英语 英语 日语 日语 韩语 韩语 法语 法语 德语 德语 西班牙语 西班牙语 意大利语 意大利语 阿拉伯语 阿拉伯语 葡萄牙语 葡萄牙语 越南语 越南语 俄语 俄语 芬兰语 芬兰语 泰语 泰语 泰语 丹麦语 泰语 对外汉语

美国国家公共电台 NPR--A factory in Illinois has an innovative approach to employee wellness

时间:2023-06-13 06:36来源:互联网 提供网友:nan   字体: [ ]
特别声明:本栏目内容均从网络收集或者网友提供,供仅参考试用,我们无法保证内容完整和正确。如果资料损害了您的权益,请与站长联系,我们将及时删除并致以歉意。
    (单词翻译:双击或拖选)

A factory in Illinois has an innovative1 approach to employee wellness

Transcript2

A company in Arthur, Ill., allows workers to decide what they need to improve their health. The approach improved productivity and netted a big pay out for all employees.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

As the great resignation gives way to the great reshuffle in the job market, many companies are embracing workplace wellness initiatives aimed at attracting and retaining good employees. The trouble is, conventional approaches, like offering free gym memberships, aren't very effective. So what can motivate workers to be healthy and productive? A manufacturing company based in Illinois is getting a lot of attention for its innovative approach. NPR's Allison Aubrey joins us now to talk about this. Good morning, Allison.

ALLISON AUBREY, BYLINE3: Good morning, Leila.

FADEL: So Allison, you've been talking to workers at a factory in the Midwest. What's so special about what's happening there?

AUBREY: Well, the company is called CHI. They manufacture overhead garage doors at a factory in Arthur, Ill. There are about 800 employees there. And what makes the company unique is that every employee has equity4, a small ownership stake. Now, one morning early this month, managers called a meeting and word spread they were all getting a big payday. Jay Scamihorn is one of the factory managers I spoke5 to.

JAY SCAMIHORN: They were thinking anywhere from 15 to $30,000, realistically. That's what they thought they were going to the meeting to hear. And when they found out it was in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, I mean, the room just kept getting more excited, more excited, more excited. It was just grown men crying, people in shock. Every single CHI employee got that money. It's beyond amazing. It's unbelievable.

FADEL: Wow.

AUBREY: I spoke to one of the company's longtime truck drivers who's receiving nearly a half-million dollar check pre-tax. Payouts were based on seniority and salary. And the average payout for hourly workers was between $175,000 and $200,000, so life-changing amounts of money for some. They can pay off mortgages, kids' college. It's a big deal for them.

FADEL: Yeah. So they have actual buy-in in how well the company's doing. What does this have to do with wellness?

AUBREY: Well, to explain that, let me go back about seven years. When the company was bought by investors6, as I said, every employee got a small ownership stake. And every employee was given a say in how the workplace should change. The investors wanted to see productivity go up, so they asked workers to fix things that weren't working. Each year, workers voted on a big improvement project that the company spent $1 million on. So for example, Butch Burwell (ph), who has worked at the factory more than 20 years, told me one problem was a lack of healthy food options. There were no good options nearby or in the plant.

BUTCH BURWELL: We had no cafeteria here whatsoever7. We had a few snack machines and a few pop machines around. And the guys would, you know, of course, eat unhealthy because of that.

AUBREY: Some would drive to a nearby gas station to get fried chicken. But there was a lot of complaining.

FADEL: So what did the workers do to change that?

AUBREY: Well, they voted to build an on-site canteen, which now sells sandwiches, salads made fresh every day. They're three or four bucks8, so every factory worker can afford to eat there. And Butch Burwell said, it's made a big improvement. People overall are eating healthier. But it goes well beyond this.

BURWELL: When you empower people to be able to be heard and be part of the decision process, it really means a lot to guys that work in a factory.

AUBREY: Another big project workers voted in was an on-site health clinic. So instead of needing to take time off or go to urgent care, the idea is there's health care right there. Next, workers told me they're considering an on-site gym.

FADEL: So it sounds like they've made this a better place to work. Has that helped to make the company more profitable?

