An article in Fortune Small Business Magazine features seven great places to work that are inspiring employees and boosting the bottom line by re-defining the employer-employee contract. Three out of the seven companies mentioned are WorldBlu List awardees: South Mountain Company, Seventh Generation, and New Belgium Brewery.

The article states that “corporate America still has its advantages, namely health care and pension plans. However, most big companies can’t provide what modern workers want most: intimate workplaces, cutting-edge benefits and creative input.”

The article discusses how at South Mountain each “worker-owner has equal voting power in bimonthly meetings.” In the section about Seventh Generation, CEO Jeffrey Hollender is quoted as saying that by providing great employee benefits, the company gets “commitment and passion, which increase productivity.” At New Belgium Brewery, “after one year of work, each employee receives an ownership stake in the company and a free custom bicycle” states the article.

All WorldBlu List awardees create innovative strategies to foster democratic principles like fairness and dignity, decentralization, and dialogue & listening. See the WorldBlu List 2009 profile pages for additional democratic best practices that increase profits and employee engagement.