"Hire the people you trust, people who are passionate about their job, passionate about what they're doing. Just leave them alone, and they'll get the job done."
--Yvon Chouinard, founder and principal owner of Patagonia.
Patagonia, the apparel company, has a mission statement that calls for making the best outdoor products while doing the least damange to the environment.
"We acknowledge that the wild world we love best is disappearing. That is why those of us who work here share a strong commitment to protecting undomesticated lands and waters. We believe in using business to inspire solutions to the environmental crisis."
Patagonia, with $275 million in sales and 1,300 employees , prides itself on a workforce that is actually encouraged to have a work/life balance, not just give it lip service. In fact, they are very serious about having that balance. Lunchtime, for many employees in taken up by surfing sessions of two hours or 27-mile bike rides in the Ventura, California hillside overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
Flextime is a way to achieve a quality of life and a fitness lifestyle that other companies can only dream about. Remember that mountain bike you worked so hard for and bought years ago that is gathering dust, it would be kicking up dust daily if you worked at Patagonia.
Childcare is also offered at Patagonia, as are lunchtime yoga and Pilates sessions (four times per week). Employees, up to 40 of them, are allowed paid two-month interships with an environmanetal group. The parking lot caters to the most fuel-efficient car owners and the best spots are given to them. Solar panels supply the adminstration buildings with all their power.
Not surprising, Patagonia has 900 applicants for every job opening. Surfboards are ubiquitous at headquarters and barefoot employees are often spotted. Self-expression is fostered and people maintain their off-campus identities at work.
The founder and principal owner, Yvon Chouinard, promotes a philosophy of blending work, play, family and a passion for the environment. He was born in Maine and raised in California and was passionate about mountain climbing as a teen. He started the company in the 1960s and by 1970, his company was the nation's largest producer of climbing equipment. His company grew, expanding into outdoor apparel, while also maintaining a company rule that the business closed whenever optimal surfing weather and waves were achieved.
Flextime policies are not abused and yield substantial productivity. "A lot of people recognize that what they have here is unique, and I don't think they want to jeopardize that," says Shannon Ellis, vice president for Human Resources. Benefits at Patagonia include eight weeks of paid maternity and paternity leave. They pay 100% percent of health insurance premiums for full and part-time workers.
Chouinard says he wants to attract enthusiastic outdoor types to work at Patagonia to test, use, and communciate their expertise and passion for the products to customers.
"Everyone if these things is good business," says Chouinard, defending his philosophy, mission and business practices.
"He's proving Wall Street wrong. You can do the right thing and still have an extremely profitable commpany."
--Lisa Pike, leader of environmental grants at Patagonia.
It is possible!!
Excerpts from the New York Times, April 20, 2008.
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