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一位93岁的总裁认为,公司高管的贪婪正在加剧人手不足问题

一位93岁的总裁认为,公司高管的贪婪正在加剧人手不足问题

Jane Thier 2022-03-02
这位高管认为,公司应该让员工全体持股,但很多公司并不打算这样做。

93岁的鲍勃·摩尔于1978年与妻子在美国俄勒冈州共同创建了全谷物食品制造商Bob’s Red Mill。他现在依旧每天坚持工作,并称经营这家公司是他梦寐以求的工作。但Bob’s Red Mill的独特之处不只是有一名90多岁的总裁。到2020年4月,该公司变成了完全由员工所有。

员工持股计划(Employee Stock Ownership Plans)向员工发放公司股份,使员工能够从公司的成功中直接受益。支持者认为该类计划可以提高生产效率和对公司的忠诚度,此外美国劳工部(Department of Labor)表示,在执行员工持股计划的公司,员工被解雇的概率低于没有执行该类计划的公司。

尽管员工持股计划对员工的好处显而易见,但执行该类计划的公司并不多见。其他执行员工持股计划的公司包括大众超级市场(Publix Supermarkets)、King Arthur Flour、Taylor Guitars和HyVee等。摩尔认为,之所以员工控股的美国公司数量不多,是因为公司高管过于重视个人的经济收入。

他说:“公司有能力这样做,只是金钱变成了唯一的因素,公司的所有者和管理者通常只关心自身利益和公司能够为他们做些什么,所以我并不认为大家都想这样做。他们的主要想法是来公司,赚到足够多的钱,然后离开。”

摩尔称,他的人生目标就是尽量避免这种状况。员工持股计划是这一承诺必不可少的一个环节。他表示,在员工控股公司工作可能改变员工的生活,为他们提供一种可靠的方式养家糊口。

将员工持股计划作为继任者计划

Bob’s Red Mill在创立之初就大获成功。摩尔开玩笑说:“全谷物食品很受欢迎。”不久之后,摩尔拥有了20名员工,后来增加到40人,然后他在街对面租了一间仓库,后来他的产品开始销往当地的食品杂货店。他表示,公司发展顺风顺水。

1983年左右,Bob’s Red Mill刚刚起步,有几名员工找到他希望入股。摩尔根据每名员工在公司的任职期限和工资水平,制定了一份利润分成计划。在利润允许的情况下,他开始每月用单独的支票向员工发放公司利润分成。

最初,Bob's Red Mill每年可以发放几次利润分成支票,但随着利润增长,员工收到支票的次数越来越多。到1990年左右,摩尔能够每月向在公司任职一年或一年以上的员工发放利润分成支票。

随着摩尔和他最亲密的业务合作伙伴接近退休年龄,他们知道他们需要制定一个过渡计划。当时,美国掀起了合并潮,有无数人建议摩尔卖掉公司,但他并没有选择这样做。

“不断有商人找到我,表示他们有意收购我的公司,好像是要帮我一个大忙。”摩尔说道。“他们说将接手我的公司,会给我一大笔钱。他们过于自恋,我甚至都不想接他们的电话。他们以为我不想卖掉公司,是个脑子迟钝的傻瓜。他们都说我很愚蠢,但如果我真得愚蠢不可能创建这样一家成功的公司。”

摩尔的财务合作伙伴约翰·瓦格纳开始仔细研究员工持股计划,并参加相关研讨会。经过多年慎重思考,瓦格纳和摩尔都认为,员工持股计划是Bob’s Red Mill长远发展并取得成功的最佳选择。

2010年,在摩尔81岁生日之际,员工持股计划正式签署,公司三分之一的股份将由员工持有。

不出所料,摩尔对员工的承诺意味着公司几乎没有受到大辞职潮(Great Resignation)的影响,尽管随着公司业务持续增长在招聘新员工方面确实遭遇了一些困难。

摩尔说:“我在大约70年前就已经认识到了努力和善良对于成功的重要性。随着我们的小公司持续发展,我意识到我有很大的机会展现我的慷慨。《圣经》马太福音7:12说:你们愿意人怎样待你们,你们也要怎样待人。这是我最爱的一句经文。我认为它应该成为所有人的行为准则。”

他表示,最重要的是,Bob’s Red Mill的员工得到了重视,并且拥有知情权。在员工选择成为公司股东之前,他会与他们分享相关信息。他说:“我们进行大量开诚布公的谈话,还会召开员工大会,让员工畅所欲言说出自己的想法。他们可以随时提出自己的问题,我们会对他们所做的工作提出表扬。”

