Pros
Ownership makes the difference. Every full time employee is part owner in the Employee Stock Ownership Plan. Shares are distributed in proportion to salaries as employees retire from the company. People CARE about their work and making the customer successful. No one works at BMCD just because it's their job. They work for themselves. Flexibility in time off. 3 weeks of paid time off is offered, increasing 1 day per year after 5 years of service up to 5 weeks. This accounts for vacation, sick time, etc. If you're short a day or two and have a compelling reason, management is very cooperative in working out an agreement for additional time off. Open office environment. The only person, that I'm aware of, that has an office at the headquarters is the CEO. Department managers, division heads, vice presidents are all out there in (slightly larger) cubicles with the rank and file employee-owners. Involvement - semi-yearly meetings include ALL employee-owners to present performance, forecasts, and general planning news.
Cons
Evaluations and salary adjustments are done yearly. Especially in the early stages of employment, employees may advance at different rates and need to be assigned new duties more aligned with their skill set. There seems to be little opportunity to acknowledge and promote this in the short term.