What happens when organizations prioritize people and the planet, and how do they create systems of compassion? What does a compassionate workplace look like?

 

These are questions I’ve been asking for a couple of years, and that’s the focus of my book, A Case for Compassion – What Happens When You Prioritize People and the Planet.

 

I researched compassionate workplaces and wrote about them in Chapter 7. In the chapter, I feature a few organizations that exemplify compassion with the hopes that others will be inspired to follow their lead.

 

Here’s an excerpt from the book, and it’s about a remarkable organization in Spain — Mondragon. Please note the discussion questions at the end. I’d love to hear your thoughts, so feel free to leave comments.

 

Mondragon

“More competitive, cooperative and flexible. Our aim is to constitute a business that delivers and helps to build fairer, more cohesive and more resilient communities” (Mondragon Corporation, n.d.).

 
Needless to say, this is not the mission statement of Amazon or TikTok. You’ll find these words on the home page of Mondragon.com—a giant network of cooperative (co-op) enterprises in the Basque region of Spain that focuses on finance, retail, industry, and knowledge.

 
A co-op, defined by the US Department of Agriculture, “is a user-owned and controlled business from which benefits are derived and distributed equitably on the basis of use or as a business owned and controlled by the people who use its services” (2011). Many view co-ops as hippie-centered, socialist, and small-scale. Mondragon, however, employs over seventy thousand people in Spain, and a majority of the employees are owners.

 

 

The Why

In 2019, as a graduate student in the School of Leadership and Education Sciences at the University of San Diego, my friend Melissa Eisler found out about a summertime study abroad program to learn from Mondragon. She jumped at the opportunity to see how a large-scale co-op operates.

 

Eisler, a highly successful executive coach to senior leaders, told me, “A big part of what I do with my clients is to help them see things differently, envision their organizations in a new way, and develop a strategy and plan to grow in the ways that are right for them. As companies succeed and scale, they often get too far away from their original mission and values—and further from their Why. I help leaders align their mission, vision, and values with the practical elements of their leadership, management, operations, and organizational culture. This helps them remain connected to their purpose, people, and mission.”

 

“This is something Mondragon does exceptionally well, and there is so much to learn from their philosophy,” Eisler shared. She was inspired to witness how differently Mondragon runs and how connected it remains to its values. “Seeing Mondragon in action made me further disillusioned with our country, how we work, and how we run our businesses.” For example, even Mondragon’s lowest-paid employees can afford homes, cars, children, college, and three weeks of vacation somewhere away from home.

 

“Enoughness”

CEOs of Mondragon’s organizations can only make up to six times the average worker’s salary (Romeo 2022). Compare that to the S&P 500 CEO-to-worker pay ratio I brought up earlier, 299-to-1. At Mondragon, an average worker salary of fifty thousand dollars means the CEO wouldn’t make more than three hundred thousand dollars. “So if you’re at the bottom level, you probably make more than most people [who are bottom-level at a typical for-profit company in the US],” explained Eisler. “If you’re at the manager level, you probably make less, but in their culture, they think of it as enough. The concept of ‘enoughness’ is a common theme in the region.”

 

Employees at Mondragon seem to be content and not compelled to accumulate material items. “Employees want to live there and to be part of a thriving community. The mission is what matters to people,” Eisler explained.

 
Because the mission is people-focused, the Mondragon co-ops donate up to 25 percent of profits to community organizations. The members and employees vote on where the money should go. Prioritizing its employees, the planet, and the community doesn’t harm the performance of Mondragon. According to its 2020 annual report, Mondragon’s revenue totaled $11.5 billion (note that this is revenue and not the net income).

 
The Mondragon co-ops also rely on open dialogue and feedback sessions that happen regularly. Everyone attends, and they give feedback in a constructive and kind way. 

 

Eisler admitted that visiting Mondragon was inspiring but said, “It was also a little daunting. It’s just so different, and it works well because the culture and worldview of people in the region support the same mission, values, and lifestyle. In our culture, it would be difficult to even take a step in this direction. Fundamental to their model is that everyone is looking out for the greater good. I don’t think we have that here [in the US].”

 

Questions to Ponder:

1. Is it possible for a corporation in the United States to emulate Mondragon’s dedication to its employees? If so, how?
2. What would it look like for a for-profit organization in the USA make “enoughness” a value and practice?
3. What’s possible when more organizations model Mondragon’s values?

 

(Read Part 1 and Part 3.)

 

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