Social Responsibility Inc.
From Worthwhile, Anita Sharpe brings Mel Ziegler, founder off Banana Republic. Ziegler hits the nail on the head that making the world better has to start with us making ourselves better. The world will then follow.
How many days out with your office mates stocking shelves in a soup kitchen does it take to make the world better? More than we have. I worked for several years for a company that by all measures, except those that matter, appear to be ultra-socially responsible. But they’re not. They work very hard tallying community service hours, producing up slick applications for public service awards and surveying employees to find out the level of employee satisfaction so they can get on Fortune Magazine’s list of the best companies to work for.
So many companies seem to be trying so hard to make the world a better place, why isn’t it? Because so much of the effort is just for show and .99 of the $1 they donate is in the PR of the whole thing.
You run a company and really want the world to be a better place? Here’s a prescription:
1. Donate cash but don’t tell anybody about it. Never donate to a political candidate.
2. Treat your employees fairly and immediately fire a manager (no matter how successful he/she is) if they abuse the position they are in.
3. Never, ever, ever, pay any manager a discretionary bonus in a year staffing is reduced. If employees have to be laid off, make sure it’s solely for the health of the company, not to protect executives’ cash flow bonuses.
4. Never ever, ever, penalize an employee for telling the truth.
Believe me, enough companies follow this prescription and the world will become a better place.
