Sustainability begins at home
Sustainability is more than maintaining a status quo – it’s using our strengths to change the world for the better.
We spend a lot of time talking about sustainability as it manifests on farms and throughout the world. But what about what we’re doing at home?
We operate three facilities – in Eugene, Oregon; Hamburg, Germany; and Imola, Italy – and each one is driven by the same values that drive our global sustainability work. We named it “The Yogi Way.” It’s people-centric, and aligns well-being with our mission, vision, and values.
To define what The Yogi Way looks like, we broke well-being down into five parts:
- Purpose: Liking what you do each day.
- Connection: Having supportive relationships and love in life.
- Financial: Managing economic life to build financial security.
- Whole Health: Having good enough health and energy to get things done daily.
- Community: Emotional attachment and engagement with where you live.
We spend a lot of time talking about sustainability as it manifests on farms and throughout the world. But what about what we’re doing at home?
We operate three facilities – in Eugene, Oregon; Hamburg, Germany; and Imola, Italy – and each one is driven by the same values that drive our global sustainability work. We named it “The Yogi Way.” It’s people-centric, and aligns well-being with our mission, vision, and values.
To define what The Yogi Way looks like, we broke well-being down into five parts:
- Purpose: Liking what you do each day.
- Connection: Having supportive relationships and love in life.
- Financial: Managing economic life to build financial security.
- Whole Health: Having good enough health and energy to get things done daily.
- Community: Emotional attachment and engagement with where you live.
So far, so good. In 2023, we checked in with our employees, asking to what extent (5 being complete agreement, 1 being complete disagreement) they agreed with the following statements about our well-being pillars:
- I like what I do every day.
- My friends and family give me positive energy every day.
- I have not worried about money in the last seven days.
- My physical health is near-perfect.
- The city or area where I live is a perfect fit for me.
That year, our responses, on average, looked like this:
- I like what I do every day: 4.2
- My friends and family give me positive energy every day: 4.47
- I have not worried about money in the last seven days: 3.62
- My physical health is near-perfect: 3.54
- The city or area where I live is a perfect fit for me: 4.12
With hard data on board, clarity around our purpose, and a granular understanding of well-being, we set about improving those numbers. For example, to improve our employees’ financial security, we started in our Eugene warehouse.
- First, we used the Living Wage Calculator for our home base of Lane County, Oregon, to ascertain what a living wage is: $21.55/hour.
- Then, we increased the entry wage for new hires to meet that $21.55 benchmark.
Those improvements wouldn’t be fair without including existing employees, so we increased the pay of every Eugene employee to meet the $21.55/hour standard. Since our Eugene factory runs 24/7, we also increased pay for those working off-hours shifts.
- 2nd shift increased 1.00/hr
- 3rd shift increased 1.75/hr
Financial stability is only part of the picture. Each aspect of our well-being model has been addressed. In Eugene, here’s a sampling of what we accomplished:
- Purpose: Offered 3/2 hybrid work arrangement, strengths development coaching, and the Engaged Manager Development Program for managers and leaders.
- Connection: Introduced a formal recognition program, holiday meals, and monthly potlucks for employees to connect with one another.
- Financial: Implemented a retirement match, subsidized daily meals, no cost financial investment advisors and a Hope Fund for Yogis in need.
- Whole Health: Hosted Wellbeing Wednesday to take time for stretching and moving, always supply free fresh fruit, installed a basketball hoop and Breathe Deep room for mindfulness and quiet time.
- Community: Started an annual giving tree, a bike to work program, and a booth at the Eugene Marathon to support runners.
We made similar improvements in our German office:
- Purpose: Offered 3/2 hybrid work and development trainings for employees.
- Connection: Hosted parties and maintained gathering spaces for employees, including a rooftop oasis.
- Financial: Inaugurated a wellbeing bonus, subsidized transportation costs, and expanded pension offerings.
- Whole Health: Provided fresh fruit and beautiful areas to enjoy coffee while offering flex time and yoga classes.
- Community: Started a Christmas gift donation and a raffle to give donations to the local children’s hospital.
After all that, our well-being scores increased in 2024’s polls in four out of five categories:
- I like what I do every day: 4.28
- My friends and family give me positive energy every day: 4.50
- I have not worried about money in the last seven days: 3.65
- My physical health is near-perfect: 3.63
- The city or area where I live is a perfect fit for me: 4.07
It’s solid progress, and we’re all proud of what we’ve accomplished.
But well-being isn’t a destination, it’s a journey. So, we’re continuing to strive for higher scores and better feelings about life at Yogi.
For several years we’ve tracked employee engagement at work. We’ve made huge strides already:
- In the fall of 2019, 46% of employees reported feeling engaged at work.
- By the spring of 2024, that number was up to 66% - even while our headcount increased by 71!
- Better still, our percentage of “Actively Disengaged” employees halved, from 10% to 5%, during that same period.
How are we making so much progress? Part of the recipe involves a series of workshops clarifying our Mission, Vision, and Values.
- 301 participants, taking part in…
- 11 workshops, spanning…
- 37 hours of time together, culminating in…
- 25 different team mission statements
These workshops made the connection between daily work at the ideals Yogi holds dear.
One operator said, “These conversations are what makes Yogi so authentic and special.”
Of course, conversations don’t mean much without action to back them up. So, we’re constantly updating and widening our initiatives, always hoping to become better and better at creating the sort of world we want to live in.
- Eugene: Observing two additional Federal Holidays: MLK Jr. Day and Juneteenth.
- Eugene: Modernizing paid time off by forming one unified “Well-being Paid Time Off” category, allowing greater flexibility and control over using PTO healthfully.
- Germany: Creating Flexible Work Models and piloting a Sabbatical and Work from Anywhere program in 2025.
- Italy: Promoting a range of community-building activities, from a summer party to volleyball matches; charity activities to historical and art tours; family picnics and community walks.
- Eugene: Adding “Earned Time” to sick time, adapting it to allow greater flexibility for employees to manage responsibilities outside of work.
- Italy: Offering family budget trainings to assist in financial plannings, alongside discount agreements with shops.
- Eugene: Subsidizing healthy food as part of our in-office Nourish Market, to support nourishment and sustained energy throughout the day.
It all comes together in our guide to how we show up in the world, at work, and for each other. We’re still on the journey, and are striving, every day, to leave things better than how we found them.
Learn more about our global commitment to sustainability in our complete sustainability report, and subscribe to our newsletter for our latest news!