Bill Quigg’s philosophy on workplace culture

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Bill Quigg’s philosophy on workplace culture

7 Jun 2024

Joanie Spencer

Since 2008, Joanie Spencer has covered the retail and wholesale sides of the baking industry.
Serving associations such as the American Society of Baking (ASB) and BEMA, Joanie is also in demand as an industry presenter on bakery operations and trends. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from Rockhurst University and a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri.

When she’s not running or playing soccer, Joanie spends her time with her husband and 11-year-old son.

RICHMOND, IN — Anyone who knows Bill Quigg is either a friend or a family member. But make no mistake: His circle is not small.

“I’m so fortunate to do what I do,” Quigg said. “This is a great industry, and there are just so many amazing people I’ve gotten to know over the years. It’s really fantastic.”

Quigg is not only president and CEO of Richmond, IN-based Richmond Baking Co. and its subsidiary, Versailles, KY-based More Than A Bakery, but he’s also the fourth generation of leadership in the country’s oldest family-owned cookie/cracker bakery. While his roots run deep in the industry, he’s not afraid of doing things a little differently.

That comes from a foundational work ethic that was instilled by a combination of nature and nurture.

“This is something I’ve wanted to do since my dad would take us to the bakery on the weekends,” he recalled. “I was just a little kid, and I was already begging him for a job.”

That chance came the summer he was 12 years old and the code date function on the cartoner broke. The shift needed someone to manually stamp the boxes before they went onto the production line.

While some kids balk at working summers in their family business, Quigg was thrilled.

“I was working for minimum wage, and I was loving every minute of it,” he said. “That’s what set the die for me. I knew then it was what I wanted to do.”

Growing up in the bakery, personally and professionally, Quigg eventually embarked on a journey to take the company in a new direction … south to Versailles. Richmond Baking was expanding in terms of
capacity, and when the company landed on 112 acres that formerly housed a horse ranch, Quigg saw something more: a vision for More Than A Bakery.

This four-generation family bakery had a values-driven foundation, and Quigg has used those values to create a modern culture unlike anything the industry had ever seen.

“We are only given so many heartbeats; that’s all God’s given us. Let’s help everyone make the best of those.” — Bill Quigg | president and CEO | Richmond Baking Co.

“Creating More Than A Bakery — even the name — was a challenge,” he said. “It was a challenge to become more than what anyone else would expect, what anyone else would have as a job or even a career. We realized we had a clean slate to make this culture whatever we wanted it to be. It was a challenge for us, internally. Could we create a culture that’s unexpected and different? Could we challenge the norms?”

Shortly after the More Than A Bakery operation started up, Quigg questioned the traditional notion of work shifts and instead launched “school shifts,” allowing employees — Family Members, as they’re called in Versailles — the option to work 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m., enabling parents to get their kids to and from school. It’s especially helpful for single working parents, a demographic that often walks a tightrope between work and childcare.

“A lightbulb came on,” Quigg said. “We realized that shift constraints were essentially excluding a whole group of awesome people. This change allows people to live their lives outside of the bakery and still feel happy and satisfied at work.”

Quigg’s propensity to lead differently comes from a simple philosophy: Life is short.

“We are only given so many heartbeats; that’s all God’s given us,” he said. “Let’s help everyone make the best of those.”

That philosophy is not just a way to cultivate belonging in the workplace. The idea that life is short impacts how Quigg thinks about the operation, including quality and food safety. Food manufacturing involves a level of risk that must be mitigated, every minute of every hour of every shift. By treating employees as family members — and, more importantly, human beings — Quigg believes it fosters transparency that perpetuates a culture of food safety and operational excellence.

“Not only do we genuinely care about the people who work here, but they also genuinely care about us and this place,” he said. “They care about their jobs, and they care about the products and our customers. And we want to make sure that when challenges occur, we’re open to talking about them. Rather than making people feel like they’re ‘in trouble’ for something, we talk through it and figure out solutions together to ensure our food is up to quality standards and as safe as it possibly can be.”

This story has been adapted from the April | Q2 2024 issue of Commercial Baking. Read the full story in the digital edition here.

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