Gore builds great workplace without traditional hierarchies
Purpose – Describes the policies and practices that have helped W. L. Gore & Associates to win a string of accolades in the Great Places to Work awards. Design/methodology/approach – Examines the founding principles of the company and shows how they work out in practice. Findings – Concentrates on the company’s flat structure with few job titles, system of flexible teams, open communication and constant encouragement of innovation. Practical implications – Reveals that employees take on flexible commitments – tasks that stem from business and organizational requirements, sometimes outside the scope of their main job. They are not specifically told what to do but commit themselves to fulfilling their responsibilities in a self-motivated and team-orientated way. Social implications – Advances the view that a plant size in a range of 250-300 employees is best for communication to work most efficiently. Originality/value – Shows that people who are successful in the Gore organization are flexible, open-minded team workers ready to try unconventional approaches and new methods and to think out of the box.