Mitchell Gold:<\/strong> Bob and I want everyone in this company to feel they have equal opportunity. We want everyone to know that at work there\u2019s no such thing as discrimination. We are a family business in the sense that we all care about each other. More than 20 years ago, we told our new head of human resources we wanted him to be an advocate for our employees, not a person they feared. People should know they can come and talk to his team. That\u2019s been a really great part of the company.<\/p>\n 360: When you started your business, you considered housing your organization\u2019s corporate offices in a new building. Why did you end up deciding to keep them inside your manufacturing plant?<\/strong><\/p>\n Bob Williams:<\/strong> We wanted everything that we do, whether it\u2019s finance, product development or marketing, to work together. People have to talk to each other. It\u2019s really worked for us. When you\u2019re in the cafeteria, everybody\u2019s together. In fact, in 20 years, I\u2019ll bet we\u2019ve only had a lunch meeting in a conference room three times. When we have guests or board meetings, we all go to the cafeteria because we want to be together.<\/p>\n 360: As your business has grown, you\u2019ve emphasized investing in your people, adding benefits like an on-site clinic, a gym and scholarships for employee\u2019s kids. Do these benefits help you realize business objectives?<\/strong><\/p>\n MG:<\/strong> We respect our employees and, in turn, they respect us. We have really low turnover. Our motto is \u201cConsistently Good Quality, Consistently On Time.\u201d We can only do that with employees who know their job and are here. If you have high turnover, you\u2019re constantly training people. We are able to run very lean because we have a consistent workforce.<\/p>\n BW:<\/strong> How can you justify the cost of some of these things? Instead of looking at them as expenses, we see them as assets because of what they add to the bottom line in terms of productivity.<\/p>\n We are a family business in the sense that we all care about each other.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n 360: You have an on-site daycare center as well. Why did you decide to take that on?<\/strong><\/p>\n MG:<\/strong> I was meeting with an employee at 4 p.m. one day and realized halfway through she wasn\u2019t paying attention. I asked why? She said \u201cI have to pick up my son at daycare. If I get there past 5:30, they charge by the minute.\u201d It made me say, \u201cWe need a daycare here. We shouldn\u2019t have employees at the end of the day who can\u2019t concentrate.\u201d Lawyers, accountants, insurance people all had reasons why we shouldn\u2019t. But, it\u2019s good for business. It\u2019s one of the best things we\u2019ve done in our career.<\/p>\n BW:<\/strong> The daycare even attracts people who don\u2019t have kids. We\u2019ve had job candidates say, \u201cI figure if you have a daycare, this has to be a good place to work. That\u2019s why I wanted to come here.\u201d<\/p>\n 360: You\u2019re both fierce advocates for the LGBTQ community and have received accolades for your bold marketing campaigns featuring diversity. How have you seen this inclusive culture impact your business?<\/strong><\/p>\n MG:<\/strong> We get incredibly positive comments and I believe we do a lot of business because people have seen our advocacy and philanthropy. They want to buy from a company like ours. Even the bank we borrow money from, our investors, our business partners, they all want to be part of doing good in the world. And, they see it\u2019s helped our profitability. At the end of the day, we want to be role models for vulnerable kids.<\/p>\n 360: Do you see evidence that the open and inclusive culture you foster in the workplace encourages your people to contribute ideas and take risks?<\/strong><\/p>\n MG:<\/strong> We think it\u2019s really important for people to feel comfortable failing. Work is a social activity and that takes trust. We let people know their voice and ideas matter, and ask them to speak their minds. We\u2019re always striving to do more of that, and I think that\u2019s a good thing. And, without a culture that breeds trust and a diversity of ideas, people aren\u2019t going to feel safe trying something even if it doesn\u2019t work. We believe we build on success by learning from failure.<\/p>\n 360: You\u2019ve committed to using sustainable materials since you started your company. Why was that so important?<\/strong><\/p>\n MG:<\/strong> Within a month of starting the company, I read an article about how the ozone is being depleted and that the furniture industry in North Carolina was one of the biggest abusers. I remember calling Bob saying, \u201cWe\u2019re going into a business that\u2019s hurting the environment!\u201d That led us down a road to understand what we could do. We tested new kinds of foam, rethought packaging and started sourcing wood from quick-regrowth forests. We wanted to be part of the solution.<\/p>\n 360: You\u2019ve said you wouldn\u2019t put anything in your office that you wouldn\u2019t also put in your home. Why is comfort such an important factor in workplace design?<\/strong><\/p>\n MG:<\/strong> One of our mottos is, \u201cWhen a home has been furnished successfully, just walking in the door is like getting a hug.\u201d That\u2019s what we think a lot of offices want to be like.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The co-founders of Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, a well-known North Carolina-based furniture design and manufacturing company, explain how their company\u2019s purpose, \u201cComfort for all,\u201d drives everything they do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":15038,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"topic":[672],"class_list":["post-15036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","industry-workplace","topic-wellbeing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/steelcase-res.cloudinary.com\/image\/upload\/c_limit,dpr_auto,q_70,h_1024,w_1024\/v1527867432\/www.steelcase.com\/2018\/06\/01\/18-0104306.jpg\")
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<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/steelcase-res.cloudinary.com\/image\/upload\/c_limit,dpr_auto,q_70,h_1024,w_1024\/v1527868776\/www.steelcase.com\/2018\/06\/01\/18-0104311.jpg\")
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