The New Belgium Brewery Employee Retention Model. Should Healthcare Follow? - Featuring Brian Simpson - Episode #12

New Belgium Brewery has nothing to do with the healthcare industry. And that’s exactly why I chose to interview Brian Simpson of New Belgium. Brian is one of many employees of the company who has been there for a long time - almost 20 years in Brian’s case, and I wanted to find out what enables the company to retain its employees for so long. You’re going to be amazed at the things this company does to make its employees happy - but it’s more than that. They’ve convinced their employees that they are truly cared for because they are. You learn the core values of New Belgium Brewery on day one. And it never stops. The healthcare industry is slowly learning that the values at the core of what we do need to saturate the culture of the organization and be better communicated early on in the hiring process. New Belgium Brewery makes sure that every new hire understands both the history and the values of the company beginning on day one. They also help employees understand that it’s the employees that make the company what it is. If that sounds impossible to you I challenge you to listen to this episode. You'll hear how the company has done it and I want you to ask yourself what we could do in the healthcare industry to make similar changes… and why do they seem so far fetched to us? The healthcare industry needs to stop thinking of itself as a Fortune 500 company. When an industry thinks of itself as a big player and doesn’t get down to the level of its team members, it’s no wonder that people are treated as commodities and the morale of the organization suffers. Not only that, performance declines and its customers (patients in our case) are not cared for well. What can we learn from other industries about culture and employee retention? A lot in my opinion. I’m excited to start the conversation about innovative ways to care for our people better and build healthcare teams that thrive and carry out the vision of patient care in extraordinary ways. New Belgium Brewery is an example of a company I’d love to see us model. How New Belgium makes its employees the boss after only one year of employment. We often talk about giving our people ownership of the organization, but do we really mean it? New Belgium Brewery has taken that to a whole new level by giving each employee stock in the company after only one year of employment. It’s one of the ways that ownership is made a reality. Along with paid sabbaticals, employee rewards and connections, and a host of other innovative means the New Belgium leadership is setting a new standard in culture and employee morale that the healthcare industry needs to learn from. I hope you listen and open your mind to the possibilities of what might happen at YOUR organization. When healthcare matters to a brewing company they hire a doctor. No kidding. The leadership of New Belgium Brewing was concerned about the health of their employees, so instead of encouraging them to get regular checkups or fund a new healthcare incentive they did the unthinkable, they hired a Doctor of their own to be on site for the benefit of employees and their families. The response has been overwhelming, with employees and their families not only appreciating the gesture but also taking full advantage of the doctor-patient ratio that makes truly personal care a reality. You can learn more about how this brewer is making a difference in the healthcare of its employees, on this episode of The Report Room. Outline of This Episode [1:08] Who is Brian Simpson and why did he go to work at New Belgium? [2:12] The history of New Belgium Brewery. [4:00] The role of core values and beliefs at the company. [8:38] The New Belgium milestone program for employee retention. [10:00] How the company provides paid sabbaticals. [15:00] Why New Belgium Brewery brought healthcare “in house.” [17:37] What Brian likes most about working for New Belgium. [18:10] The path ahead for New Belgium. Resources & Links Mentioned In This Episode New Belgium Brewery Connect with Brian Twitter @BrianWeirichRN BrianWeirichRN@gmail(dot)com