In my recent post, I shared a conversation I had with Matty and Penelope Gilliland, two of the employee-owners at New Belgium Brewing, about their history with the company and the kind of ownership culture is has been building since the beginning. In this piece, I pick up with our discussion about how New Belgium teaches new coworkers how to think and act like owners with the help of a committee made up of volunteers called POSSE.
Darren Dahl: You are both current members of an ownership committee you call POSSE. Can you tell me more about what that is?
Matty Gilliland: The idea for POSSE first came up around 2006 or maybe a bit earlier. We wanted to have a group of co-owners, not management folks, who would serve as the keepers of the ESOP program. POSSE was formed with the idea of handling the mechanics of teaching people about the ESOP. But we also have certain expectations about how people need to act as owners of the company. And that can sometimes be misunderstood. So POSSE was also a way to create examples of what an employee owner looks like and instill what it means to show up and think and act like an owner.
Penelope Gilliland: POSSE is a great way for coworkers to nominate and elect other coworkers they think exemplify ownership at New Belgium and people who live our values every day. POSSE can be a voice for folks if they have questions or concerns or just want to better understand how the ESOP works.
Dahl: Are there any examples you can share about how POSSE helps communicate what it means to be an owner at New Belgium?
Matty Gilliland: A couple of years ago we made a film that showed examples of what an employee owner wasn’t supposed to do. For instance, we filmed someone in a bar that serves our beer behaving badly. It was kind of funny, and awful, and awesome all at once.
Penelope Gilliland: Another thing that POSSE does is that our head of HR might come to us with a high-level concern or thought related to our culture to get our input. Since POSSE is made up of people from all over the company, it’s an across-the-board perspective on the brewery. POSSE is the voice of the people and it helps shape our cultural practices. It’s a safe zone to express concerns.
Matty Gilliland: As an example, we had a group come to us because they thought there might be a salary disparity between them and another department. While we don’t have any sway over salaries, we helped everyone get to a place where they were informed. It turned out to be a simple misunderstanding.
Penelope Gilliland: Part of our role is keeping our ears to the ground. If we hear people talking about being dissatisfied about something, we will bring it up in our meetings. We have the advantage of coming from lots of different corners of the business so we can cover plenty of perspectives. When you are on POSSE, you have a heightened awareness of paying attention to the cultural vibe of the brewery. I would bet that every group of folks who served on POSSE together could cite at least one thing they accomplished as a team they are proud of.
Dahl: How often do you meet as a group?
Penelope Gilliland: We try to meet every other week for an hour. And not everyone can make it every time because of our other responsibilities. We also spend a few more hours every month outside of those meetings, especially when we have our ownership ceremony coming up. This year, we will have about 90 new owners, so it’s taking us some work to make sure we make everything more efficiently but also that it remains meaningful.
Dahl: How long do POSSE members serve?
Matty Gilliland: The term is two years. Everything centers on the ownership induction ceremony we hold each August. POSSE is made up of four new members and four tenured members. I am on my way out. It’s been a good couple of years.
Penelope Gilliland: I just came on last year, so Matt and the other folks have gotten me up to speed. And now it will be up to me and the other tenured members to catch up the new folks coming in.
Dahl: You had mentioned that part of the role of POSSE was to address your coworkers’ questions or concerns about the ESOP. What’s a common question you get asked?
Matty Gilliland: We get asked technical questions about how it works, like what happens to your shares when you leave the company or what happens when the number of shares available runs out. I know I thought I understood the nuts and bolts of the ESOP but it turned out that I didn’t understand it at all until I had to teach it.
Penelope Gilliland: It can be complicated. But we’re also not embarrassed to admit that we don’t understand all the details either. Our goal is to push our level of understanding farther every year. We also get a lot of businesses reaching out to us who are also ESOPs or thinking about becoming one. I went to the National Center for Employee Ownership Conference in May and there were maybe 1,000 companies there that were ESOPs. But I realized how much stuff we do so well when it comes to our education and establishing the mentality of being an owner.
Matty Gilliland: I think it’s so interesting to see all the changes happening in the craft brewing industry and how other breweries like Deschutes and Odells now have ESOPs as well. It has become a good option to take control of your future. It shows how craft brewing is on the cutting-edge of the economy.
Penelope Gilliland: But it’s also interesting that more companies aren’t doing it. All the research shows that ESOP companies are exponentially more successful and more profitable. I guess some companies are run by a single person who likes to have it all. We are successful because we work collectively.
