07/22/96 OWENS CORNING PLAYS SHARE THE WEALTH

OWENS CORNING PLAYS SHARE THE WEALTH

`Come on, snake eyes,'' shout workers huddled around a table at the Owens Corning plant in Huntingdon, Pa. Across the room, another calls back, ``We're going to smoke your buns.'' No, Owens Corning doesn't allow gambling. It's using a Monopoly-type board game to convince union leaders that adopting a variable compensation plan, heavily dependent upon stock and options, is a good thing.
At Owens Corning, entitlement-style benefits are a thing of the past. Instead, effective Jan. 1, the 3,500 salaried U.S. employees became eligible for rewards, including nonqualified options, if the company achieves specific business results. Now, it is selling the plan, Rewards & Resources, to union workers, who make up the majority of the force.
From now on, three measures--earnings per share, cash flow, and sales growth--will determine long-term incentives for executives on down. Owens Corning is reducing its match to a retirement savings plan but adding a profit-sharing contribution of up to 4% of pay and an annual stock bonus worth up to 8%, each linked to corporate performance. Employees also earn guaranteed yearly option grants of 4% of pay.
It's a radical change. ``You're asking employees who haven't thought about long-term performance to do so actively,'' says Greg Thomson, senior vice-president for human resources. Given the massive educational task, Owens Corning developed a board game to familiarize workers with key concepts.
The game, called Sharing the Wealth, was created by Kay Coleman, a managing director at the Boston-based consulting firm of Hammer and Co. The group breaks down into six-person teams, and each uses a separate game board to compete. By rolling the dice, players land on squares, choose a card, and make decisions with their team. For example, an ``operating decision card'' has players debating whether to pull workers off the production line for job training. There's an up-front cost, but a few years out, savings will result. If they do it, rolling the dice decides how much they'll save.
As in life, luck plays a role. If players hit a ``crazy square'' or draw a ``luck card,'' they'll face an uncontrollable situation. In one scenario, a rival goes on strike, and the plant picks up extra business. Each decision has a cost or a profit. The team with the best performance--and the biggest stock and options awards--wins.
Before playing the game, many workers were convinced Owens Corning was taking away benefits. ``There are a lot of skeptics who can't believe the company is giving us something good for free,'' said Rosalie Ryan, who has worked in the plant for 22 years, converting glass into fibers used in circuit boards. After the game, people said they had a better understanding of the plan and their role in making it work.
As a reward for participating, each player received ``starter options''--good for 10 shares of stock--exercisable only if the price hits targets during the year. If the workers apply what they've learned at the game board to their jobs, those starter options and future grants will be worth a lot more than Monopoly money.
By Kerry Capell in Huntingdon, Pa.