Sheboygan Falls’ Johnsonville makes the cut

Rich Palzewic

Staff

September 19, 2023

SHEBOYGAN FALLS – For the third consecutive year, Johnsonville, a sausage company headquartered in Sheboygan Falls, was listed as a 2023 Forbes’ “Best Employers in Wisconsin.”

The company, with roots dating to 1945, came in with a No. 15 ranking – the only sausage company in the top 50.

“Our goal is to create a positive work environment where every one of our members can thrive,” Nick Meriggioli, Johnsonville CEO, said. “This recognition is nice to receive, but we know our work is not done. We will continue to seek feedback from our members to keep improving our work environment.”

Per Forbes and the market research firm Statista, “Johnsonville is deemed a Three-Year Champion as one of Wisconsin’s best employers.”

“We’re not going to rest on our laurels,” Alex Castillo, vice president of member services and learning, said. “We’re going to make this the best place to work for our members (which is what Johnsonville calls its employees), but it’s nice to get these types of recognitions.”

Alex Castillo?

In addition to its three production facilities in the Sheboygan area – which employ about 1,000 combined – Johnsonville also has another location west of Milwaukee in Watertown.

“That facility has about 300 members,” Castillo said.
 
Making the cut
To compile the best employers list, Statista independently surveyed approximately 70,000 workers at American companies and institutions with 500-plus employees.

They asked survey participants to rate their employer overall and in categories, such as work environment, diversity, salary, advancement opportunities and pride in the company’s products or services.

Also contributing to the research were 2.1 million indirect and direct employer recommendations.

“These surveys keep their methodologically pretty secret,” Castillo said. “We don’t know who they’re asking or specifically what they ask. We don’t know when it happens – at least I don’t.”

Castillo said Johnsonville – which got its start as a butcher shop in 1945 – focuses on the member experience to improve the overall well-being of the company.

“We believe that’s the secret sauce, so to speak, in being a great employer – that’s truly our mission,” he said. “How this company first began operations (in 1945) with Ralph Stayer, sets us apart – it’s the Johnsonville way and is part of our culture. You see that play out in all our facilities.”

Castillo said he and Meriggioli have spent the better part of this year hosting “small circle” roundtable talks with its employees.

The Johnsonville campus is located at N6928 Johnsonville Way in Sheboygan Falls. Photo Courtesy of Johnsonville

“We’ll poll members across the company and ask them –‘What makes Johnsonville a great place to work?’ and ‘What can we do to make it a better place to work?’” he said. “With not a whole lot of variance, we’re told our focus on people development, how we encourage career growth and how we encourage personal growth is at the top of the list. We’re proactive about the feedback we get from our members.”

Castillo said they hold more than 30 town halls across the company.

“It consumes a good portion of our weeks, but we love doing it,” he said. “We’re constantly thinking about what we can add.”

?Castillo said Johnsonville also has “other things that support its cause.”

“It’s what we call our benefits and what we call our indirect compensation,” he said. “It’s things like our bonus programming and our health and welfare benefits. If you haven’t seen our headquarters (at N6928 Johnsonville Way) in Sheboygan Falls – it’s beautiful. I’ve had the pleasure of working at other companies, and this has to be one of the most beautiful, well-designed headquarters I’ve ever seen.”

During a time when general fitness and wellness are being recognized as a priority, Castillo said Johnsonville also has its employees covered in that area.

“We have a fitness center and a wellness center,” he said. “We tried to be thoughtful in how it was designed. Those indirect benefits are things that stick out to our employees.”

Additionally, Castillo said Johnsonville – which was ranked nationally on Forbes’ list of “Best Midsize Companies” to work for in 2021, 2022 and 2023 – offers a monthly profit-sharing bonus program, competitive compensation packages and flexible and remote work environments.

At its three production facilities in the Sheboygan area, Johnsville employs about 1,000. Photo Courtesy of Johnsonville

“It’s become much more challenging from a labor perspective,” he said. “Once we have members that align with our culture and what we’re trying to do here, our focus is to retain them and help them grow. It goes back to, ‘Why do folks stick around?’”

Castillo said Johnsonville is currently looking for qualified employees.

“Some of our positions are more challenging to fill, especially in our production ranks,” he said. “Right now, we have about 25 openings in our Wisconsin facilities. We’re privileged to have a lot of great folks who work here. Even if we don’t have an opening at the time (people apply), we try to stay in touch with that talent audience as much as we can.”

Today, Johnsonville sausage is available in more than 45 countries worldwide.

Other companies based in Northeast Wisconsin making the top 50 of the 2023 Forbes’ “Best Employers in Wisconsin” list include Acuity, Bellin Health, Schneider, Alta Resources, Amcor and Kohler.