Ricardo Semler

The CEO of Semco SA, Ricardo Semler is known for his decentralized and participatory management style. He is reported to having fired 60 percent of all the top managers on his first day as the CEO. He encouraged his employees to come up with innovative ideas, which saw him win their trust. During the 1990 downturn of the Brazilian economy, his employees agreed to wage cuts instead of an increased share in the profits and the rights to approve every expense.

The unusual practices followed by Semler include shutting down the company for an afternoon two times a year to clean the workplace, limiting all memos and reports to a single page, and assessment of the managers by the employees. He even allowed the workers to set their own wages and productivity targets and the power to select their managers. The company’s meetings are voluntary with two seats at the board open to the first employee to turn up. Semler’s style of autonomous teams empowers the workers and the supervisors to hire and fire by voting. He believes in letting go of control, and let the workers free and work in a creative manner. The company even provides hammocks to the workers to relax and refresh. He once said that the purpose of work is to make the workers feel good, and himself follows it.