Much of this, he says, he owes to his Dad. Jim says he also learned from his Father that employees need to be treated with respect and valued. Jim says there are many situations in which problems have been avoided by simply allowing employees to take part in troubleshooting. Every employee of Dr. Bronner's has the opportunity to take part in a profit sharing plan. All get full family health benefits and generous holiday bonuses.
Efficiency is high in the plant along with morale.
According to Jim, three workers fill and label one and a half million bottles of soap each year. Surely, you are getting the picture that Dr. Bronner and his Magic Soap company were and are unique in many ways. According to Jim, some of the company's ways of doing business evolved out of trial and error, some out of his father's stubborn convictions, and some out of pure necessity. My consultant says we are being too generous, but it saves us a lot of headaches. We have said before that Dr. Bronner's Soap has never spent a dime on advertising, just relying on word of mouth.