Assignment:
Case: Stricken with childhood polio, Frank C.
Mars learned the art of hand-dipping chocolate in his mother's kitchen, and he went on to start Mars back in the early 1900s. A privately held business in its fourth generation of family ownership, Mars has more than 70,000 employees around the globe. Some of the company's sweet brands include Snickers, Starburst, M&Ms, LifeSavers, Skittles, and Juicy Fruit and Orbit chewing gun. The company also owns Uncle Ben's Rice and several animal care and dry pet food brands. As America's third-largest private company with over $30 billion in sales, Mars, which is based in McLean, Virginia, rarely grants interviews to the media, even preferring to keep information like how the little "m" gets stamped on the outer shell of an M&M private. Internally, however, there remain few, if any, secrets-flat screens throughout its facilities display up-to-date financial information about the company. This reflects the company's philosophy of closely tying employee compensation to financial results. Employees can earn bonuses of 10 percent to 100 percent of their salaries for team performance. For the second time, Mars recently made it on to Fortune's roster of 100 Best Companies to Work For. Even without many of the perks offered by other companies, some families are into their third generation of employment at Mars. Turnover is less than 5 percent among its U.S. employees, known as "Martians" who still use an antiquated time card system. If you're late, your pay is docked 10 percent, but be on time and a 10 percent annual bonus is yours. Perhaps the most significant feature of this "Best Company" is its internal advancement and reward opportunities. The company develops and encourages cross-division talent and expects its employees to follow its five guiding principles of quality, responsibility, mutuality, efficiency, and freedom. "The consumer is our boss, quality of our work and value for money is our goal, " reads the Mars quality principle.
Q1: Explain how tying employee compensation to company financial results helps keep Mars's employee turnover rate low.
Q2: Known for its secrecy to the outside world, how can Mars leverage its "Best Company" award to attract new employees and customers?