摩尔认为,这种方法在商学院里学不到,“但它应该成为商学院的课题”。

他说:“我曾经周游世界。我有一个温馨的家。我很成功。但我并没有大肆挥霍。有足够多的钱让我拥有这一切,确实令我非常快乐,但你需要牢记一点:你必须有使命感。”(财富中文网)

翻译:刘进龙

审校:汪皓

93岁的鲍勃·摩尔于1978年与妻子在美国俄勒冈州共同创建了全谷物食品制造商Bob’s Red Mill。他现在依旧每天坚持工作,并称经营这家公司是他梦寐以求的工作。但Bob’s Red Mill的独特之处不只是有一名90多岁的总裁。到2020年4月,该公司变成了完全由员工所有。

员工持股计划(Employee Stock Ownership Plans)向员工发放公司股份,使员工能够从公司的成功中直接受益。支持者认为该类计划可以提高生产效率和对公司的忠诚度,此外美国劳工部(Department of Labor)表示,在执行员工持股计划的公司,员工被解雇的概率低于没有执行该类计划的公司。

尽管员工持股计划对员工的好处显而易见,但执行该类计划的公司并不多见。其他执行员工持股计划的公司包括大众超级市场(Publix Supermarkets)、King Arthur Flour、Taylor Guitars和HyVee等。摩尔认为,之所以员工控股的美国公司数量不多,是因为公司高管过于重视个人的经济收入。

他说:“公司有能力这样做,只是金钱变成了唯一的因素,公司的所有者和管理者通常只关心自身利益和公司能够为他们做些什么,所以我并不认为大家都想这样做。他们的主要想法是来公司,赚到足够多的钱,然后离开。”

摩尔称,他的人生目标就是尽量避免这种状况。员工持股计划是这一承诺必不可少的一个环节。他表示,在员工控股公司工作可能改变员工的生活,为他们提供一种可靠的方式养家糊口。

将员工持股计划作为继任者计划

Bob’s Red Mill在创立之初就大获成功。摩尔开玩笑说:“全谷物食品很受欢迎。”不久之后,摩尔拥有了20名员工,后来增加到40人,然后他在街对面租了一间仓库,后来他的产品开始销往当地的食品杂货店。他表示,公司发展顺风顺水。

1983年左右,Bob’s Red Mill刚刚起步,有几名员工找到他希望入股。摩尔根据每名员工在公司的任职期限和工资水平,制定了一份利润分成计划。在利润允许的情况下,他开始每月用单独的支票向员工发放公司利润分成。

最初,Bob's Red Mill每年可以发放几次利润分成支票,但随着利润增长,员工收到支票的次数越来越多。到1990年左右,摩尔能够每月向在公司任职一年或一年以上的员工发放利润分成支票。

随着摩尔和他最亲密的业务合作伙伴接近退休年龄,他们知道他们需要制定一个过渡计划。当时,美国掀起了合并潮,有无数人建议摩尔卖掉公司,但他并没有选择这样做。

“不断有商人找到我,表示他们有意收购我的公司,好像是要帮我一个大忙。”摩尔说道。“他们说将接手我的公司,会给我一大笔钱。他们过于自恋,我甚至都不想接他们的电话。他们以为我不想卖掉公司,是个脑子迟钝的傻瓜。他们都说我很愚蠢,但如果我真得愚蠢不可能创建这样一家成功的公司。”

摩尔的财务合作伙伴约翰·瓦格纳开始仔细研究员工持股计划,并参加相关研讨会。经过多年慎重思考,瓦格纳和摩尔都认为,员工持股计划是Bob’s Red Mill长远发展并取得成功的最佳选择。

2010年,在摩尔81岁生日之际,员工持股计划正式签署,公司三分之一的股份将由员工持有。

不出所料,摩尔对员工的承诺意味着公司几乎没有受到大辞职潮(Great Resignation)的影响,尽管随着公司业务持续增长在招聘新员工方面确实遭遇了一些困难。

摩尔说:“我在大约70年前就已经认识到了努力和善良对于成功的重要性。随着我们的小公司持续发展,我意识到我有很大的机会展现我的慷慨。《圣经》马太福音7:12说:你们愿意人怎样待你们,你们也要怎样待人。这是我最爱的一句经文。我认为它应该成为所有人的行为准则。”

