Honda Boss Retires, Gives $1,000 to Employees for Each Year of Work

All too often we hear stories of how CEOs get paid the big bucks, and how employees are just employees. But, a story has come to light in Ann Arbor that sheds a positive light on how employees can be treated and how a Honda (NYSE:HMC) dealership would treat its employees with care and kindness. In this business environment, this type of story is certainly not commonplace.

In a recent article, “Howard Cooper gives $1,000 per year of service to 89 employees as ‘thank you’” by Lizzy Alfs at the Ann Arbor news, it was disclosed that Cooper was retiring from his Honda business and selling it. Cooper was the owner of the Howard Cooper Import Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The dealership had won multiple ‘Readers’ Choice Awards’ from the Ann Arbor News for ‘Best Auto Dealership Service’; multiple awards for ‘Best Car Dealership’ in Ann Arbor by Current Magazine and had received the Honda President’s Award multiple times as well. Within Ann Arbor, the firm was certainly well respected.

Cooper retired and as he was leaving, he gave $1,000 for each year of work, to each of the 89 employees. So if someone worked 26 years, then they got $26,000. According to the Ann Arbor news article,

“I wanted to thank my employees and that was a way I could do it,” Cooper told AnnArbor.com. “I hope it makes a difference in their lives like they have made in mine.”

 

“My employees are very important to me and the reason for my success,” Cooper told AnnArbor.com in April. “I know of a couple of buyers who would have paid more, but taking care of my employees was important to me.”

 

And so that’s what he did, he took care of his employees, and in the process he probably gained even more respect in Ann Arbor. Although I never had the chance to meet him, now I wanted to meet him as well. Within the comment section of the Ann Arbor news, one commentator would note:

Individual workers are the engine of economic activity. Mr. Cooper should be commended for recognizing that great CEOs alone don’t make great companies; they lead and reward employees who make companies great.

Although Cooper’s actions would reflect positively on Honda, an international company, one commentator on the Ann Arbor news noted:

“This is where small, local businesses trump big, international ones. What a great story.”

Last night I was watching the Democratic National Convention and Elizabeth Warren, the Leo Gottlieb Professor of Law at Harvard, referenced the idea of helping others. To some, her reference could have been viewed as a slam against Romney’s “Bain prosperity gospel”. However, her reference need not belong to any political party, but to those who help the less fortunate and not just the wealthy. She quoted Matthew 25:40:

“Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

Perhaps that is exactly what Cooper did — he helped others. He worked hard, he was respected in Ann Arbor, and employees weren’t thanked by their titles, but on how long they had helped him.
I just wish we had more people like Howard Cooper in this world.

Source;
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kaipetainen/2012/09/06/honda-boss-retires-gives-1000-to-employees-for-each-year-of-work/