The Seven-Day Weekend: Changing the Way Work Works

We circulate questionnaires and ask them whether they feel like coming to work on Monday morning, whether they trust their leaders, and whether they believe everything we say in our internal and external communications.

In the end, it’s an exchange that works: Out go mission statements, credos, and the control they exert; and in come self-interest, principles arising from practice, and a developing set of values. As control wanes, creativity and shared values bloom. An army that fights for what it believes in arises from this harvest of ideas, varied practices, an

Here’s a counterintuitive idea for you: For a company to excel, employees must be reassured that self-interest, not the company’s, is their foremost priority.

Another element of job satisfaction is stress, and stress levels are highest where balance is lowest. It often reflects the difference between expectation and reality.

monthly and addresses practices by management that may be at odds with the current values of Semco as a whole. Two of these board of trustees members have a seat and vote on Semco’s board of directors, and an agenda time allotment to bring up and negotiate whatever they find necessary.

Our employees have elected 117 trustees (one for every group, location, or site) who are empowered to represent the people of Semco, and defend its “constitution.” Our constitution is of course not written; it just conceptually encompasses the basic values and culture that are currently in place (and that change with time). The trustees take turns

As unusual as our hiring practices sound, it’s actually traditional corporations that rely on loony recruiting methods, like letting HR handle it or moving people into jobs without first exposing them to the people they’ll be working with. They’re using a hundred-year-old system to choose their people while we respect a time-honored, hundred-thousa

Rarely queried suppliers, consultants, and independent contractors need to be brought in from the cold, too. So once a year we invite dozens of them to tour Semco, and ask them pointed questions about our performance. Since most can’t be expected to talk candidly, we provide them with anonymous questionnaires, which can be tallied instantly for imm

“a rolling stone gathers no moss.”