Role Model: Craig Zoberis and Fusion OEM
by Miki Saxon
In 1914 Henry Ford doubled his workers’ daily wage, much to the consternation of other magnates, who believed, as do most of them today, that success comes from paying as little as possible.
Ford, however, believed that he would benefit if his workers had disposable income and he was correct; they used the extra money to buy Fords.
The same holds true today; modern research has proved that higher wages increase profits.
Businesses, from very large to very small, still don’t believe it and scream at the thought of a so-called living wage.
But not all of them.
Fusion OEM at just $12 million is considered very small, but it’s profitable and founder Craig Zoberis is very happy, because he is meeting his twin goals.
While lots of other manufacturers have moved operations to China or Mexico, Zoberis has kept his plant in the United States – and considers it a point of pride to pay his 55 workers above-market rates. Workers with no experience start at $14-an-hour, he says, and by completing training and gaining skills can reach $18-to-20-an-hour, plus overtime and bonuses, for total pay near $50,000 a year, within a few years.
Zoberis doesn’t expect his people to buy his products, but he did want to have a place to work that matched his MAP and not his father’s.
My father and his partner never did a good job of hiring the right people with the right attitude. I wanted to be excited to go to work every day, and working for my father’s company, I was not.
Fusion OEM has never had a layoff, but finding great workers in its industry is just as difficult as finding great programmers, hence the need for a creative, long-term solution.
My colleagues were always complaining that there aren’t enough skilled workers who have the right attitude. When I talk about skilled workers I’m talking about machinists (…) What we discovered halfway through our life at Fusion is that we couldn’t always look outside for skilled people. We decided to hire for attitude and train for aptitude.
Fusion OEM is enjoying double digit growth, but Zoberis isn’t interested in taking outside investment. He loves going to work, saying, “This is my hobby, my income, my life,” and knows that hyper growth can kill you.
You can’t grow your company any faster than you can get the right people. If it goes too far, you might go beyond your capabilities and you’ll fail.
The interview is well worth reading, especially their approach to hiring and compensation.
I rarely make predictions, but in this case I feel pretty safe making two.
- Zoberis will continue building his company, growing his own people and being a management outlier.
- Most companies of whatever size will continue to treat people as disposable, pay them as little as possible and bitch about them to whomever will listen.
Image credit: Fusion OEM
