practices companies can adopt to create a culture based on open and transparent communication.

CULTURAL TEAMSLike many companies in the late 2000s, Bolthouse Farms went through many changes that shook up its company culture. CEO Jeff Dunn believed that reinvigorating the culture needed to start at the top of the company to create engagement from employees across the organization.

He created a cross-departmental team to regularly bring together employees at all levels of the organization—from the Vice President to hourly production supervisors—to quickly gain an understanding of what was happening with employees.

When forming the team Jeff looked for leaders of influence within the company; employees who have influence whether or not they have explicit authority or decision-making responsibilities. He also looked at other variables to ensure the team represented the demographic of the company.

Jeff knew from the beginning that it would take three to five years to see real change within the company, so the team focused on quick 90-day wins to begin


the process of rebuilding a cohesive culture. For example, the team created Spirit Day and bought company-branded t-shirts for employees to wear every Friday.

MANAGEMENT BY WALKING AROUNDManagement by walking around (MBWA) was first coined by Tom Peters and Robert H. Waterman in their 1982 book In Search of Excellence3 . MBWA is the practice of managers wandering around in an unstructured and random manner to check-in with employees about the status of ongoing work. The premise is that managers are more likely to positively influence productivity and quality when directly interacting with employees versus remaining tucked away in an office, waiting for employee check-ins or the delivery of production reports to know what is happening on the production floor.

Executives are busy. Being too busy to connect with employees on a regular basis, though, can create an unintended you versus them culture. Adopting MBWA at the executive level can give employees an opportunity to connect with and get to know those guys upstairs. As importantly, it can give you unfettered access into the pulse of the company by asking:

Are my employees engaged? What’s working? What feels off?What’s in their way?What can I do to make their job better?

Being available and accessible demonstrates to your employees that you care and that people do matter. In conjunction with its culture team, Bolthouse also created its own version of MBWA called the Executive Walkabout. During a walkabout, a member of the Culture Team escorts executives around the production floor. The purpose is to provide opportunities for executives to learn and understand what employees do and to spur impromptu conversations between themselves and frontline workers.

ALL EMPLOYEE MEETINGSAll Employee Meetings, also known as All Hands on Deck or Town Hall meetings, can be an effective component of your company’s overall communication strategy. In “The Perils of the All-Employee Meeting”4 in the Harvard Business Review, Amy Jen Su and Muriel Maignan Wilkins encourage leaders to make sure their message resonates by:

Explaining what's in it for employeesFostering a two-way conversation with employees in lieu of a fancy presentationIncluding other people that employees want to hear from

Above all, they recommend that if leaders want to know how to best communicate with employees, just go ask them.


Jeff and Scott La Porta, Bolthouse’s CFO and COO, also implemented the Jeff and Scott Hour. In monthly meetings, they update employees on how the company is doing and share recent company news. In the Movers & Shakers section of the hour they recognize employees who have been promoted, moved departments, and/or celebrated an anniversary date with the company. The logistics of hosting approximately 1,000 production workers, combined with the demanding production schedule, prevents some hourly and seasonal production workers from attending the monthly meeting. To keep all employees well informed, a one-page newsletter is also included with every paycheck.

EMPLOYEE NEWSLETTERSEmployee newsletters can be a key part of a company’s overall internal communication strategy. Employee newsletters can produce real results, including:

Breaking down silos: Highlighting special projects, internal heroes and team accomplishments across the company promotes cross-departmental camaraderie and connection.Managing change: Connecting the dots between changes in the company and why those changes matter to employees helps them adapt to change positively.Creating greater alignment: Repeating key messages that are communicated in other forums reinforces company values and the ‘way we do things here’.

Since 1984, Bellingham Cold Storage has published a monthly newsletter called ICEBreaker. The newsletter is part of the company’s strategy to forge positive relationships with its employees and develop them into future leaders.



HIRE FOR FIT“YOU CAN TEACH ANYONE ANY TASK, BUT YOU CAN’T TEACH FRIENDLINESS. IT’S THE NUMBER ONE TRAIT WE LOOK FOR IN CANDIDATES.”

—CLAUDIA KNOTEK, COMMUNITY RELATIONS MANAGER, NEW SEASONS

MARKET

2: HIRE FOR FITBring the Right People on Board

In his second landmark book Good to Great5, Jim Collins says, “Leaders of companies that go from good to great start not with ‘where’ but with ‘who.’ They start by getting the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats. And they stick with that discipline—first the people, then the direction—no matter how dire the circumstances.”

