"I think the way to keep employees happy is to be fair and honest. You have to have a meritocracy so those that are political and those that work in cliques -- that needs to be discouraged. The other thing is to be honest with employees. Let them know what you're thinking and where they stand. Give them clear objectives. That way, they know what you're expecting, they know what to do, and it makes their life at work a lot happier." -- Jonathan E. Johnson III
How do you keep employees happy?
Jonathan E. Johnson III is the President of Overstock.com and former General Counsel.
Johnson joined Overstock.com in 2002 as the company's General Counsel and has also served
as Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Legal.
Prior to joining Overstock.com, Jonathan was with TenFold Corporation in various positions,
including General Counsel, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Before that,
Jonathan practiced law in the Los Angeles offices of the New York-based law firm of Milbank,
Tweed, Hadley & McCloy and the San Francisco-based law firm of Graham & James. His
practice focused on mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings, international transactions
and general corporate work. Jonathan was a judicial clerk at the Utah Court of Appeals and the
Utah Supreme Court for Justice Leonard H. Russon.
Jonathan received a bachelor's degree in Japanese from Brigham Young University, studied for
a year at Osaka University of Foreign Studies in Japan, and received his law degree from the J.
Reuben Clark, Jr. Law School at Brigham Young University.