Incentive - July 2008 - (Page 22)

COVER STORY Volunteerism and diversity and work/life balance are all very nice, and they are certainly good for morale and for engagement and even for the bottom line. But in some ways, the most important part of corporate social responsibility is running an ethical business—one that can be trusted by customers and investors and partners. the U.S. Postal Service. “We are trusted to be a revenue collector of billions of dollars annually,” says Torsone. “That drove the [ethical] culture.” Walking the Walk One way Pitney Bowes addresses the issue of ethics is the makeup of its board of directors. Cozy, insider-laden boards were a component of many recent corporate scandals. So Corn, who is secretary to the board, notes that Pitney Bowes has only two insiders—corporate executives—on its board; the other 12 are independent. “We have published the e-mail addresses of the lead independent director and the chair of the audit committee,” she says. “Anyone can send them an e-mail.” With Wall Street and the government Trust in the Age of Enron “You might think it’s a given that people are honest, but investors want to hear it,” says Amy Corn. “It’s not just that corporate responsibility is right, our constituents expect and demand it. Not just our customers but our employees; not just our employees but our investors; and not just individual investors but institutional investors. Trust is vital to us.” ethical question. Still, Corn admits that exporting its values to distribution partners in some parts of the world, where values and normal standards of conduct are different, can be a challenge. “This is a subject of conduct training all over the world,” Corn says. “We get to local populations any way we have to. This is the most fundamental requirement.” It is an issue that “plays out differently in different cultures,” Torsone says, “but we have core guidelines. These are non-negotiable, and we are very clear about that right up front.” Considering that Pitney Bowes has acquired 85 firms since 2008, at a cost of some $2.5 billion, the company has got some experience establishing ethical guidelines. But as we said earlier, there’s a lot more to being a good corporate citizen than following the law, or even living up to its spirit. Here’s a look at some endeavors. Diversity from the Top Corporate diversity is not just an altruistic policy, Corn says. “We want to attract the best talent and we want them to feel comfortable here, so we get the benefit of their talent.” And corporate social responsibility plays a big part in that, says Corn. She points to the competition for independent board candidates as an example. Pitney Bowes’ 14-person board of directors includes three women and two AfricanAmerican men, which puts it well above many other large companies. “Diversity in the board has always been very important,” says Corn, noting that this means, “diversity of what they bring” and not just race or gender. “We have entrepreneurs, not just public company executives,” she says. “Different directors bring something different to the board.” Pitney Bowes’ marketing group took a team outing to a Stamford community center last Christmas, giving back while teambuilding Pointing to the corporate scandals of the past few years at companies such as Tyco and Enron, Corn adds, “There was so much outrage. If we can’t earn [people’s trust], our business will suffer.” That is not just rhetoric, or even keeping an eye on the long-term future. Pitney Bowes’ original core business, dating back 88 years, is manufacturing postage meters. That makes it, essentially, a franchiser of increasingly focused on good governance, really highly qualified candidates for the board are in increasingly high demand. “We were competing for one candidate, and she said ethics won it for us,” Corn says. Another way Pitney Bowes addresses it is with an aggressive ethics policy. Aside from the written policy, the company has a global hotline, in local languages, available to any employee around the world with an Health/Wellness It’s impossible to walk through the rambling, open and airy new headquarters building Pitney Bowes has built, with natural sunlight pouring in everywhere, and not conclude that this is a company that puts money into treating its employees well. But then you start to see the walking 22 | Incentive | July 2008 | incentivemag.com http://incentivemag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Incentive - July 2008

Incentive - July 2008 Contents Editor’s Note: Accentuate the Positive In The News Cover Story: Three Profiles in Good Corporate Citizenship Case Study Incentive Interview Senior Secrets To Thine Own Self be True Incentive Primer Motivation@Work Travel News: Where To Go and What To Do Take the Spa Home Not the Only Game in Town Here and Now Writing and Desktop Gifts Watches and Clocks Gift Cards: Health and Wellness Incentives Good Health Is Not Its Own Incentive Advertiser Index Last Word

Incentive - July 2008

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