The Premier Employers profiled all focus on hiring the right people because they know that an employee who is a good fit contributes more ideas, acts within alignment of the company’s core values, produces better results and stays longer. Not to be underestimated, a good hire can also add more positive attitude and energy to an already high-functioning team.

A bad hire can have dire consequences on a company. Lower productivity, increased costs to recruit and train another worker, and a negative impact on overall employee morale are just a few of the consequences. According to a 2012 CareerBuilder survey5 , 69% of employers report that their companies were adversely affected by a bad hire. 41% of those companies estimate the cost of a bad hire to be more than $25,000.

The good news is that any company can mitigate these risks and contribute to the overall health of its business by hiring for fit.

‣HIRE FOR FITThe following are just a few of the practices companies can implement to hire the right people.

HIRING PROCESSA critical first step is to design a hiring process that carefully assesses job candidates for fit within your company. The process should be flexible enough that it can be tweaked for the type of position, but consistent enough that it looks for the same core values whether you are hiring at the corporate level or production level.

Adding a new team member can be disruptive to an existing team. Involve team members during the interview and selection process to allow them to weigh-in on the new hire. Bill Daniels, Marketing and Communications Manager at Henningsen Cold Storage, says that sometimes it comes down to asking basic questions like,


“Leaders of companies that go from good to great start not with ‘where’ but with ‘who.’”

—Jim Collins, author Good to Great

‘Can I imagine working with this person?’ and/or ‘Can I imagine my team working with this person?’

GloryBee’s rigorous hiring process for all positions includes a personality assessment, a cognitive test, an interview with Human Resources, a panel interview with the future team, and a drug test. GloryBee says its extensive process ensures that it hires people who are committed to the success of the company.

JOB DESCRIPTIONSAccording to Why Are Job Descriptions Important6 on the Business and Legal Resources HR blog, a job description is a written statement that describes the main objective of a job, its essential and nonessential functions, job qualifications, and other information about the job.

Job descriptions help new employees understand the responsibilities of the position. They summarize the knowledge, training, education, and skills needed for each job. Well-written job descriptions provide this information in a completely objective and impersonal way.

EMPLOYEE REFERRAL PROGRAMWant to attract more great employees like the ones you have? Engage existing employees in the recruitment process by creating an employee-referral program. A referral program can be an effective, low-cost pipeline to candidates that possess traits similar to your top performers. It also can raise the bar for all employees as they take ownership in the hiring process for potential colleagues.

A great way to get a program started is to offer a cash reward. As an example, employees at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters are rewarded when a referral completes their first six months.




ONBOARD“OUR COMPANY SUCCESS IS DEPENDENT ON OUR EMPLOYEES' INVOLVEMENT. IT'S BEEN OUR BUSINESS STRATEGY TO DO EVERYTHING WE CAN SO THAT OUR EMPLOYEES ACT LIKE OWNERS OF THE COMPANY.”

—JEFF LEICHLEITER, GENERAL MANAGER, TIM’S CASCADE SNACKS

3: ONBOARDStart New Hires Off on the Right Foot

According to Talya N. Bauer in her report Onboarding New Employees: Maximizing Success,7 half of all hourly workers leave new jobs within the first four months. Onboarding mitigates this risk by helping new hires adjust to their new jobs. A well-planned onboarding process gives employees the highest probability of success and satisfaction, while providing the employer insight into their strengths and potential workplace contributions.

‣ONBOARDING IN MOTIONORIENTATION Orientations typically include information about the:

Company: Culture, history, values, and structure of the organizationWork environment: Safety, processes, and proceduresJob: Position description, benefits, and eligibility

Orientations can be delivered using a variety of communication channels including presentations, open discussions, written material and multimedia. At Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, its weeklong new employee orientation helps new hires understand the coffee roasting business and their role within it. By the end of the week, they learn:

Where they fit within the supply chainThe coffee roasting business from “tree to cup”The company’s commitment to social responsibilityHow businesses succeed both financially and strategically

The company believes that when employees understand their contribution, they are more loyal and committed to the business.

(NEW HIRE) TRAINING PLANS Training Plans are a series of actions and milestones that help new hires understand the details of their job and help managers and HR track progress. They allow employees to master their new position in a structured and supportive environment. An ideal training plan includes hands-on experience with shadowing, which is described below.

