WorldBlu: Great Harvest Bread Company Wins Award

Dillon / MT. (prn) Great Harvest Franchising Inc. is a winner of the WorldBlu List of Most Democratic Workplaces global award sponsored by WorldBlu Inc., a company specializing in democracy in the workplace. Great Harvest Franchising Inc. is a four-time WorldBlu List award winner. For-profit and non-profit organizations from across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the UK, India, the Netherlands, and Malaysia made the list from industries such as technology, healthcare, telecommunications, media, manufacturing, aerospace and retail, representing over twelve billion USD in combined annual sales.

«Nothing has proven the need for a new model of business as definitively as the current economic crisis», says WorldBlu Founder and CEO Traci Fenton in Austin, Texas. «These democratic companies model how giving power to their people, especially during challenging economic times, can increase innovation and engagement while boosting the bottom-line».

Mike Ferretti, CEO of Great Harvest Bread Company, said he believes a democratic business model gives a company a competitive advantage during an economic slow-down. «Democratic workplaces have more flexibility in addressing economic issues. At Great Harvest we own issues together by sharing a tremendous amount of information. This allows us to view and evaluate all the little pieces that make up big issues. This, of course, is a strength during any economic condition, but is vitally important during an economic downturn».

Fenton added that Democratic organizations operate on the principles of freedom rather than fear and control. «They understand that the future of business is more about participation, less about titles and more about meaning in order to be competitive in this new, democratic age», he said.

To be considered for the WorldBlu recognition, company employees complete a survey evaluating their organization´s practice of ten democratic principles, including transparency, dialogue, listening, integrity, accountability and leadership. WorldBlu developed the survey tool based on a decade of research into what makes a world-class democratic organization. The «WorldBlu List 2010 of Most Democratic Workplaces» is available here.