The Husky Injection Molding Systems unique work environment is apparent from the moment you walk in the front door. In fact, the difference is apparent from the moment you turn into the parking lot. Beautifully landscaped gardens surround the six main buildings of the main Husky campus in Bolton, Ontario, which houses 1300 of the companys 2900 worldwide employees. In keeping with its philosophy, all the gardens are maintained without the use of pesticides.

Holistic Commitment to Employees

The most striking element of the environment at Husky is the commitment to valuing employees as whole people, who need to be supported in various ways as members of communities, families, as well as the Husky team in order to be productive employees. From the man riding a bicycle between buildings using a quick and environmentally-friendly company-provided form of transportation to the receptionist with her gym bag and on-site fitness facility schedule in clear view behind her desk, the value that Husky places on healthy employees is evidenced everywhere. Inside the main building, theres a waterfall and an abundance of plants, natural light streams in from all angles, and the air is fresh and clear.

Values-Driven Culture

The differences go beyond the physical environment. Since 1953, when the company was founded by Robert Schad, who remains the CEO, Husky Injection Molding Systems has created a profoundly values-driven culture, where respect of the complete lives of individual employees is paramount. A dedicated believer in the impact that a healthy, balanced lifestyle and a positive environment has on productivity and bottom-line results, Schad has spent most of the last 50 years walking the talk.

A Healthy Environment

Ensuring that employees have healthy environments to work in has been key to this companys success: this means everything from providing only healthy food in the cafeteria to mandating that the manufacturing facilities be kept scrupulously clean. This commitment extends outside the campus gates as well employees are rewarded for community participation and environmentally-friendly lifestyle choices. The model employer-supported child care center lies across the way from the five main buildings that make up the campus. In addition, the organization is intentionally centralized, to provide maximum lateral and upward mobility within the company, so that families are not faced with the difficult decisions when faced with relocation opportunities uprooting children and leaving dual-career couples in a bind.

High Return on Investments

This commitment has translated into generous financial results, which Husky is careful to measure, so that investments in the workplace environment and wellness can be viewed as investments rather than costs. Husky estimates it saved $8 million dollars in reduced absenteeism, higher productivity, and better use of resources, from a $4 million dollar investment in workplace environment and employee well-being. As a result, it is one of only nine companies to have made the Report on Business Top 35 Companies to Work For list in both years of its publication.

Key Elements

Leadership

The vision and commitment of Founder and Chief Executive Office Robert Schad is witnessed at every level of the company.

"As global competition intensifies, we believe that it is people who make the difference between a mediocre company and a truly great company. Our investment in facilities and programs such as child care, wellness and fitness not only allow our people to maintain high standards of performance, they also translate into benefits that can be clearly measured."

Robert Schad, CEO

Values-Driven Culture

Schad claims that the purpose of his company is "to be a role model of lasting business success based on our core values." The companys core values make a contribution, proactive environmental responsibility, passion for excellence, and uncompromising honesty cascade throughout all of the companys activities. For example:

• Huskys commitment to environmental responsibility has made it a worldwide role model, and has earned it the Financial Post Gold Environmental Leadership Award, the National Occupational Health and Safety Award for Excellence, and the Ethics in Action Award for ongoing social responsibility. In 2000, Husky diverted 95 percent of its waste, realizing $348,000 savings in disposal costs and generating $804,000 in revenue through innovative reuse of materials.
  
  
• Engaging in uncompromising honesty means that all employees are compelled to keep every promise they make, and that salespeople will not accept gifts from suppliers or customers because it might jeopardize their integrity, and must disclose to customers when they could get a better deal from a competitor.
  
  
• Husky also demands the same level of commitment from each of its suppliers: a booklet entitled Doing Business With Husky asserts that "A shared set of values is a necessary condition for a successful business relationship," and those values include being a community role model, environmental leader, and treating people fairly, equally, and with respect.

Integration into Business Strategy

Employee wellness and environmental practices at the company are not sidelined from core business strategies and conceptualized as perks; rather, the Human Resources and Environment, Health and Safety functions are fully integrated into the overall strategy of the company and sit equally beside Operations, and Sales and Marketing at the Management Team table. "HR is not a feel good Department," says current VP of HR, Dirk Schlimm, who moved to his role, at Schads request, from a line position, "Its very much involved in the business, very much involved in discussing and formulating business strategy, and very proactive in terms of keeping the pulse of the people, knowing the people, knowing their concerns."

Supportive Environment

A non-hierarchical environment encourages teamwork and honesty. Space is open and allocated in a non-hierarchical way. Senior executives and technicians all park in the same lot, eat at the same cafeteria, and have open concept offices.

Financial Resources Committed to Wellness

Husky has committed significant resources to supporting its workforce and creating healthy work environments, because it sees those investments as investments in current and future organizational capacity and productivity, and not as organizational costs. Husky believes that true commitment to a healthy and productive work environment needs to be understood intellectually, emotionally, and supported financially in order to return measurable results.

Internally Husky promotes a proactive, healthy organization. On-site wellness, fitness, nutrition, and child care teams support our people and their families in leading balanced lives. We believe that an investment in "well-being" contributes many benefits to both our people and Husky.