他表示,最重要的是,Bob’s Red Mill的员工得到了重视,并且拥有知情权。在员工选择成为公司股东之前,他会与他们分享相关信息。他说:“我们进行大量开诚布公的谈话,还会召开员工大会,让员工畅所欲言说出自己的想法。他们可以随时提出自己的问题,我们会对他们所做的工作提出表扬。”

摩尔认为,这种方法在商学院里学不到,“但它应该成为商学院的课题”。

他说:“我曾经周游世界。我有一个温馨的家。我很成功。但我并没有大肆挥霍。有足够多的钱让我拥有这一切,确实令我非常快乐,但你需要牢记一点:你必须有使命感。”(财富中文网)

翻译:刘进龙

审校:汪皓

Bob Moore, 93, goes to work every day doing what he describes as his dream job, running Bob’s Red Mill, the Oregon-based whole-grain foods manufacturer he founded with his wife in 1978. But having a nonagenarian president isn’t the only thing that makes Bob’s Red Mill a special place to work. As of April 2020, the company is 100% employee-owned.

Employee Stock Ownership Plans give employees shares of the company, allowing them to directly benefit from its success. Proponents of ESOPs argue they can lead to increased productivity and company loyalty, and according to the Department of Labor, employees at ESOP companies are less likely to be laid off as non-plan participants.

Despite the clear benefits to employees, ESOPs remain rare. Other companies operating an ESOP include Publix Supermarkets, King Arthur Flour, Taylor Guitars, and HyVee. Moore argues the list of American employee-owned businesses is short because executives are too focused on their personal finances.

“Companies could do this, but because money is the only factor, and the owners and managers are generally looking out only for their own benefit, and what company can do for them, I’m not so sure everyone cares to do that,” he says. “Come in, get as rich as you can, get out — that’s their main idea.”

Moore says he’s built his life around trying to avoid that approach. The ESOP has been integral to that commitment. Working for an employee-owned company can change workers’ lives and give them a reliable way to provide for their families, he says.

Embracing an ESOP as a succession plan

Bob’s Red Mill was successful almost as soon as they opened their doors. “Whole grains were pretty hot,” Moore jokes. It wasn’t long before Moore had 20 employees, then 40, then he had to rent a warehouse across the street, then he was distributing products to regional grocery stores. It just kept growing, he says.

Around 1983, when Bob’s Red Mill was just taking off, some of the employees approached him about buying into the business. Moore devised a profit-sharing plan based on how long each employee had been with the company and their wage level. He began giving workers a share of the company’s profit monthly, in a separate check, when profits justified it.

At first, Bob's Red Mill was able to send out profit-sharing checks a few times a year, but as the company turned bigger profits, employees received more and more checks. By around 1990, Moore was able to issue montly profit-sharing checks to employees who have been with the company for a year or longer.

Around, as Moore and his closest business partners thought they were nearing retirement age, they knew they needed a transition plan. It was the age of consolidation, and Moore received countless calls about selling the business, but he didn't want to go that route.

“Businesspeople continually reach out to me, interested in buying my company, like they’re doing me a great favor,” Moore says. “They say they’re going to take it off my hands and give me a lot of money. They’re so enamored with themselves that it became difficult to even answer my phone. They thought I was just a lame-brained idiot because I didn’t want to sell my company. They told me how stupid I was, but you can’t build what I’ve built and be really stupid.”

Moore’s financial partner John Wagner began reading up on ESOPs and attending seminars as an alternative. After several years of deliberation, Wagner and Moore agreed an ESOP would be Bob’s Red Mill’s best bet for achieving long-term success.

The ESOP papers were signed in 2010 on Moore’s 81st birthday, giving the employees one-third of the company.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Moore’s commitment to his workers has meant the company has been nearly immune to the Great Resignation though there’s been some struggle to find new workers as the business has continued to grow.

“I learned almost 70 years ago how integral hard work and kindness is to success,” Moore says. “As our small business grew, I realized I had a great opportunity for generosity. My favorite bible scripture, Matthew 7:12, says do unto others what you’d want them to do unto you. That’s something I think we should all live by.”

Above all else, he says, Bob’s Red Mill employees are valued and informed. He shares company information with them before they opt in as owners. “There’s a lot of open dialogue, and we do town halls, so employees feel free to contribute their own ideas,” he says. “And if they have a problem, they can raise that, and we can commend them for the job they’re doing.”

This approach, Moore says, is not being taught in business school, “but it should be.”

“I’ve traveled all over the world. I have a lovely home. I’ve been successful. I haven’t squandered my money,” he says. “It’s a wonderful pleasure to have enough to do these things, but here’s the thing: you need to have a purpose.”

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