This Auto-biographical book details the various transformational initiatives by a second generation Brazilian entrepreneur Ricardo Semler. This helped Semco become a Great Place to Work and of course employee happiness and profits multiplied.
If you are a leader in an organisation, you will find this book thought provoking. This book is more than 20 years old and was probably much ahead of it's time, but is relevant event today.
This company
- Reduced hierarchy
- Shared profits with it's employees
- Allowed flexible work times even in a factory setting, (imagine the reasons you have heard or thought for not allowing this in your workplace!)
- Resiliently weathered many national inflationary phases and economic downturns
- Allowed employees to democratically decide almost everything from production goals to office architecture to even salaries and hiring their bosses
- Employees gave feedback on their bosses twice a year and their managers had to meet a certain level
- Enabled their employees to become entrepreneurs by setting up 'satellite' companies that then supplied to the parent company
- The author also shares how he transformed from a workaholic to almost completely working from home and spent lesser time 'directing' his company
Check out Maverick: The Success Story Behind the World's Most Unusual Workplace on Amazon