In 1950, Herman Miller instituted a formal program of participative management. As an important corollary, Herman Miller instituted an employee stockownership program in 1983. Today all Herman Miller employees with one month of service are entitled to own stock in the company. As of July 1999, about 16 percent of all outstanding shares in the Herman Miller were held by employee-owners.
Employee owners carefully monitor and know how their roles contribute to our profitability and daily reliability score--a score measuring our performance against customer expectations. Each month every employee reviews the numbers, particularly our EVA performance, a measure of our contributions to the long-term value of the company. We are owners, we think like owners, and we share in the fortunes of the business, like owners. We also work hard to understand our opportunities for long-term profitability and growth.
|