| Leading With Integrity by Margaret A. Lulic One of the most intriguing, holistic and conscious companies in Minnesota is Reell Precision Manufacturing Company. It is a community that welcomes mind, heart and spirit at work. We used to be a well-kept secret. Recognition of our unique culture led to a 2003 national award for Business Ethics, as well as a 2002 regional award for choosing people over profits when hit with a dramatic loss in revenue during the recent recession. We also have been honored for an unusual level of corporate giving, quality products and ISO 9000 certification and are now receiving national attention. I'm honored to serve as co-chair of the Board of Directors. Our name is the first clue as to what is different. "Reell" is a German word meaning honest, dependable or having integrity. This is a company that believes it exists to create a workplace of integrity that will support the personal and professional growth of people and serve the common good. If we do that well, great products and service as well as profits will follow. The most fundamental thing that drives a corporation's behavior (or an individual's) is how one answers the question, "Who are we here to serve?" Three levels of consciousness currently answer that question differently. Our Declaration of Belief document reflects a growing consciousness. "We believe the dignity of every individual to be sacred, and we believe life's highest purpose for each individual is to become all that she or he is created to be, and we believe the highest purpose for the Corporation is to make worthy contributions to the common good." What really matters around here is to live with questions about the meaning of life and consideration of the well-being of all our stakeholders. To navigate this complexity requires the freedom to seek inspirational wisdom and diverse perspectives on a daily basis to make decisions at all levels of the company. When it comes to pricing, profits, competition, layoffs, benefits, etc., we ask all the questions that any other company asks. However, we see these conversations in a different context. We use an analogy to eating. While eating is critical to living, one does not live to eat. We view profits the same way. Profits are critical to health, but they aren't the bottom line. We have had several major financial challenges in our 35-year history that have tested our resolve. In 2002, the markets hit us hard and sudden. We dropped our revenue forecast by 30 percent just a couple months. It is impossible to navigate such a drop without affecting salaries; the normal thing to do is layoffs. Our decision was different. Instead, the leaders of the organization took the first round of pay cuts averaging from 12-16 percent. Subsequently, all co-workers (except those earning less than $11.46 an hour) took a 7 percent pay cut and protected all jobs. We've learned that the slow times, the hard times, can be times of breakthrough. The key is to recognize opportunities and direct surplus manpower in those directions, rather than to cut people in an effort to maintain short-term profits. Customers and competitors recognize one of our best products as the industry performance standard. That product was developed during one of those hard times. There are many other concrete things we have done that illustrate how we try to live out our beliefs. We don't have organizational charts. We have a team of three people who provide senior leadership to the company through unanimous decisions. They have found that when they can't reach agreement, it's usually because they find the question is wrong. We don't have many perks tied to titles. We believe everyone has the right perks or special treatment based on his/her unique needs. We have a policy that lets people ask for this treatment. Because of our culture, people ask for very reasonable and responsible things so we seldom say no. We have no connection between pay and individual performance. We don't even have a performance review. Instead, we call it an annual conference that focuses on today and tomorrow. Executive compensation is less than 10 today verses 100 or more in many companies. We are an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) company, so today more than 40 percent of stock is in the hands of the people who work here. Co-workers have tremendous freedom and influence. During our recent financial downturn, we had a new customer approach us for a major new product development that would have helped our finances. However, the engineer discovered that the application was to be used to hold materials promoting cigarettes. He brought back an ethical question to the company. After great debate over the ethics of the application verses the ethics of helping to restore people's income, the decision was to not do the design. Why are we so different? A combination of grace, life conditions and commitments to reflection and philosophy have fostered the emergence of this new level of consciousness. We know we aren't alone in a paradigm shift in what business can mean in the world. I hope our becoming more visible will help encourage that shift. Margaret A. Lulic is a Consulting Philosopher. She draws out your wisdom, insight and foresight by consulting, coaching and educating people on philosophy and "A Theory of Everything." You can reach her at mlulic@mm.com or see www.mlulic.com. Copyright © 2004 Margaret A. Lulic |
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May 2004 |
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