Employment Policy Case Study: Barrel Bourbon

Bill and Marge Barrel were very young when they met and began dating. They were 20, and 17 respectively. After only six months of dating they knew that it was true love and decided to get married. Once married, they settled down in Bardstown, Kentucky and opened a bourbon distillery. The company was named Barrel Bourbon. In 1957, Marge discovered that she was pregnant with their first child Jim, who is now the General Manager of Production. Two years later in 1959, Woodford Barrel was born and currently hold the position of Director of Sales. In 1964 Bill was ecstatic when he learned that Marge was pregnant with their daughter Rose. As Rose grew up, Bill always knew that she would take over the business when he stepped down and gave her the …show more content…
This policy only addressed non-family member employment, not family member employment. Barrel Bourbon had grown into a multi-million dollar business and now employed over 150 people, and more generations were coming into the business. All members of the family involved in the business decided that this needed to be addressed. With the help of the human resource and policy writing specialists the following was added to the employment policy: “….To ensure the longevity of Barrel Bourbon the following will now be the standard practice for all family members wanting to enter the business. All future participants (past the third generation) in the management of the business must attend an accredited University and pursue a degree that will benefit the business (i.e. law, accounting, management, entrepreneurship, etc.). Upon the completion of the degree, they may join the business. Once in the business they will be required to start at the bottom and learn how to do every job in the business and will be subject to reviews from non-family …show more content…
It was decided that a new board needed to be developed. The new board would consist of Rose, Jim, Woodford and four members not involved in the business or member of the family. After the new board was assembled each member, excluding Rose, Jim, and Woodford, would serve a maximum of five years, with two members being replaced every two years. The qualities that would be expected in the new board members were; experience, leadership, integrity, and loyalty. The responsibilities of the board would be; future oriented, identify growth opportunities, financial controls, unbiased performance review/ respectful criticism, and mitigate conflict. Compensation would be determined on a member by member