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Spring 2019

Empathy at Work

Compassion and investment in people make business better

May 21, 2019

Greyston Bakery — Yonkers, NY

At Greyston Bakery, filling job openings is straightforward. Hire anyone willing to work — no questions asked. Co-founded by Bernie Glassman, a Brooklyn-born Zen Buddhism teacher, and his wife, the 36-year old bakery is known for its pioneering Open Hiring™ program. More than 34 percent of the people in the Yonkers, New York neighborhood the bakery is located in live below the poverty line, education levels fall below the state average, and unemployment is close to two percent higher than the national average.

Greyston Bakery
Open Hiring™ creates opportunities for people kept out of the workforce — people of color, people of all faiths and sexual orientations, who’ve spent time in prison. In short, anyone facing barriers to employment.
Greyston Bakery
Greyston shifts from a “screen out” process to an investment in employee success. The bakery helps employees define goals and access services such as quality child care and safe housing.Photo by Will Cook
Greyston Bakery
Dion started selling drugs at 14 to support his family. Years later, after repeat trips to prison and a four-year stint in an upstate New York jail, he set out to change his story. But his multiple incarcerations made him unhirable. “At the time my prospects was not high, I had no real hope for a legal life…I thought the streets was it.” He put his name on a waitlist for Greyston Bakery’s Open Hiring™ program and then got a call asking if he wanted to work. Photo by Will Cook
Greyston Bakery
Cassandra is a single parent. She spent some time in prison and her record prevented her from finding a job. A high-end jewelry retailer was set to bring her on as a salesperson after Cassandra’s impressive showing during the interview. But a few days later she got a letter with a copy of her rap sheet and no job offer.
Photo by Will Cook
Greyston Bakery
“I was heartbroken,” she said. “As a single mother you have a lot of responsibility. Housing, food, getting the kids home, furniture, taking care of yourself.” Greyston offered her a job with no questions asked and she was promoted to quality assurance technologist in her first year. “Greyston’s empowered me to continue college, where I’m on track to becoming a certified substance abuse counselor — [the bakery] helps with an extra day off a week for school,” she said. “Despite my past, I was able to transform my life, and my children’s lives.” Photos by Will Cook

New Belgium Brewery — Fort Collins, CO

What’s it like to be the owner of a company that sells more than 950,000 barrels of beer? Since New Belgium Brewing became an employee stock ownership (ESOP) business in 2013, every staff person enters work knowing exactly what that’s like. New Belgium’s commitment to a high involvement workforce culture celebrates the strength of teams over individuals.

New Belgium Brewery
New Belgium places a premium on transparency — open book management and access to financial data as well as decision-making processes — keeping employee-owners well informed and able to influence workplace decisions regardless of department or title. All 770 co-workers gather for strategic planning and celebration at the annual retreat to develop strategies for the coming business year. Photo courtesy of New Belgium
New Belgium Brewery
Led by the POSSE (ESOP spelled backwards with a splash of pizzazz), coworker-elected representatives act as ownership role models. These servant-leaders steward open communication, trust and participation to promote a healthy ownership culture. And employees are well taken care of with stock, profit sharing, paid sabbaticals at certain anniversary milestones and even a one-week trip to Belgium after five years of work. Photo courtesy of New Belgium
New Belgium Brewery

“I take a lot more pride in what I do. The ownership mentality means I don’t pour beer and give tours because my boss expects me to; I do my job, and do it well, because as an employee-owner, I want to be the best ambassador to our brand as possible because it will lead to more of those ownership perks. It feels good to work with an organization of co-owners. We are not a faceless organization. In fact, we’re 700 faces who all have a stake in the future of this business. I always feel heard. If I don’t know the why behind a certain business decision or practice, I am encouraged to ask whomever I need to in order to find the answer. If I uncover an inefficiency, I am encouraged to take ownership over the project to make it right.”
-Hannah Jungels, Beer Romancer Photo courtesy of New Belgium
New Belgium Brewery
New Belgium’s employee-owners love bikes, generosity and sustainability. Sam Sawyer describes the annual Tour de Fat — a philanthropic festival — as a way to blend fundraising, beer, bikes and fun. Held in a handful of communities, the 19-year-old event has raised more than $5 million for partnering nonprofits since it started. Photo courtesy of New Belgium
New Belgium Brewery
Additionally, the company sets annual strategies to improve on emissions, water, pollution and energy. From an internal energy tax (enacted the same year New Belgium became 100 percent employee-owned) to composting organic material collected at the process water treatment plant, employee-owners ensure sustainability is front and center of all decision-making. Photo courtesy of New Belgium

Rhino Foods — Burlington, VT

Each year, financial insecurity plagues 138 million American workers. A 2016 Federal Reserve report revealed that 47 percent of Americans could not afford an unexpected expense of $400 unless they borrowed money or sold assets. This is bad for workers and bad for business. According to Kiplinger and the Center For Financial Services Innovation, employees’ financial stress costs businesses $5,000 in productivity per employee, and is the source of more than 60 percent of workplace accidents and 40 percent of employee turnover.

Rhino Foods
Rhino Foods, a Burlington, Vermont co-packer of ice cream sandwiches and makers of many ice cream mix-ins (mmm, cookie dough), decided to do something about the financial stress of its employees. Caitlin Goss, Rhino’s director of people and culture, says employers need to see what barriers they can remove to create success for their staff. Photo courtesy of Rhino Foods
Rhino Foods
In 2007, Rhino launched its Income Advance program and during the first 10 years it’s loaned over $355,000 to 267 employees. Since the program’s start, employee retention increased by 38 percent. Photo courtesy of Rhino Foods
Dubbed the ‘Freezer Geezer’ for his hours spent in the -20 degree cooler, Paul Phillips is a supervisor in Rhino’s distribution center. A one-time mistake on his income tax ruined his credit and prevented Phillips from obtaining loans for emergencies or needed repairs. The Income Advance program — a partnership between Rhino and a local credit union that provides up to a $1,000 loan repaid through payroll deductions — gave Phillips a gateway for handling small emergencies, to buy a car and to get a mortgage. The program has the added benefit of building a person’s credit and allowing them to continue automatic payroll deductions to increase savings. Photo courtesy of Rhino Foods
Rhino Foods
Lori Miller, a human resources generalist at Rhino Foods, says employees have used the Income Advance program for everything from the purchase of winter tires to flying to a family funeral to buying an engagement ring. Shawna Phillips relied on it for repairs to her home when a windstorm put a tree through a bedroom wall. Income Advance is about trust — trust that employees will use loans to support their financial wellness in ways that best serve their needs. The only criteria for participation is that the employee is of a certain tenure and in good standing with the company. Photo courtesy of Rhino Foods
Rhino Foods
Rhino Foods teamed up with B Lab, the nonprofit behind the B Corp Certification (to which Rhino is certified), to release the Income Advance Guide. It provides a step-by-step plan for businesses to implement their own version of the program. From making an arrangement with a financial institution (as little as $200 annually to protect against defaulted loans) to providing a virtual learning group for questions, the Guide makes it easy to set up an Income Advance program within a month. Photo courtesy of Rhino Foods

Learn more: incomeadvance.org

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Chris Roddy was Oregon Tilth's Communications Director from 2013-2020. He has worked with several national nonprofits such as Local Initiatives Support Corporation and ExpandED Schools, as well as with leading digital advertising firm, Agency.com (Designory) and now works for the New Teacher Center.

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