{"id":948,"date":"2014-07-08T10:00:43","date_gmt":"2014-07-08T08:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/?p=948"},"modified":"2023-11-16T10:25:15","modified_gmt":"2023-11-16T09:25:15","slug":"ricardo-semler-does-things-differently","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/ricardo-semler-does-things-differently\/","title":{"rendered":"The Semco Way: Ricardo Semler does things differently"},"content":{"rendered":"

Everything can be done differently. There is always another approach. That\u2019s why it\u2019s important for every organisation to always be on the lookout for different methods and alternative ideas.
\n<\/em>
\nAccording to an extensive report by Gallup (<\/em>a Washington, D.C.-based polling organisation), there are twice as many \u201cactively disengaged\u201d workers in the world as there are \u201cengaged\u201d workers who love their jobs.<\/p>\n

The number of people who hate their job is shockingly high. Fortunately, it doesn\u2019t have to be this way.<\/p>\n

Semco <\/em>is a Brazilian organisation that is known for its happy employees. While strikes used to happen regularly, there haven\u2019t been any in the last 25 years. The employee satisfaction is all due to the provocative ideas of one man: Ricardo Semler<\/strong>. Recently he was in the Netherlands to talk about how he constantly challenges the status quo. HatRabbits was there to witness what we already believe to be one of the most inspiring talks of the year.<\/p>\n

The Semco Way<\/strong><\/h4>\n

In 1980 Ricardo Semler took over his father\u2019s company, at the age of 21, to become the new CEO of Semco (originally Semler & Company). As you would expect from a former rock\u00a0guitarist, the young Semler behaved like a real rebel<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

When Semler noticed that his employees were not happy, he decided to do something about it. He introduced a radical new concept: The Semco Way<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The philosophy: Give employees complete freedom, as long as their work is finished in time.<\/p>\n

Semler carried out this idea to the extreme. Employees could interview and choose their bosses, set their own working hours and even determine their own salaries. \u2028\u2028Attendance at all company meetings became voluntary. If a meeting would become boring, people could leave without repercussions.<\/p>\n

Apart from encouraging a high level of freedom, The Semco Way<\/em> was also about removing a lot. Semco has no business plan, no mission statement, no long-term budget, no secretaries, no HR- or IT department, no dress codes and no job descriptions. Nobody approves expense accounts. Everything is based on the idea that people use their common sense.<\/p>\n

Retire-a-Little<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Ricardo Semler also introduced a program for employees to buy back one day a week, so they can spend time on activities that are important to them. Like learning to play the violin or climbing a mountain.<\/p>\n

The idea behind the Retire-a-Little program is that there are three important things\u00a0in people’s lives: health, money and time. In the beginning of your career, you’re healthy, you have some money, but no time. When you retire you have time, some money, but not always the health to do what you want to do.<\/p>\n

With the program, employees are able to buy back one day a week for 10% of their salary. After retirement, Semco can do the opposite and hire them back for one day a week. After retirement, a lot of people still want to work and Semco can still appeal to experience and knowledge of ex-employees.<\/p>\n

The Semco Way worked. It led to a huge economic success. Within a few years, Ricardo Semler was able to turn the old hierarchical company of his father into an industrial democracy with a growth in the first decade of 900 percent. The company’s annual revenue grew from $4 million in 1982 to $212 million in 2003.<\/p>\n

Do you know another company that used similar ideas? Or did you ever introduce a revolutionary concept like this yourself? Let me know in the comment box below.<\/span><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

Was this article helpful?
\n<\/strong>If you enjoyed reading this article, feel free to share it with your network by hitting one of the\u00a0buttons below. This way other people can benefit from the article as well.<\/em><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Semco is a Brazilian organisation that is known for its happy employees. While strikes used to happen regularly, there haven\u2019t been any in the last 25 years. The employee satisfaction is all due to the provocative ideas of one man: Ricardo Semler.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22948,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[197],"tags":[10,207,204,205,206,208],"class_list":["post-948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-innovation","tag-crazy-ideas","tag-retire-a-little","tag-ricardo-semler","tag-semco","tag-semco-style","tag-semco-way"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Semco Way: Ricardo Semler does things differently - HatRabbits<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Semco is a Brazilian organisation that is known for its happy employees. 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