Louise Lee of BusinessWeek reports on a tip from Gap, the clothing chain, in their holiday gift guide on how to creatively wrap presents:
Start with a colorful gift and stay late at work one day. Use the color copier to ‘copy’ the gift and then make your own wrapping paper with the prints.
As Lee points out, you’d better hide from your office manager because at 10 to 15 cents a page, the wrap job might cost 90 cents per package.
In responding to a question about the ethics of this suggestion, Greg Rossiter, spokesman for Gap said that the tip "recognizes that at this time of year customers’ work and personal time is indistinguishable."
The tip may seem like a small thing, but it definitely communicates a corporate carelessness in helping to support a climate of integrity in the marketplace. And Rossiter’s response is irrelevant to the issue.
Even if Gap did not hold to a broader ethical framework, how did this action actually reinforce what their own purpose and values statement says?
Across our company and embedded in our culture are key values that guide our success: integrity, respect, open-mindedness, quality and balance.
Every day, we honor these values and exemplify our belief in doing business in a socially responsible way.
The character of companies is demonstrated in the little things they do or don’t do. Recent history has shown that the lack of character has taken down companies faster than superior competition, market changes or natural disasters.
Biblically, is is said that "whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much."
I’m sure that there are many areas where the company is living consistently. But it is a leader’s responsibility to constantly monitor the little things that indicate that misalignment is beginning to occur.
Take care of these “little things” and the big things, among them your reputation and possible future success, will be secure. It is a big thing to pay attention to such little things.
What little things in your company indicate alignment or misalignment between your purpose statement and what your people do day to day?
Comment: (One)
Permission…
Most people spend more conscious time at work than anywhere else.
Many companies are starting to offer [relatively] inexpensive perks that make employees "belong" at the office. (Or make them never want to leave)
Some companies offer free drinks and/or snacks to employees. Microsoft, for example, goes and builds basketball courts and soccer fields, and installs foosball tables too.
It seems perfectly reasonable for a company to allow an employee to make use of the color copier for some creative gift wrapping.
But, of course, this should be done only with permission. And that’s really the key… at the end of the day, you might spend $10-$15 of company money on your wrap-job.
If you asked for permission, I imagine many a manager would say "sure, go ahead"
But to stay late and sneak when nobody else is around… that’s dishonest… it’s all in the approach…
Of course, if you ask, and the answer is "no", it’s definitely dishonest to do it anyway…