After a recent vacation to Denver, Colorado I had an opportunity to observe a great company with an exceptional culture. A tremendous combo of interesting people, a great facility (in a great location), and Beer. OK so that last thing is their product; and the the company I am talking about is New Belgium Brewery (best known as the makers of Fat Tire Beer).
So I turned out for a tour of the brewery to experience and witness the making of what I consider a great Beer. To my surprise I found something much deeper behind the walls; a great culture. The story behind the company is an interesting one and I certainly suggest you read about them, but this is not that story.
This is a story of a company that shares it passion with its employees and gains their buy-in through various initiatives. The biggest change coming in a switch to an employee ownership model where every employee after one year of employment gains ownership (and a sweet bike).
This is their ownership policy:
“It’s my company
If it were your company, what would you do? Look for ways to be less wasteful, be more efficient, recycle and reuse? Yep. It’s infectious. Once you start thinking of ways to make your company better, you can’t stop.
In 1998, a unanimous vote by employee owners switched New Belgium to wind power. The first wind powered brewery in the United States, thank you very much.
And, like all responsible business owners, it’s important to know your bottom-line, barrels, and books. Meet New Belgium’s practice of open-book management: a policy of fiscal transparency throughout the company that encourages a community of trust and mutual responsibility.”
In my opinion it was this decision that made them into the 3rd largest craft brewer in the nation. It was the fundamental change to how they do business to gain employee buy-in and spread the passion the owners had for their product. In addition to making great beer they also believe in doing it the right way. In 1998 the team made a decision to practice what they preach and overwhelmingly voted to switch all their energy to wind based power. It is the thought behind a company that its not always just about making a product with integrity, but also living out that integrity in everything they do.
This type of mentality is contagious and spreads amongst the employees, which sets a standard for anyone to join from that point forward. The idea of this is who we are and this is what we stand for has the ultimate trickle down effect. They have created a culture that breeds creativity and respect, this is clear by the interaction you have with every worker you meet (didn’t meet a single person that wasn’t smiling).
After leaving I wondered why every companies goal isn’t to collect a group of like minded people with unified goals, however most companies look for people that can do a single job. Think about how your day would be different in a culture like this.
(this is Mitch our Tour guide, and he clearly liked his job, A LOT!!!!!! (the free beer probably doesn’t hurt))
