Through trial and error, Stayer steadily empowered employees to take responsibility. Johnsonville has a unique culture that began taking shape in the 1980s when then-CEO and owner Ralph Stayer started experimenting with ways to get his workers to care more about their jobs and the company. "But ultimately you understand it's the right thing to do by the members that are there, and in the long term it's the right thing to do for the business." Empowering employees "Of course I thought about the financial ramifications of doing it," Meriggioli said. The decision to continue paying the Watertown workers was made by a committee of Johnsonville employees, Meriggioli said. The work that was being done in the Watertown plant - 30% of the company's production - has shifted to two other Johnsonville facilities, and Johnsonville has been able to continue meeting customers' needs, said Nick Meriggioli, who started as chief executive officer just four weeks before the fire. "People are amazed that they are continuing to pay their workers to do these things," said John David, mayor of the city of 24,000.
JOHNSONVILLE SAUSAGE FEST FULL
The plant's employees receive full salaries, along with monthly bonuses based on the company's performance, as long as they do at least one of three things: volunteer at local organizations, take training classes at the local technical college or work in other Johnsonville facilities. Seven months later, the employees are still getting paid, Watertown has enjoyed a burst of volunteer activity that stands at 7,000 hours and counting, and Johnsonville is spending more than $10 million to renovate a new building, where it plans to hire 30 additional workers when it opens in spring. He considered the question that was running through all of the workers' minds: Are we going to have to go on unemployment?īy the end of the week, however, Kaliebe and his co-workers learned that Johnsonville intended to continue paying full wages and benefits to the plant's 120 employees. He thought about the rent and mortgage payments, the other obligations, and the many families that depended on these jobs. Workers were still arriving at the smoldering building, so Kaliebe began taking names and phone numbers, saying the company would be in touch. "I saw all the fire trucks and ambulances and my heart just sunk down to my feet," Kaliebe recalled.Ī fire had destroyed the meat processing plant where Kaliebe had worked for the past 30 years. But as he drove over the hill to his job as a supervisor at the Johnsonville Sausage plant in Watertown, Kaliebe's day took a drastic turn. John Kaliebe woke at 4 o'clock on a Monday morning in May, just like any other workday.
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