SHADOWING In her article, New Employee Orientation: Employee Onboarding, Susan M. Hatfield says job shadowing is an essential component of onboarding new employees. It helps new employees develop their knowledge, skills, and experience by observing


veteran employees perform the duties they are expected to master. Of particular note, veterans pass along solutions to problems commonly encountered.8

For the first few weeks of employment at New Seasons Market, new employees mostly shadow other employees to get a feel for the tasks, rhythm, and flow of their position. During this time, their supervisor and co-workers observe them to better understand how they learn and adapt their teaching style as appropriate.

New Seasons Market says a big benefit of job shadowing is that new employees witness exceptional customer service in the work environment. As they are able to ask questions along the way, they more readily absorb the values and standards of the company.




TRAIN“IF EMPLOYEES ARE JUST A NUMBER WE’LL NEVER UNLOCK THEIR POTENTIAL. ONCE YOU START BELIEVING IN PEOPLE, THEY BELIEVE IN THEMSELVES.” —KAREN HOLLINGSWORTH, TRAINING COORDINATOR, BELLINGHAM COLD STORAGE

5: TRAINCreate an Internal Pipeline of Skilled Employees

A well-trained workforce can lead to increases in productivity, quality, and safety. Skilled employees are better able to adapt to changes in workflow and technology, while contributing to quality improvement. This allows managers to spend less time supervising and more time coaching. The company benefits from reduced turnover, higher job satisfaction, morale and motivation among developed employees.

‣TRAINING IN MOTIONAn internal pipeline of skilled employees is the result of a strong training program that can include elements of the following examples:

LITERACY TRAININGCompanies that employ undereducated or non-native English speakers can benefit by offering a literacy program. Bellingham Cold Storage’s workplace literacy program helps employees acquire basic skills, including English as a second language, GED preparation, math, computer literacy, financial literacy, and American citizenship preparation. Classes are free to employees and taught by a paid, certified teacher. The company claims that the result is employee loyalty, even from seasonal workers, who return to the company season after season.

TECHNICAL TRAINING Sometimes a company experiences accelerated growth that requires qualified and technically trained employees to meet demand. When Sierra Nevada Brewing Company’s growth significantly increased in the 2000‘s it implemented a customized worker-training program to help frontline workers gain occupational skills. This program was funded and supported by the Employment Training Panel from the state of California.

Both Henningsen Cold Storage and Bellingham Cold Storage send employees to attend four days of intensive classes about refrigerated warehousing with the Institute of the World Food Logistics Organization. When they graduate, employees are expected to have a complete understanding of the warehouse and logistics business.

Bolthouse Farms implemented its own Leadership University, which offers courses both online and in traditional classroom settings. Topics range from learning Microsoft Office to introductions in finance and accounting, leadership and management, project management, and sales. Supervisors and managers can learn Spanish to improve communication with non-English speaking production line workers using language learning software.


CROSS-TRAININGStanding Stone Brewery believes that the more employees understand the steps to make a meal in their restaurant, the more they contribute innovative ideas and perspectives to its success. Employees are cross-trained to give them a sense of the business as a whole, rather than just their one part in it. More than half of the brewery’s employees have multiple job descriptions, some as many as six. By taking on extra responsibilities and projects, employees gain valuable experience and new skills. They are also able to keep more of their hours during slow periods. After implementing cross-training, Standing Stone’s turnover rate plummeted from 60% to 31% over a 12-month period, saving the company an estimated $21,000 in recruitment and training costs.

EMPLOYEE DRIVEN CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENTHaving employees drive continuous improvement can impact more than the bottom line through cost savings. It can provide employees an opportunity to take risks and learn from their mistakes, which improves their skills and abilities. It can also help improve their communication and leadership skills as they must be able to articulate and, at times, defend, their ideas. It can be a driver of job satisfaction and pride as employees see the impact of quality improvement suggestions.

Employees at Bellingham Cold Storage are trained to identify processes that seem redundant, require unnecessary hard work, or can be improved to make jobs safer and more efficient. For each idea submitted, an employee receives a small cash reward in their paycheck, providing an immediate incentive for sharing ideas. The amount of the cash award is determined based on the amount of savings to the company. Bellingham Cold Storage has saved at least $250,000 and awarded $10,000 in cash awards to employees.