AUBREY: Well, that's the idea. I mean, until last week, none of the workers knew they were getting a big payday. This only happened, the CFO told me, because over the last seven years, they've become much more productive and profitable. The home improvement boom has helped. But the CFO told me the workers' productivity went up a lot. They've become now an industry leader in how quickly they deliver their products. So CHI is now being bought by a bigger company, but they all keep their jobs. And Jay Scamihorn told me the goal is to keep up the structure.

SCAMIHORN: I do think we get more out of these employees because they are making their decisions. They're solving their own problems. They have somebody to support them when they bring an idea forward. The idea that we didn't have a place to eat for lunch and we built a cafeteria, I think that empowers people. I think they feel like, hey, they're listening to me. And they're going to be more productive because of that.

AUBREY: To me, what's really striking, Leila, is that these decisions employees have made have been all about creating a healthier workplace, from eating well to preventive care on-site.

FADEL: So as we noted9, a lot of companies have wellness initiatives, right? Do we know why this one in particular was so successful?

AUBREY: You know, companies spend about $50 billion a year on wellness initiatives. Yet, economists10 who study them say many fail to lead to any meaningful change at all, things like free gym memberships or giving free sweatshirts for getting a biometric screening or cholesterol11 check. The problem is, when initiatives are top down, when it's someone in the C-suite telling workers what to do, it's not typically effective in changing people's behaviors. So the chief financial officer at CHI, Tisha Pfeiffer, said their approach was just to ask workers what they wanted.

TISHA PFEIFFER: The simple question that we asked is, what would make your day happier and healthier when you came to work every day? And that, in effect, changed it from the bottom up instead of the top down.

AUBREY: And she thinks this has been very effective.

FADEL: Now, we began by talking about the payday all employees are getting. Could that have health benefits also?

AUBREY: You know, possibly, yes. I mean, for many of these folks, it's the shared decision-making that has improved their day-to-day lives. And in terms of their big payday, Jay Scamihorn says, you know, the way he sees it, sharing the wealth among all employees is setting many people up for financial security, which can help relieve stress.

SCAMIHORN: I can see long term that you take the stress away from people's lives and, I think, yes, they'll be healthier and happier people.

AUBREY: CHI is one of several companies that investors and researchers are watching and studying to see if ownership stake and share decision-making pays off, not just in terms of profitability, but also in terms of health and happiness.

FADEL: NPR's Allison Aubrey. Thank you so much.

AUBREY: Thank you, Leila.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 innovative D6Vxq     
adj.革新的,新颖的,富有革新精神的
参考例句:
  • Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
  • He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。
2 transcript JgpzUp     
n.抄本,誊本,副本,肄业证书
参考例句:
  • A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
  • They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。
3 byline sSXyQ     
n.署名;v.署名
参考例句:
  • His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
  • We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。
4 equity ji8zp     
n.公正,公平,(无固定利息的)股票
参考例句:
  • They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
  • To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值,墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。
5 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
6 investors dffc64354445b947454450e472276b99     
n.投资者,出资者( investor的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
  • a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会
7 whatsoever Beqz8i     
adv.(用于否定句中以加强语气)任何;pron.无论什么
参考例句:
  • There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
  • All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样,你就怎样对人。
8 bucks a391832ce78ebbcfc3ed483cc6d17634     
n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 );钱;(英国十九世纪初的)花花公子;(用于某些表达方式)责任v.(马等)猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 );抵制;猛然震荡;马等尥起后蹄跳跃
参考例句:
  • They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
  • They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》
9 noted 5n4zXc     
adj.著名的,知名的
参考例句:
  • The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
  • Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。
10 economists 2ba0a36f92d9c37ef31cc751bca1a748     
n.经济学家,经济专家( economist的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
  • Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》
11 cholesterol qrzzV     
n.(U)胆固醇
参考例句:
  • There is cholesterol in the cell of body.人体细胞里有胆固醇。
  • They are determining the serum-protein and cholesterol levels.他们正在测定血清蛋白和胆固醇的浓度。
本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎点击提交分享给大家。
------分隔线----------------------------
TAG标签:   美国新闻  英语听力  NPR
顶一下
(0)
0%
踩一下
(0)
0%
最新评论 查看所有评论
发表评论 查看所有评论
请自觉遵守互联网相关的政策法规,严禁发布色情、暴力、反动的言论。
评价:
表情:
验证码:
听力搜索
推荐频道
论坛新贴