South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Real estate company surprises employees with $10M in bonuses
WASHINGTON — Hardly anyone knew what was inside the red envelopes handed out at a Maryland real estate firm’s annual holiday party. So when employees at St. John Properties tore them open this month, the surprise was palpable.
Eyebrows jumped. Hands flew to mouths. And tears flowed — lots and lots of them.
Inside the envelopes were holiday bonuses averaging $50,000 and totaling $10 million, life changing sums based solely on tenure. One man, a maintenance technician who started at the company in 1981, received more than $200,000.
“I was in shock,” Stanley Ches told the “Today” show. “I’m still in shock. Everybody was shaking me down and giving me hugs.”
The unusually high bonuses drew a rush of attention to the Baltimore-based firm, which has clients in eight states. After announcing them publicly last week, the company’s phones rang continuously.
The story continued making headlines. St. John Properties’ offices kept buzzing with excitement.
“I just hope other companies look at this and realize that the employees are who they are,” company President Larry Maykrantz told The Washington Post.
Executives wanted to do
Employees react after St. John Properties surprised them with bonuses totaling $10 million Dec. 7 in Baltimore. something big to celebrate hitting a goal set in 2005: developing 20-million-square feet of commercial space.
Maykrantz said company leaders thought it was important to recognize everyone’s role and to do so based not on title but on tenure “to show that all of us are equal in achieving this goal.”
They considered bonuses totaling $1 million, $2 million
and $5 million, founder and chairman CEO Edward St. John said in a video released by the company, “and I looked at the numbers and they just didn’t impress me.” In the end, he decided that
$10 million would recognize the company’s 198 employees “in a meaningful way.” With that amount, people would get checks of up to
$270,000.
“I steer the boat, but they’re the ones that run the boat,” St. John said. “They’re the ones that make the boat go.”
Video from the event showed teary eyed employees embracing the CEO and other executives after opening the envelopes. “He just paid my house off,” one man told the camera, gesturing toward St. John. One woman told company leaders that she planned to buy a Corvette. Others said they would be able to pay off their children’s tuition.
“I steer the boat, but they’re the ones that run the boat. They’re the ones that make the boat go.”
Edward St. John, founder and chairman CEO of St. John Properties