Through a process called "codetermination," large German companies are required to elect half their board of directors by a vote of their employees, rather than of their shareholders. And it's "now the economic powerhouse of Europe.
Germany does not have the kind of widespread unemployment that plagues the rest of the continent, but has wage stagnation.
But similar policies in the United States have borne fruit. Studies of Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), in which employees are encouraged to take an ownership stake in their own firms, find that they increase overall compensation, job satisfaction, productivity and profitability.
"Evidence suggests that combining employee ownership with increased employee participation may generate astounding returns on investment,"
Giving workers more control over their firms seems to help both them and the companies. Maybe U.S. companies could take the hint.
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