Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/567722
Winter Fancy Food Show Booth 1186 on monetary compensation being almost secondary to other benefits. Zingerman's Weinzweig thinks the incentive comes from being fully engaged in the business and being asked to participate, as well as being given access to financial information about the company through "lavish sharing" and transparency. "Ask them to help make decisions that run the business," Weinzweig sug- gests. "Believe in the wisdom of your staff. Everybody wants to do a good job, but it needs to be clear what doing a good job looks like. People want clear, well- documented expectations. They want to feel their opinions matter and can effect change in the organization. They want a level playing field, and to be clear what actions and behaviors will be recognized and rewarded." Lessons Learned The companies interviewed here reported consistent growth in ranks and profits since becoming partially or fully employee owned, but that doesn't mean they didn't take some lumps along the way. Looking back, company managers at King Arthur Flour would have liked less emphasis on stock prices and more infor- mation about non-monetary benefits in employee education sessions about the stock ownership plan, Walker admits. "The biggest benefit beyond monetary compensation is knowing that as an employ- ee-owned and B Corp company [recognized for active commitment to social and envi- ronmental practices], we have the ability to effect change and ... be good stewards for the community and to the environment," she explains. Litehouse Foods did "a tremendous amount" of research and planning, CFO Prior shared. But if she could have improved on something, she says, it would have been to spend more time sharing stories and best practices with other ESOP companies "so we could accelerate some of our employee ownership programs." James Cronin writes about sustainable agriculture, artisan producers, and related food news. Read more of his work at jamescroninwrites.com. @ WATCH VIDEOS of Zingerman's Ari Weinzweig talking about his employee-owned plans and open-book fnance at specialtyfood.com/videos. 34 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com