Community Involvement

Husky is also financially committed to its larger community, on the conviction that quality of life is intimately connected to the quality of ones larger community. To this end, Husky contributes 5 percent of total pre-tax profits to charitable groups with a focus on the environment, education and the communities in which it operates.

At Husky we feel it is important to have a purpose beyond making money. We recognize that the special impact our resources can have when invested in causes with the greatest potential for improving our quality of life.

Schad is also committed to alternative medicine, and has been a major supporter of the Canadian College for Naturopathic Medicine in Toronto.

Dedicated Monitoring

Every company needs to decide for itself which measures will be the most indicative of its own progress. At Husky, those measures are absenteeism rates, turnover rates, injury rates, workers compensation claims, and benefits costs. The Vice President of Human Resources reads every exit interview conducted in the company.

Program Initiatives

The Copper House

Husky houses and supports one of the most respected on-site parent resource centers in North America. Built from the ground up between 1994 and 1996, Husky absorbed all capital costs as if it were any other major business initiative. It continues to operate under the auspices of the Environment, Health and Safety Department, and is treated as one of the companys business units.

To accommodate the diverse needs of the parents at Husky who use the Centre, The Copper Houses hours are flexible, usually ranging between 6:45 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. A model of flexible care, though the center is licensed to hold 94 children, 175 are enrolled in various types of care, including full-time, part-time, emergency basis, and for before- and after-school care. Interesting add-ons to regular care include an on-site hairdresser that visits every six weeks, saving parents a few hours of weekend time, and the volunteer-run Valentines Day Pyjama Night, allowing parents to have the evening to themselves, and pick up their children, readied for bed, around 10 p.m.

The quality of care at the Centre is extremely high, with each of the more than 20 staff boasting, at minimum, an early childhood education degree or diploma. In 1998, The Copper House was honoured with the Ontario Margaret Fletcher Award for leadership and excellence in early childhood education and care.

[For a more detailed description of The Copper House, see Work-Related Child Care in Canada - 2001 (also available in PDF), Human Resources Development Canada (2001)]

Greenshares

Inaugurated in 2000, Husky rewards employees with shares for implementing Huskys values in all areas of their life. "Were taking the idea of balance a little further," Schlimm notes. Four main areas are covered under the program: commuting, conserving, volunteering, and "greening".

• Commuting by walking, biking, car pooling, or using public transit to get to work;
  
  
• Conserving energy more wisely, and increasing home energy efficiency;
  
  
• Volunteering at environmental, community, or educational causes;
  
  
• "Greening" the environment though selected purchase decisions (i.e. fuel efficient cars)

Employees use the honour system to report their participation, and different point values are assigned to the various activities, which employees "collect" and then translate into rewards funded through Huskys existing donation budget of 5 percent of pre-tax profits.

Fitness

An on-site fitness center has been open since 1993, and usage is widely encouraged. The Get Fit - Stay Fit program, administered by the wellness center, provides an incentive to keep fit by providing of an extra vacation day for people who meet criteria for a certain level of fitness.

Extended Benefits

The benefits at Husky, Schlimm admits, are "paternalistic." Contrary to popular "flexible benefits" and "cafeteria" style plans, where employees can opt out of benefits they think they will not use, the position at Husky is that many benefits are critical to maintaining a healthy workforce. As Schlimm explains, "You should not be opting out of certain things; you should not be opting out of getting proper dental care."

Benefits coverage extends significantly beyond typical plans, and includes coverage of naturopathic doctors and medicine, as well as a $1000 per annum subsidy for naturopathic supplements.

Results and Recognition

• Husky Injection Molding Systems is one of only nine companies represented on the "Report on Business Top 35 Companies to Work For" two years running.
  
  
• Husky benefits internally and externally from extremely low absence rates, injury rates, and workers compensation claims, demonstrated by the following measurable results:
  
  
  • In 1999, absenteeism rates were 2.25 days per employee per year, compared to the Canadian average of 5.7 days.
    
    
  • There were only 0.77 injuries per 200,000 hours worked at Husky in 1998.
    
    
  • Annual per employee drug costs for Huskys healthier workforce were $153 in 1997, compared to a $495 sectoral average.
    
    
• The investment in employee health and wellness contributes to major cost savings for Husky. The department of Environment, Health and Safety, whose responsibility it is to run many of Huskys programs, estimates that the total savings resulting from Huskys employee health and wellness programs is nearly $5 million.
  
  
  • The total cost of the Environment, Health and Safety program at Husky, which includes the child care center, wellness programs, fitness facilities, food services, as well as security and landscaping, was $4 million in 1998.
    
    
  • This cost is more than covered by the savings these programs help support. In 1998, Husky realized $8 million in savings as a direct result of its programs and commitment to employees, generated through low injury frequency, a full Workers Safety and Insurance Board rebate for low claims, low absenteeism, environmental measures, and income from recycling projects.
    
    
• "The positive results we see are a measure of morale, a measure of attitude, a measure of professionalism," notes Schlimm. He shies away from crediting the programs first, preferring instead to acknowledge the high caliber of employees Husky can recruit and retain because of its value-driven culture. "Our success is because of the people first, and then the programs we have in place to support them." Although the directly attributable monetary savings are important, in the end they are less important than Huskys ability to recruit the best talent worldwide. "How do we quantify the impacts of attracting the best people?"

July 2001

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