The path to a winning workplace can begin in an unusual way. For Evanston, Ill.-based manufacturing company IRMCO, it started in the mid-1980s when owner and CEO William O. Jeffery III was suffering from terminal cancer. Jeffery committed his final years to making IRMCO a better place for his employees and its products better for his industrial customers. He replaced the oil and animal fat-based lubricants IRMCO had made for decades with more environmentally friendly, water-based products.
As Jeffery overhauled his company's product line, he also reshaped the way management dealt with employees. "He got extra-focused on people," recalls his son and IRMCO's current CEO, William C. "Jeff" Jeffery, who runs the 22-employee company, with his brother, Bradley. A key first step was to put in place what is now commonly referred to as "open book" management in which all financial details, except payroll, are shared with employees on a regular basis.
Opening the books, especially with an employee profit sharing plan in place, clears away any workers' feelings that the company is a piggybank for the owners. "Employees can see what is available for my brother and me to take out," says Jeff, who represents the fourth generation of family owners. "When they see during tough times that we aren't taking money out, they understand that we are all in this together. It helps create good will," Jeff says. General manager Jennifer Kalas, who worked at two other industrial companies before IRMCO, also notices something different. "People are aware of what's going on, the budget, where the money is being spent," she says. "People take ownership."
The culture of openness, trust and cooperation has evolved under the Jeffrey brothers through other programs. The brothers use the metaphor of the wolf pack – "the only perfect team in nature," says Jeff – to build teamwork and information sharing. Monthly "wolf pack" meetings with all employees provide a forum for business updates, question answering, and nominations for the "lone wolf" award for exceptional work. At the end of each quarter, the winner is drawn from a hat and presented with $250 of "wolf dough" that must be spent on some kind of celebration.
The teamwork idea extends to intra-departmental cross training, where a "redbook" of job tasks and responsibilities is provided to – and is expected to be understood by – all employees. This flexibility has been an important asset in allowing IRMCO to operate through the good times and bad. As general manager Kalas points out, "In the good times, we don't have to add more people, so that in the bad times we don't have to lay them off."
In fact, times have been rough at IRMCO for more than a year as the company is heavily dependent upon auto industry suppliers, which have been hit hard by the economy. IRMCO has adapted, however, supported by the undercurrent of employee-management goodwill. The company has even managed to make money without having to resort to layoffs or the elimination of core programs. However, there is always a give and take. A salary freeze is in effect, and an open-ended tuition reimbursement program, which employees took advantage of to further their education and leave, has since been replaced. Now, IRMCO applies for state job-training grants to fund half of the tuition costs and is targeting specific skill improvements. Thus, the company is aligning itself more closely with the interests of its employees. Other programs have remained intact, such as a $250 wellness bonus for demonstrated improvement of mind or body.
While many of his customers are "getting crushed," Jeff leaves no doubt that there is a clear line connecting his company's relative success and its legacy of trust and support. "We are nimble and creative, with smart people communicating and working together." Sounds like a howl from a wolf pack.
Company: IRMCO
Web site: www.irmco.com
Industry: Manufacturing
Location: Evanston, Ill.
Number of employees: 22
Sales: N/A
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