New Staff Training: All Deli Staff Take this Class with Ari
How many businesses have opportunities for staff to sit down with the co-founder for a searching conversation on mission, vision, principles, and beliefs? It’s pretty rare! But that’s exactly what happens in the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses (ZCoB), where, every few weeks, Zingerman’s co-founder Ari Weinzweig teaches the “Welcome to the ZCoB” orientation class to new staff. (Read more about why Ari loves teaching this class 40 years later!)
Zingerman’s new Special Beat Reporter, Cary Gitter, got to participate in this unique experience earlier this spring. His classmates include six other new members from throughout the ZCoB—two hosts, a bartender, and a dishwasher from the Roadhouse; a Mail Order crew member; and a Candy Manufactory retailer. And in the open-armed Zingerman’s spirit, an outside guest was also present simply to listen and learn.
They sat at their tables, sipping coffee and noshing on the Bakehouse’s beloved Sour Cream Coffee Cake and Pecan Raisin Bread, until, at 9 a.m., Ari arrived and they got down to work; work that “astonished [Cary] in the best possible way.”
Ari recounted his personal journey from Russian history student at the University of Michigan, to dishwasher at now-gone Maude’s in Ann Arbor, to joining forces with friend Paul Saginaw (also a veteran of Maude’s!) to found the Deli Zingerman’s Delicatessen in March 1982. Their mission was to bring classic Jewish comfort food and other specialty fare to a city that needed it. The rest is rich, delicious history you can read up on here.
It became clear as Ari spoke that not only is he an avid food-lover and historian, but he’s also passionate about storytelling. Hearing your business’s story directly from one of the founders creates a wonderful feeling of community. When you join the ZCoB, you become part of a legacy of meaningful work, hard-won growth, and continued evolution.
With Ari as their guide, the class was suddenly exploring the biggest of ideas at the core of the class: Zingerman’s mission and principles, and its distinctive business perspective. Ari discussed the vital importance of crafting a vision for the future; the ways that organizational systems and culture interact; how to break the cycle of negative beliefs and build positive ones. All this practical philosophy over coffee cake on an otherwise ordinary morning!
This session isn’t a one-way street, either. Welcome to the ZCoB is less of a class and more of an open dialogue, in which new ZCoB members are invited to share their own stories and perspectives. What do Zingerman’s principles mean to them? What are their own personal visions, and how can they contribute to the overall vision of the ZCoB going forward?
In his essay on the class, Ari draws on the late cultural anthropologist Mary Catherine Bateson’s concept of “homecoming,” which she defines as “creating an environment in which learning is possible.” Ari writes:
This class is a bit about coming home to ourselves, at least in the context of work. … For many, I realize, this might be the first time in their work history that their full humanity is acknowledged. Where, regardless of role … they have someone at work encouraging them to be themselves, to study, and to learn. Someone sharing a vision and meaningful mission, appealing to their ethics. Showing them how to caringly and effectively challenge organizational norms—to step forward and think like leaders.
Whether in a kitchen or at a desk, we’ve all worked in (probably many) places built on rigid hierarchies, where we’re treated less as people and more as means to a corporate end. For Cary, who has balanced a creative writing career in theater and fiction with professional writing jobs in marketing and media, he’s long felt the need to compartmentalize these dual paths—and to show up in the latter settings as the limited “work” version of himself.
That’s what makes “Welcome to the ZCoB” a unique experience. It’s not just another generic orientation covering company rules and regulations. It’s an opportunity for new Zingerman’s team members to come together, to talk about what matters, and to feel empowered by the idea that they’re all, in Ari’s words, “100 percent responsible for the whole organization.”
Cary found himself genuinely startled when 11:45 rolled around and their time was up; the nearly three hours had flown by. Ari would soon be on his way, but the rest of the cohort had more presentations ahead: a valuable introduction to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging within the ZCoB, and an illuminating class on “The Art of Giving Great Service.” Before the afternoon activities, however, there was a hearty lunch. This is Zingerman’s, after all.
Seated at a table in the common room at ZingTrain, enjoying a plate of Roadhouse Macaroni & Cheese and a portion of Reuben sandwich from the Deli, Cary found himself processing the entirety of the morning. Just two weeks into his time in the ZCoB, he’d joined his colleagues from various corners of the organization for a communal experience of learning and reflection. And their teacher had been none other than Ari himself, who offered decades of knowledge and wisdom amid his own ongoing quest to learn more.
When lunch was over an hour later, they drifted back to the conference room, digesting their food as well as their thoughts. They refilled their coffee mugs or grabbed a soda from the fridge. Then they returned to their tables to resume their fruitful work—although, at least for Cary, it felt a bit like they were coming home.
