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January/February
2003
“What
we stand for”
A
LETTER FROM YOU TO YOUR EMPLOYEES ? FREE OF CHARGE
OVER
THE PAST YEAR, American TV audiences have been treated to
the spectacle of executives in handcuffs doing what prosecutors
call the “perp walk” — “perp”, of
course, as in perpetrating a crime, and “walk” as
in being paraded from their expensive homes to waiting police
cars.
And while
the number of business leaders who actually have committed
felonies is likely small, the number of publicly owned companies
that have cooked their books (or, at the very least, been
forced to restate earnings) is considerably larger. Even that
number pales in comparison with the literally hundreds of
thousands of employees who have seen personal retirement savings
decimated by the collapse in value of their employers’
stock.
Not to
put too fine a point on it, but the seemingly endless revelations
of sleazy business practices do nothing positive for employee
morale. As the last issue of SRA Update reported, job
satisfaction has declined significantly over the past seven
years — falling 14 percent in the key 35 to 44-year-old
age bracket. How many entry-level managers wonder if they
are working these days for a bunch of crooks? And how many
senior executives have turned down high-level job offers and
board memberships for fear they might end up in jail?
It seems
to us at Sanford Rose Associates that the many fine, upstanding
companies on the corporate landscape could benefit from reaffirming
the values that guide their daily operations. To that end,
we offer the following letter from the CEO to a new employee
(with copies, of course, for all). It could be issued by a
division, department or facility head as well.
Dear [Mary]:
I want to welcome you as our newest employee. We consider
it an honor that you have decided to join the wonderful team
of people who make up [Acme Corporation].
Enclosed
with this letter is our Employee Handbook, which I hope you
will read in its entirety. That document explains all of our
employment-related policies and procedures, and it will answer
many questions.
Beyond
that, I want to mention some of the principles and values
that guide our operations.
[Acme]
is in business, of course, to earn a fair profit — part
of which we will share with you through future contributions
to your retirement plan, part of which we will distribute
to all of the company’s shareholders in the form of dividends,
and part of which we will re-invest in the business.
As almost
everyone knows, profit is the excess of revenues over expenses.
We hope to achieve revenues that exceed expenses by selling
products and services that consumers want and need, that outperform
the competition and that are continuously improved until we
replace them with something better.
We are
an old-fashioned organization that prefers cash profits to
paper profits, since we have to pay for goods and services
— not to mention wages — with cash. Artificial profits
have no place on our books, and we will not contrive profits
to make the performance of some portion of our company look
better than it really is. The incentive plan that our Board
of Directors has approved for senior executives is based upon
the consistent achievement of long-term financial goals, as
opposed to monthly or quarterly results.
[Acme]
has several constituent groups, or “stakeholders”,
that we strive to serve.
One is
the consuming public, because without satisfied consumers
we will have no business and, hence, no profit.
A second
is the investing public that buys our stock and bonds, because
without confident investors we cannot raise the capital we
need to make sure the company grows.
A third
is our employees, because they are the backbone of our company.
We also
must satisfy the needs of outside entities such as government
regulators and the news media.
We do
our very best to treat our constituents fairly. We will not
curry favor with one group at the expense of another, and
in no case will we intentionally break the law.
[Acme],
in fact, is governed by many laws — ranging from equal
employment opportunity to environmental protection to financial
reporting. If anyone asks you to break the law, I want to
hear about it. Should you ever believe that you have been
treated in an unlawful manner, the Employee Handbook reviews
how to report the matter.
I want
you to be proud of your employment with us and to feel that
we have your best interests at heart. Consistent with your
personal abilities and interests, we want to give you every
possible opportunity for professional growth and career advancement.
At the same time, we promise you constructive feedback on
your performance and on any needs for improvement. [Acme]
believes strongly in the concept of “pay for performance”
— so the better you perform, the better you will be paid.
No organization
in the private sector, including [Acme], can guarantee lifetime
employment. Nor would we want to. On the other hand, we seek
to retain good employees and to provide a work environment
in which they feel challenged to do their best and are rewarded
accordingly.
If the
company and you prove not to be a good match, we promise not
to string you along. But if we can make great music together,
let’s start today!
In closing,
thank you once again for choosing [Acme]. The contents of
this letter have been shared with all employees, both old
and new, so that every member of the [Acme] family understands
the values that have shaped our company for so many years.
Sincerely,
[Your
name here]
Perhaps
your company already has issued a letter or statement similar
to that above. If not, Sanford
Rose Associates offers you the opportunity to be among the
first companies to reaffirm their corporate values in the
wake of recent accounting scandals.
Beware
of corporate attorneys and other naysayers, who may well advise
to let sleeping dogs lie and/or avoid exposure to future liability.
Both
statistical data and anecdotal reports suggest that employees
today are increasingly skeptical of their employers’
motives. If that skepticism remains unchecked, the contemporary
workforce will turn into a gang of corporate mercenaries who
have no loyalties and drift from job to job. Monster.com founder
Jeff Taylor, speaking at a recent HR conference, said a Monster
survey shows that 37 percent of workers would jump ship tomorrow
for a higher-paying job.
In
the go-go years of the late 1990s, when terms like “burn
rate” were all the rage, traditional values often were
scorned. But the 1990s are, like, so yesteryear. Morality
now is solidly back in favor. Spread the word to your employees.
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