Our Team Members are at the heart of our unique culture.
Since our humble beginnings 30 years ago, we have always believed strongly in the principles of direct and open communication and self-empowerment. As the company has grown, those principles have continued to guide our culture. Without the people who make up this company, we are just four walls and food.[singlepic id=515 w=320 h=240 float=right] Without our amazing Team Members, we wouldn't be able to have a culture that results in:
- Decentralized decision-making and minimized bureaucracy
- Policies that recognize individual performance and team performance
- A collaborative, not confrontational style
- Celebrating individuality
- An open-book salary policy & executive salaries capped at 19X average Team Member salary
- Hourly wages that currently average at $15.
- 90% of Team Members in store leadership that were promoted from other positions within the store and the majority of regional leadership and most of global leadership that rose to their positions from working at the store level.
- Shared fate: Team Members vote new Team Members onboard
- Happy Team Members = happy customers: it's a win-win philosophy
- Fortune “100 Best Companies to Work For” every year since list's inception
Our benefits package is one of the best in the retail supermarket industry.
- 80-90% of Team Members are FULL-time (vs. majority of retail which is mostly part-time).
- Team Members get yearly stock option grants after three years of service.
- Team Members get 20% discounts on all purchases.
- Team Members get a higher percentage of revenues (23-25%) as pay and benefits than the industry norm.
- Wages and benefits of our Team Members in most instances meet or exceed union compensation.
- In 2004, the benefit plan design voted on by Team Members included a personal wellness account of up to $1,800 per Team Member that they could use to offset the higher deductible of their new plan, which also includes zero premium contributions for Team Members.
It is our responsibility to help educate and inform TMs about any labor issues that could affect them.
- WFM regularly holds storewide Town Hall meetings for Team Members and regional leadership to exchange information in person.
- We held Team Member meetings at all stores to go over the proposed EFCA bill.
- At all these meetings, Team Members were reminded of their legal right to choose third-party representation.
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In summary:
We're proud of the industry-leading practices we offer our Team Members, and proud of the way they ranked us on the Fortune survey each year. We strive to be true to the principles on which this company was founded almost three decades ago. We certainly have enough respect for Team Members to admit that on occasion we may fall short. At all times, including when that happens, we want to work with Team Members collaboratively.
