Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc.
S.C. Johnson Chairman Herbert Fisk Johnson III Offers a Dad's Perspective on Work Life Balance
S.C. Johnson CEO & Chairman Herbert Fisk Johnson III says he believes it's important to run a family-oriented company because, as a father, he understands the challenges working mothers face. For more about a dad's perspective on work life balance, visit workingmother.com.
About H. Johnson
In his acceptance speech for the 2013 Deming Cup, H. Fisk Johnson, Chairman and CEO of SC Johnson & Son, discussed the company's management philosophy. He stated that, unlike many public companies, SC Johnson does not view maximizing shareholder value as its ultimate objective or a measure of success. Johnson said the company instead prioritizes an intangible element he called "goodwill," which he traced back to a 1927 speech by his great-grandfather. Johnson cited the closure of a factory in El Salvador as an example of this approach. He said that after the closure process, the employees who were losing their jobs gave the company a standing ovation. Johnson attributed the company's success to its employees and described financial results as a means to an end rather than an end in themselves.
Transcript (2 segments)
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Carol0:13
And now I'm really honored to invite up to the podium Fisk Johnson. Fisk is the chairman and CEO of SC Johnson. Before I tell you a teeny bit about him, I just want to say that whenever I get the chance, I go drive up to Racine from Chicago to visit SC Johnson, partly because I just love the family atmosphere there and Kelly Semrow welcomes me with open arms and shows me around the place, but partly also because I'm such an admirer of the building. It was built by Frank Lloyd Wright and it's an astonishingly beautiful symbol of everything that Frank Lloyd Wright was about. But when I go there, I'm always appreciative of how the Johnson family has lovingly cared for what is a very difficult building to keep going and keep up, and they keep working in it, and that's the only way to really keep that kind of a building living. So as a person who loves old buildings, I just appreciate that. One other little thing is that I went to their park — they have a huge park that they have for all the employees and relatives, and you can go and you can play any game there, you know, it's huge, 120 acres or something. And I thought, you know, gee, that is really such a symbol — building a park using the land for the employees of SC Johnson, and memberships are for grandparents and children's aunts and uncles. It's an amazing thing. So I just want to say thank you, Fisk, for the kind of heritage that you are entrusted with and that you do such a beautiful job of preserving. But just let me tell you a bit about Fisk — chairman and CEO of SC Johnson, and he's a household name nowadays. You'll recognize him thanks to TV commercials that emphasize the company's commitment to family responsibility and sustainability. And really it's kind of funny with those commercials because he's the most modest CEO I know. SC Johnson has been a family-run company for more than 120 years. Think of it — 120 years. With Fisk at the helm, the company continues its pledge to do what's right. According to Fisk, it's not just a business obligation, it's a family one. Please help me welcome and thank them for their sponsorship, SC Johnson and Fisk Johnson.
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H. Johnson2:59
Thank you, Carol. I appreciate those kind words. We are thrilled and honored to be here today. You know, it was quite some time ago when I saw this cartoon in The New Yorker magazine, and it was of this woman who was staring into the barrel of a large circus cannon, and she was saying, 'Stop your whining or this will be your last Take Your Daughter to Work Day.' But fortunately, with the help of Working Mother magazine and others, we've come a long way since the time when one day symbolized the work and needs and hopes of so many women. Now, I don't claim to fully appreciate what working mothers encounter. I am, however, a divorced father of an 11-year-old girl, and when my daughter was younger, she loved for me to read Goodnight Moon to her. And as most of you know, it's about this child who's getting ready to go to sleep and saying goodnight to everything — the room, the balloon, the picture of the cow jumping over the moon, the comb, the brush, the bowl full of mush. But I still very vividly remember the last line: goodnight stars, goodnight air, goodnight noises everywhere. But one time, after I had gotten back from a very long international trip, Katie had me read Goodnight Moon to her over and over and over again. And I was really exhausted. I was jet-lagged, and I had a lot of things swirling around in my mind, and I was so tired that at one point I found myself mindlessly saying, 'Goodnight lamp, goodnight...' So while I'm not a working mother, I can appreciate her exhaustion, and I also appreciate the hurdles that working mothers face. You know, I take Katie to school and pick her up from school several times a week, and fortunately I have the ability to say, 'Sorry, but I can't meet at 3 PM because I have to go pick my daughter up at school.' But I realize that most working mothers don't have that freedom. So at SC Johnson, we try to do what we can to make our company a very hospitable place to work, and as a family-oriented company, we work hard to value and respect the commitment mothers and fathers have to their families. So we're very proud to be here today and to be named once again to the list of Best Companies for Working Mothers. This is actually the 23rd time we've been on the list. So it's the 23rd time we've been on the list, which means that if it were a child, he or she would be out of college already and living at home again. But thank you very much for this recognition. We're going to continue to work very hard to continue to live up to it. Thank you so much.