SAFETY TRAININGSafety training establishes expectations on how to perform job tasks. An absence of safety training exposes employees and employers to risk of injury and non-compliance with various safety regulations.

Workforce Safety is the number one priority at Henningsen Cold Storage. The company works closely with employees and regulators to create an injury-free work environment. As a result of their efforts, Henningsen boasts one of the lowest MOD rates in the cold storage industry, which translates into lower insurance premiums. Bill Daniels, Henningsen’s Human Resources Manager, says, “Our employees perform heavy duty labor in extreme temperatures. Being injured doesn’t just impact productivity. It potentially impacts our employees’ quality of life, which is why we never sacrifice safety for productivity or efficiency.”

LEADERSHIP TRAININGOn the first Thursday of every month, managers at Sierra Nevada Brewing Company receive ongoing training and coaching about relevant topics for managing their teams well. Topics include how to address employee leaves of


absence, industry trends, managing across generations in the workplace, effective communication skills, etc. The brewery uses in-house trainers, invites guest speakers and occasionally partners with organizations such as the local community college to deliver workshops.

Oregon Spice recently sent its entire management team to the Master Graduate Leadership Program offered by Discover Leadership. The program helps individuals break through personal barriers, gain focus and build greater self-confidence to improve both her personal and professional lives. Although it is too soon to gauge the long-term impact of the program, managers report they are now more focused on outcomes and holding each other accountable to the core values of Oregon Spice.



PROMOTE“WHEN SOMEONE LEAVES THE COMPANY I WANT TO BE ABLE TO PROMOTE TWO PEOPLE FROM WITHIN.”

—SCOTT LAPORTA, CFO AND COO, BOLTHOUSE FARMS

6: PROMOTEReward top performers.

Promoting from within can be thought of as the culmination of having the right employee engagement practices in place. It can reduce recruiting and onboarding costs since existing employees with institutional knowledge typically get up to speed faster. Real opportunities for advancement can also boost morale and keep productivity high as it motivates other employees to better perform.

Companies committed to promoting from within nurture and cultivate an internal pipeline of qualified candidates, detailed in the previous pillar. They not only invest in ongoing training, but also coach their employees, encouraging them to share their career aspirations and take risks to learn from their mistakes.

‣PROMOTING FROM WITHIN IN MOTION

CULTURE OF INTERNAL PROMOTIONPromoting from within is about creating a culture of encouragement by publicizing opportunities. Companies can create internal job boards, which allow them to post open positions before they are posted externally. They can also publicize goals for internal recruitment. For example, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters seeks to fill 20% of open positions internally and Naturebake seeks to fills approximately 50% . Scott LaPorta, COO of Bolthouse Farms, says, “When someone leaves the company, I want to be able to promote two people from within.”

Employees at Naturebake are encouraged to apply to its Supervisors in Training Program. Over 90-days employees are screened for aptitudes and attitudes of a leader, receive formal training to develop supervisory skills, are exposed to all production functions and assigned a mentor. When a position comes open Naturebake expects the program to yield supervisors ready to be placed.

What happens after an employee applies for a position can be equally important. GloryBees creates training plans for employees that are promoted from within to new positions. On the flip side, when employees at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Henningsen Cold Storage, Naturebake and Oregon Spice apply for open positions, but are not selected, they are provided with reasons why and clear directions on how to develop their abilities for the next opportunity. When possible they are also assigned a mentor.



COMPENSATE“GREEN MOUNTAIN PUTS THEIR PEOPLE FIRST. THEY BELIEVE IN SHARING WHAT THEY HAVE WHICH MAKES ME WORK EVEN HARDER. WHAT THEY DO FOR ME MAKES ME WANT TO COME TO WORK EVERY DAY.”

—WILLIE BYRD, FACILITIES TECHNICIAN, GREEN MOUNTAIN COFFE ROASTERS

6: COMPENSATE Help Employees Thrive

A company may not think the overall financial health of employees as its responsibility yet financial stress has been linked to higher turnover, absenteeism and medical costs, and drops in productivity. Companies with a large percentage of their workforce in vulnerable demographics in particular are at risk for higher costs9 An April 2008 survey by Kaiser Family Foundation, found that almost two-thirds (61%) of Americans report having serious financial problems. The problems mentioned include paying for necessities like rent or mortgage, gas and food.10

Investing in the overall financial health of an employee starts with paying a living wage. Once that need has been met, companies can promote ongoing financial security through financial literacy, ongoing opportunities for bonuses and bumps in pay, benefits and profit sharing. By increasing the financial well-being of its employees, employers can expect increased retention, morale and productivity, all of which positively impact its bottom line.

