Each division is also responsible for creating the demand for its products by winning and retaining customers. Unlike other steel companies, Nucor’s plants aren’t mere manufacturing sites, but end-to-end businesses. Accordingly, each division has its own P&L, which is entirely free of corporate cost allocations.

Across the 5 company, full-time managers and executives, a population that doesn’t include team supervisors, account for only 2 percent of employment—four times less than the percentage in the overall economy. As a percentage of revenue, Nucor’s general and administrative expenses hover around 3 percent, or roughly half that of its competitors.

As part of their training, Nucor teammates participate in a daylong, Monopoly-like game called “Dollars and Tons,” where five-person teams run a fictional Nucor division. Teams make decisions on how much scrap to buy at what price, on how many people to hire, and when to invest in new equipment to expand capacity. At the end of the simulation, teams are assessed on profitability, return on assets, working capital management, and balance sheet strength—all drivers of a plant’s performance.

SPECIALIZATION. Nucor’s team members are deeply skilled, but they’re also multiskilled. Shared targets, cross-training, and malleable roles help them tackle the sort of tough, boundary-spanning problems that yield big productivity gains. There are no “slots” at Nucor and, thus, no artificial limits on where and how team members can contribute.

Like Nucor, Handelsbanken shares the rewards of its success with those on the front lines. In any year that the bank’s return on equity exceeds the average of its peer group, one-third of the difference is paid into a foundation that invests on behalf of employees, mostly in Handelsbanken shares. The proceeds are distributed equally among all employees, regardless of rank. The contribution in 2018 was $90 million, or approximately $7,500 per employee—a significant sum for a frontline staff member. Withdrawals can be made once an employee turns sixty. The stake for a long-tenured associate can be worth over $1 million.