LAUGHING AND SCREAMING AT BEN & JERRY'S by Sean Greenwood When I tell people that I work for Ben & Jerry's I usually receive one of two responses, either: "You guys make great ice cream, and it's neat how you give money back to the community with all of the socially responsible things you do . . ." or "Tom & Jerry's? What's that?" In a nutshell, Ben and Jerry are two chunky guys who have enjoyed fine food and each other's company since they met in the 7th grade. They were always the last two running around the track in Phys-Ed class, when they became best friends. The boys went their separate ways after high school but they met up in their late twenties, and eventually decided to open an ice cream shop in Burlington, VT, in 1988. Since then, Ben & Jerry s has become the #2 super premium ice cream manufacturer in the country. The surprising part of the story is not necessarily that they did it, but rather how they did it. Since the beginning, Ben and Jerry have fostered a very unique and creative company through two basic premises: 1. Business has the responsibility to give back to the community. 2. If it's not fun, why do it? These underlying principles have most effectively provided the foundation upon which Ben & Jerry's prospers. Ben & Jerry's donates 7.5 percent of its pretax profits to the community. By giving back to the community, Ben & Jerry's visibly puts its money where its mouth is. And, by having fun, Ben & Jerry's sets itself apart from much of corporate America, where business means being serious. But, that doesn't mean that we take business lightly. We take business very seriously, and that is evident in the work force here. As professional humorist Joel Goodman says, "Take your job seriously and yourself lightly." Here at Ben & Jerry's we do that indeed and "in deeds." Ben & Jerry's has an effective business, clearly demonstrat- ed by its total sales last year of 77 million dollars. To give you some idea of how Ben & Jerry's operates, I will provide some background information about the company's strengths. COMMUNICATION Communication is one area in which we excel and constantly strive to improve. The very nature of our company lends itself to healthy communication between employees and administration. Ben & Jerry's is a moderate-sized company with just under 400 employ- ees. This size allows for interaction between employees and administration. It would be difficult for anyone who walked in off the street to distinguish between the two groups. (It's often quite difficult for me!) Yes, there are people who hold titles like "chief executive officer," yet they are treated as equals by the rest of the company. Case in point: Our company has experienced phenomenal growth, and at times we have found that we haven't been able to produce enough ice cream to meet the demand. Our production workers were already working 12-hour "marathon" shifts. So what did we do?. The top management types put on production uniforms and went out into the production room to help scoop in Heath Bars, or bring in cases of pint cups and so on. Because of the tremendous stress put on our production employees, the management folks felt that they should be just as ready to demonstrate their willingness to help do what needed to be done. Did we stop there? No. We also decided that we needed to provide some relief and joy for our employees. So we did some fun and creative things like cooking dinner for the staff, ordering pizza, and even hiring a masseuse to give free body massages during the workday to relieve some of the pent-up stress. Of course, taking care of our employees is nothing new here. Our normal benefits package is quite complete. It includes health care, dental care, profit sharing, tuition reimbursement, a compressed 7:1 salary ratio [i.e., no one in the company is allowed to make more than seven times the lowest paid employee], a reduced cost stock purchase plan, and three free pints of ice cream everyday. Free health club memberships accompany/balance the three free pints benefit. A key to keeping your employees happy is the ability to respond to their needs. You cannot be aware of their need if you set yourself on a different level. You cannot be aware of your employees' needs if you don't listen to them, or if you respond to their statements with "Yes, but . . ." COMPANY INVOLVEMENT An open-door policy exists here, but it goes far beyond that An open-mind policy is encouraged, and feedback is well received. Feedback forms and surveys are helpful, but to further tap into this resource, Ben & Jerry's utilizes its employees through company involvement. We have many different quality-oriented groups, which are composed of employees across the ranks. These "process improve- ment" teams focus on everything from flavor selection at super- markets to the design of our new production facility. Another crew is called the "Uptime Committee." The focus of this group is to reduce downtime in the production process and companywide. Suggestions are rewarded with t-shirts, U.S. Savings Bonds, and cash. Employee involvement is essential to our success. Every one within the company has a different perspective, and those views are all valuable to consider. By being involved with the company and not just working for it, Ben & Jerry's fosters a very healthy attitude in its employees. Because of this involvement the employees feel that they are valuable and worthy contributors, and they will be likely to take more pride in their work. My personal favorite group is the Joy Gang. This is not only because I am the "grand poobah" of this group, but also because of its focus. The Joy Gang is an employee committee that meets a few times each month to help foster healthy employee morale (that is, to have fun). The Joy Gang was created in the summer of 1988. At one of our company meetings Jerry (now Minister of Joy) proposed that we should get a group of people together who will put more joy into every workday at the plant. (Remember, if it's not fun, why do it?) The idea was a new one, and it took time for the employees to comprehend Jerry's plan for professional joy companwide. As he scanned the mostly confused crew, he blurted, "There was an incredible amount of discussion about this at the department head meeting." He continued, "Some people felt we have too much fun at work already." With that remark the crowd broke into laughter. Jerry had not only raised interest (and the hands of numerous volunteers), but he had also demonstrated the effects of laughter and joy in the workplace. More and more, according to Goodman, what is being discov- ered is that the punchline is not that far from the bottom line. If you want to get more out of your employees, make sure that they are having a good time at work. Undoubtedly, the funky and offbeat atmosphere at Ben & Jerry's is very conducive to experi- encing joy. But how does a company provide this in a more tradi- tional work setting? Being in touch with your employees is essential to providing joy. Our Joy Gang is composed of many different individuals from a number of various departments. Involving them in the joy planning process is a fail-safe method for meeting the employees' needs. This can be done in a "brainstorm" type meeting, where all ideas are accepted and considered. Another unique way that we involve individuals is to offer cash "Joy Grams," up to $500 to any department that can offer a suggestion on how an event/idea can bring more joy to the workplace. Among ideas suggested and implemented: a hot-chocolate machine for our freezer crew, a gas grill on our patio, and sports equipment for a company softball team. Our Joy Gang meets for an hour at least twice each month to review Joy Grants as well as to concoct innovative ideas of its own. A sampling of these ideas are as follows: ù We had an Elvis Day with Elvis look-a-like and sound-a-like contests. Our CEO came to the plant dressed as Elvis and crashed the tours all day long, handing out free junk food to visitors. ù We held a Late Night Party for our second and third shift production workers. We served a lasagna dinner to both crews and free ice-cream goodies from the scoop shop. A disc jockey set up inside the production room and took requests from the production workers. We also had a drawing for prizes all night long. Prizes included free meals at local restaurants and more off-the-wall prizes such as a frozen chicken, a cow-tie, a Slinky, and a can of Spam. ù We had a costume contest for Halloween with prizes for the best costumes. As further incentive, if more than 75 people wore a costume, Chuck Lacy, our 6'7", 220 lb. president and chief operating officer, agreed to wear a pink tutu and dance across the front patio. CONCLUSION In essence, working for Ben & Jerry's works. Why? Because it's a place where people can be themselves and be accepted for that. It is a place where employees can take part in the process and not just sit back and watch the parade go by. Ben & Jerry's is a place where you can work and feel good about the results. [This article was provided to the TQM BBS (301-686-1164) by Ben & Jerry's at the request of the TQM BBS SysOp. It is undated. It may have come from a journal called _MPR_Exchange_. That name appears at the foot of each page.]