‣COMPENSATION IN MOTION

BASE PAY IS A LIVING WAGEFair and adequate compensation is an important part of an overall human resource strategy. In his 2011 book Drive, Daniel Pink drew on four decades of scientific research on human motivation to reveal that once employees are compensated adequately they are more motivated by the need to have autonomy over what they are doing, to master it in some way, and to know there is a higher purpose to what they are doing.11

The premier employers profiled all pay living wages and join the ranks of companies like Trader Joe’s, Costco and QuikTrip in terms of seeing employees as assets to be maximized. In an article published by The Atlantic, Zeynep Ton of MIT's Sloan School of Management says these companies have adopted a different model than other employers of typical low wage income earners. By seeing their employees as assets, their stores have better operational efficiency and customer service, resulting in better sales.12

Bellingham Cold Storage boasts 100% customer retention and both New Seasons Market and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters boast turnover rates well below their industry’s rates. All companies were resilient during the recent economic crisis, able to maintain their workforce levels without reducing staff or wages.


“A key to our success is that we pay a living wage and retain loyal and dedicated employees.”

—Shobi Dahl, former President, Dave’s Killer Bread

Dave’s Killer Bread pays employees a living wage because it does not believe living on minimum wage is sustainable. The company also provides medical insurance and contributes to employee retirement funds.

FINANCIAL LITERACYRecognizing the negative impact of employee financial distress on families, more companies are now incorporating financial education in the workplace. Employees of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters are encouraged to enroll in Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University,. The program teaches employees and their families how to make the right financial decisions to achieve their financial goals. Bellingham Cold Storage includes a module on financial literacy in its English as a Second Language curriculum. It also helps employees set up bank accounts and prepare their annual income taxes.

BONUSES AND BUMPS IN PAYGlassdoor’s 2012 survery revealed that nearly three in four employees said that a cash bonus would be among their top choices for employer-gifted holiday perks.13 Oregon Spice annually gives its employees a holiday card that includes a cash gift. President Patty Boday believes that the holidays are a time when people focus on their families. The extra cash gives employees the chance to relax and enjoy themselves and their families.

Bellingham Cold Storage gives warehouse workers the opportunity to earn an hourly premium for driving a forklift during peak times. As of early 2013, Bellingham had trained almost 60 employees to be back-up forklift drivers. Although the drivers only perform simple tasks, having the back-up support ensures Bellingham can keep up with demand during peak times, while also giving the employees a bump in pay.

BENEFITSThere are compelling reasons to provide employees with benefits. A 2013 MetLife Survey of employee benefit trends showed that employees who strongly recommend their company as a great place to work are three times more satisfied with their benefits than those who are less positive about their company.14

According to Lloyd Foight, a benefits consultant with the Ross Companies in New York, competitors that offer better benefits programs are able to attract employees away from other companies.Companies who do not provide the basics, such as health care and disability insurance, will be at a disadvantage in obtaining and retaining employees.15

All the featured premier employers provide a minimum of basic benefits to their full-time employees. Many go beyond. Medical benefits at Tim’s Cascade Snacks include free counseling, legal services, and child/elder care information and resources. It also includes a 24-hour toll-free health coaching line. Bellingham Cold Storage offers an Employee Assistance Program to its employees and their


dependents. The benefit is also offered to extended family members, such as a niece or nephew, when they are under the care of an employee. Training Coordinator Karen Hollingsworth says the company is generous with this benefit because it knows that extenuating circumstances in the home have a direct impact on an employee’s performance.

PROFIT SHARINGA profit-sharing plan gives employees a share in the profits of a company. They offer distinct advantages, which can contribute to a business's overall morale and bottom line. Companies might start a profit-sharing plan for any of the following benefits:

Loyalty: A well-designed and publicized plan can help attract and keep talented employees.Flexibility: The employer chooses when and how much to contribute to the plan.Breadth: A profit sharing plan benefits employees across an organization, including frontline workers.Productivity: Employees start to feel and act like owners of the company ownership when they see a correlation between their work and the bottom line.16

Twice a year New Seasons Market distributes 20% of after-tax profit as profit share to its employees. Rather than just decide the structure of the program, they asked employees to help design it. Employees at Sierra Nevada Brewing Company who work over 1,000 hours per year benefit from the company’s profit sharing plan.

