Back to the Farm

Farm Life Part 2: It Ain't Dorothea Lange

If the first image of life on the farm is that of a Norman Rockwell illustration, the second is that of a Dorothea Lange photograph: a rail-thin, hollow-eyed man standing grimly in front of a shack -- a reminder of the unforgiving demands of earth and weather. So if farm life is that hard -- as hard as the climate in plenty of businesses -- does a company like Rosenbluth start grinding everything to the bottom line, stop coddling employees, and get mean?

Out of the question, says Rosenbluth. Even as his company tries to position itself for an uncertain market, there is at least as much emphasis on what it wants to remain as on what it's prepared to become. "At the end of the day," says Rosenbluth, "I believe our only sustainable competitive advantages are the associates and the environment in which we work."

But how do you keep that culture? How do you make sure that a desperate-looking Dorothea Lange photo isn't lurking underneath that heartwarming Norman Rockwell painting?

Answer: Above all, remember that it's a family farm.

Staff your farm with friends? Good idea!

"Our company is built on somethin' that's foreign to most companies," says Rosenbluth. "We're a company built on friendship. When I was in college, I was taught not to work with friends because you can't get productivity out of 'em, you can't make the tough decisions." But, he argues, if your coworkers become your friends, you'll never let each other down. "You can accomplish anything."

This is Rosenbluth's ultimate answer (and the subject, he says, of his next book): It's exactly when things get tough that you want to work with your friends. In fact, if your people are anything less than that during a downswing, you're in trouble.

In other words, the company still puts its employees first. Rosenbluth's two-day orientation for new hires is already the stuff of legend. The first day climaxes in a high-tea service -- on white linen, led by a top company officer. It's a nice welcome, but it's also something else, observes longtime Rosenbluth executive Frank Hoffman, who headed Learning and Development at the company for eight years. "The main purpose is for them to experience service that's a cut above," he says. "The product means nothing -- in this case it's water and tea bags -- but the way you do it is everything."

In day two, the new hires break into small groups and create skits based on good and bad service experiences. A facilitator pushes them to discuss how to fix what's wrong -- and improve what's right. Says Hoffman, "How do we bring that up a notch? That takes special thought, a personal touch. That's the point we're trying to drive home. It's practically a sacred program."

Of course, promising a close-knit culture in a two-day, controlled session is easy. Follow-through is what counts. All Rosenbluth offices, for example, post schedules for company meetings, and let any employee attend. Want to know what a top Rosenbluth executive's day is like? Any associate can sign up to "shadow" anyone in top management for a day. A month after signing on in Rosenbluth's communications department in 1994, Jeanine Shumaker made a date to shadow Hal Rosenbluth. When he suddenly had to make a trip to Mexico City on that date, Shumaker went along. "I just sat there with my mouth dropped open and thought, This is too cool," she says. "We were acquiring another travel agency, so I made a role for myself communicating that while I was down there. I was able to contribute."

Rosenbluth leaders are used to being asked whether this sort of thing isn't a bit of a distraction. Ralph Smith, vice president of associate and supplier relations, says a happy workplace is a key "psycho-benefit" that attracts good people and keeps them. It also weeds out problem employees. "There's a lot of peer pressure here," says Smith. "It's less structured, more flexible. People have a problem with that. I mean, I had a problem with it at first."

Bobbee Rose, who manages the Philadelphia reservation center, oversees the 60 reservation agents who work on the first floor of the company's headquarters. A former agent herself, she spends her day circulating among current agents, scanning their faces for signs of trouble. If no one needs any help, she jokes, they send her back to her office. Occasionally she'll work the phones.

Rose points to the example of a recent group leader there who didn't work out. The problem wasn't with the leader's knowledge or skills; it was her reluctance to develop associates as demanded by the culture. "After a while, she realized that she couldn't go that route. So she left the company. I know it was because of the pressure of the team, the discussion, and even the training," Rose says. "It didn't make sense to her."

Learning benefits the worker first, the farm second.