Herman Miller blog: Discover » 100 Best Companies to Work For

What Does It Mean to Win an Award? How About Three at the Same Time?

Randall Braaksma — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 19:08:33 +0000

In 2008, only six companies in the U.S. (Microsoft, Cisco, Apple, Google, Whole Foods, and Herman Miller) made three top lists: FORTUNE’s 100 Best Companies to Work For and Most Admired Companies, and FastCompany’s Most Innovative Companies. In 2010, four of those six made all three lists again—Microsoft, Cisco, Google, and us. Why are we telling you about it?

For many reasons, but mainly because we think it means good things for our customers. When you work with a company—and its people noted for pioneering new approaches and advocating for a better way—the chances you’ll benefit go way up.

In any case, we’re proud to be the only company in our industry on any of these lists, and we’re humbled by the organizations we appear with.

The reality behind these rankings—at least in the case of the FORTUNE lists—comes from employee surveys. Making these lists is a sign of the health for our business and our communities. It also says something good about the relationship between our leadership and our employees. We know our customers ultimately benefit.

In the case of the FastCompany award, we were further distinguished as an “Innovation All-Star,” the only Michigan-based company on the list. We guess our selection has something to do with our award-winning Herman Miller Performance System.

We do a lot of talking around here about working for a better world around you. By “you” we mean our community of customers, employees, shareholders, and contributors of all sorts. Whatever else these awards mean, others are recognizing us for doing what we say.

Social Networking—Frivolous, Powerful, Here to Stay

Christine MacLean — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 12:00:55 +0000

Social media tools like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter can be frivolous or useful. Frivolous: More than 724,000 kids (my son included) are Facebook fans of “Don’t complain about grading 140 essays over the weekend, you assigned it.”

Powerful: 18,000 people bypass the hype-steria surrounding the H1N1 flu by following the Center for Disease Control on Twitter. The CDC provides factual updates as information becomes available.

For most people, social media lies between the two extremes.

According to Forrester Research, almost 60% of Internet users use social media. Other research shows that a third of social media users are quite active, updating their statuses at least once a week. Their reasons vary, but 54% say they do it to stay in touch with friends and family. Less than five percent report they “regularly” use it to make buying decisions.

That will likely change. Nielsen says global consumers spent more than five hours on social networking sites in December 2009. That’s an 82% increase over December 2008. With that kind of growth, more and more companies are using social networking. They see an opportunity to build their brands and strengthen their connection with customers.

Carnival Cruise helped an unhappy customer locate the t-shirts he thought the cruise line stole from him. They only way they knew he was unhappy about it was that he tweeted about it. But companies like more than just broadcasting via social media. In fact, for the individuals who actually tweet for a company, the best part is hearing from followers.

Herman Miller uses Facebook and Twitter to share good news (such as its inclusion on FORTUNE’s 100 Best Companies to Work For list), product information, and job openings, and to find out what’s on customers’minds.

What is on their minds? Sometimes it’s their chair’s warranty, but other times it’s a pet. Take the tweet from @stacyharmon: Apparently my cat finds my Aeron chair as comfortable as I do. http://post.ly/KL10. All of it helps “humanize the brand,” social media experts say.

Social media—especially Twitter, which doesn’t allow tweets to be longer than 140 characters—also forces companies to be clear, concise, and clever. That’s good news for consumers. If they don’t have us at hello, then we say buh-bye.

Photo via: Harmon Enterprises

Worth a FORTUNE

Susan Huls — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 12:00:35 +0000

FORTUNE magazine recently published its 13th annual listing of “100 Best Companies to Work For.” Several recognizable brands made the list, including SAS, Whole Foods Market, Google, FedEx, and Herman Miller. These brands represent a variety of industries, so what do they all have in common?

According to FORTUNE and the Great Place to Work® Institute, a global research and consulting firm, the listings are a result of a survey that solicits information from organizations and their employees about credibility of management, job satisfaction, camaraderie, recruiting, and employee services.

But this year’s list also considers the ways companies are helping their employees weather the recession. Although this past year wasn’t an easy one for Herman Miller, we reinforced our commitment to our employees by developing supportive programs and initiatives. These programs and initiatives are highlighted in three categories–Balancing, Including, and Celebrating–included on the Great Place to Work Institute Culture Audit©, which is used in part to establish the overall FORTUNE rankings.

Balancing
Herman Miller understands the importance of helping employees balance their work lives with their personal lives. For that reason, we offer a health management program, through which many of its West Michigan employees can enjoy health education classes, on-site fitness classes, wellness facilities, and a farmer’s market.

Including
Herman Miller also believes in a diverse, inclusive workforce, as evident in our corporate values statement, ”Things That Matter,” which states, “To succeed as a company, we must include all the expressions of human talent and potential that society offers—obvious and not so obvious.” This corporate-wide strategic business initiative, designed to enhance diversity and create a more inclusive workplace, includes the five critical areas of its value stream: Supplier Diversity, Dealer Distribution, Talent, Education and Awareness, and External Community Outreach.

Celebrating
In March 2009, we began a reduced work schedule because of uncertain economic conditions. Many companies in the same situation decided to reduce their employees’ base pay, but Herman Miller decided to work a reduced work schedule until business conditions improve. Meanwhile, management agreed to share back a portion of any operating income generated during this timeframe (above its required base-line level of performance) in a reduction recovery payment to employees working a reduced work schedule.

These programs and initiatives are just a few examples from Herman Miller’s “Best Companies to Work For” entry. Although they differentiate the company in many ways, they play a small role in what makes us unique. According to our President and CEO Brian Walker, “The people of Herman Miller have always defined our culture, both through their caring and their commitment to excellence. Through good times, and through difficult periods, it’s that spirit and determination that make our community special.”