In true shared-ownership spirit, employees at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters can participate in an employee stock purchase plan where they buy company stock at a 15% discounted price through payroll deductions. The company also automatically enrolls employees in a 401(k) program—though they may opt out—in which the company offers a 50% match of the employee contribution up to the 6% maximum deduction.



RECOGNIZE“GENUINELY RECOGNIZING EMPLOYEE CONTRIBUTIONS AND ACHIEVEMENTS IMPROVES MORALE, PRODUCTIVITY AND LONGEVITY.”

— RAEJEAN WILSON, VICE PRESIDENT OF STEWARDSHIP & BRAND ALIGNMENT, GLORYBEE FOODS

7: RECOGNIZEAppreciate Your Employee. Sincerely and Often.

Top performing companies know that when employees feel appreciated they perform better. However, a recent Salesforce survey showed that the average company is not recognizing employees as well as it believes it is. 56% of senior management surveyed felt their company was above average at appreciation compared to 23% of employees. 17 Addressing this gap matters for four compelling reasons:

49% of employees said they would leave their job for a company that recognized its employees for their efforts and contributions.63% of employees who do not feel respected said they intend to leave their companies within the next two years.78% of US workers said they would likely leave their jobs if they didn’t feel appreciated by their manager.69% of employees would work harder if they were better recognized.

A company’s recognition efforts is directly tied to its overall internal employee communication strategy. Done right, it helps to create the culture of encouragement discussed in the Promote From Within section. It also helps mitigate and/or solve many HR problems. Employees sense when recogni t ion i s ins incere though. Companies can ensure that recognition looks and feels genuine by avoiding inaccurate information, token gestures, vagueness, too much enthusiasm, and overlooking contributors.

‣RECOGNITION IN MOTION

The most common types of recognition programs include mention in company communications, awards ceremonies, certificates and plaques, cash, gift certificates, company logo merchandise, and food.

GloryBee gives annual awards to the ‘Best Worker Bees’ in different categories. Employees nominate each other and then the winners are selected through a ballot voting process. The three employees in each category who receive the most votes are honored at GloryBee’s Annual Holiday Party. Each employee receives a fun award, a plaque, and a cash gift ranging from $100-$200. Twice a year GloryBee also recognizes employees, departments and leaders for safety.


“We want our employees to know the value they bring to the organization. This is critical to our success and overall competitive strategy.”

— Jeff Leichleiter, General Manager, Tim’s Cascade’s Snacks

Employees receive recognition, trophies, and prizes. There is also a safety honor roll for employees who are accident-free for a designated period of time. The department with the longest accident-free period is given an annual trophy.

Recognition at Tim’s Cascade’s Snacks includes profiles in the company’s bi-monthly newsletter and an annual dinner celebrating employees' years of service. Once a month the company holds a celebration for all employee birthdays. At Thanksgiving, each employee receives a turkey and at Christmas each employee is treated to a luncheon and given a holiday ham with a personal Christmas card.

Oregon Spice strives to recognize and appreciate employee contributions and continuously looks for what might be meaningful for each employee. For example, in recognition of strong sales, the sales team recently gave tablet computers to their customer service representatives while taking them out for a celebratory dinner.




NURTURE“TOO MANY EMPLOYEES SURVIVED THEIR WORKING SHIFTS WITH FAST FOOD, ENERGY DRINKS AND ON-SITE VENDING MACHINES. WE DECIDED TO OPEN A CAFE THAT PROVIDES FRESH AND NUTRITIOUS MEALS TO ALL COMPANY EMPLOYEES AT NO CHARGE."

— SHOBI DAHL, CEO, DAVE’S KILLER BREAD

8: NURTURESupport Work Life Balance

Most employees spend more with you than they do with their families. The Towers Watson 2012 Global Workforce Study shows that more than ever employees need tools to manage their emotional, mental and physical needs.18 In the Harvard Business Review, Tony Schwartz says that organizations benefit by shifting from getting as much as they can out of employees, to investing in helping them meet their core needs. Doing so frees employees from overwhelming stress and burnout, which allows them to bring more of themselves to work, more sustainably.19

Nurturing employees is more than just encouraging healthy behaviors. It’s proactively co-creating a healthy work environment that addresses your employees’ needs, so they can achieve work/life balance. It can cover everything from encouraging alternative modes of transportation to what type of food is available on-site, from creating inspiring workspaces to employee-paid, on-site childcare. Many of these practices can be considered part of a company’s compensation package as well.

‣NURTURING IN MOTION

INCENTIVES FOR HEALTHY BEHAVIOREvery fall, Tim’s Cascade Snacks holds a Health and Wellness Fair. During the fair each employee is given an hour during their scheduled work day to meet with the more than 15 health care professionals, and receive flu shots and health screenings.Tim’s Cascade Snacks also sponsors programs that promote healthy eating, physical activity, and weight management. In 2009, more than 65% of the employees participated in a 12-week weight loss challenge, losing more than 235 pounds in total.

ENCOURAGING ALTERNATIVE MODES OF TRANSPORTATIONAfter 1,000 hours of employment, employees of Standing Stone Brewery can earn a free bike by committing to ride their new bike to work at least 45 times over the next 12 months. This benefit celebrates a significant milestone of employment, while also inspiring staff to exercise. As of early 2013 Standing Stone had bought 52 bikes for their employees over the course of three years.

Bellingham Cold Storage’s Smart Commuter Program incentivizes employees to find alternatives to single occupancy vehicles in their commute to work. To keep it simple, employees mark the Smart Commuter check-box area on their daily timesheet. On a monthly basis, BCS randomly selects one Smart Commuter to be interviewed and photographed for its monthly newsletter, the ICEBreaker. The employee is also awarded a cash prize, gift cards, a BCS-branded personal gift and


free bus passes. Twice a year, BCS gives away eight to ten larger gift cards from local merchants.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Company’s Green Machine program is also an incentive program designed to encourage and reward employees to utilize their bicycles as a form of transportation. The program has been highly successful for the past four years and participation continues to increase. Ninety employees actively participate in the program. Employees of Sierra Nevada are also encouraged to take advantage of the Federal Bicycle Commuter Act Benefit. This benefit provides an allowance of up to $20 per month to employees who ride their bikes to work more than half of their regularly scheduled shifts. The allowance can be used for reasonable expenses incurred in conjunction with riding to work.

FREE FOODGlen Dahl of Naturebake observed that many employees were relying on energy drinks and on-site vending machines to get through their shifts. With short lunch breaks only fast food restaurants were accessible nearby. The company opened the Killer Cafe, which is available 23.5 hours every day. Full-time chefs prepare fresh and nutritious meals for employees at no charge. Employees can also take two loaves of bread home per week.

Employees at Standing Stone receive a free meal and beverage each day they work for two or more hours. The benefit costs Standing Stone over $100,000 annually, a cost they say is insignificant considering the benefits of a well-nourished staff.

Typical of a grocery store, New Seasons Market often has perishable products that have reached their expiration date, but are still edible, and sample product that have been supplied to the company to try. Employees are encouraged to take these products free of charge. To take these products from the store, employees must complete a Product Loss Form, also called a Blue Slip, acquired from the appropriate department manager. The employee then takes the product and the blue slip through the checkout line, which authorizes the employee to take the product out of the store and removes it from inventory. New Seasons Market also provides a 20% employee discount on almost all products. It recently calculated that the discount averages out to an additional 65 cents for every hour worked.

ON-SITE DAY CARESierra Nevada Brewing Company offers on-site, affordable daycare and preschool for employees’ children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews. The daycare saves employees travel time since the daycare is adjacent to the brewery, allows them to spend time with their children during lunch and breaks and helps new parents better manage the stress of having a young child. While being a perk for Sierra Nevada employees, is managed as a break-even business. It is priced at or just below market value so it can stay competitive, while covering its costs.


ON-SITE MEDICAL CLINICBoth Sierra Nevada and Bellingham Cold Storage have built on-site medical clinics. The goal is to improve the health of their employees by providing skilled and immediate care at no cost to employees and their immediate family members, while decreasing medical care costs.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Company built its clinic in 2006 and has seen positive results. It recently transitioned to an Integrative Medicine model with expanded services for employees and their families. The expanded services include care for acute and chronic medical conditions and coaching to encourage healthy lifestyle changes.

Bellingham Cold Storage built its clinic in 2012 and says that although it is too early to tell, it expects to see healthier employees and lower costs. It has already seen a trend that employees are primarily accessing care when they are sick, so it is also exploring incentives to encourage employees to focus on preventive care.


BIBLIOGRAPHY


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