Textbook- CH 12

• Employees


  Key stakeholders in corporate social responsibility programs
• Between 1.5 and 2.5 percent of retail sales are stolen or lost in some way depending on the type of merchandise
• Sources of retail loss

  • Shoplifting by customers (40%)
  • Employee theft (35%)
  • Administrative and paper errors (20%)
  • Vendor mistakes or theft (remaining)
• Preventing any loss contributes directly to the store's profitability, so the reinforcement of a loss prevention policy is important to the store's financial success
• Zero-tolerance policy on shoplifting


  The store prosecuted everyone regardless of the dollar amount stolen
• The new policy would excuse first-time thieves when the value of shoplifted merchandise was less than $25
• The new policy would allow the store to focus on the professional shoplifters rather than teenagers, and to devote more time to preventing employee theft
• The new policy would be less costly to implement
• Phyllis was concerned about the difference in treatment of shoplifters based upon dollar amounts
• Phyllis agreed with employees who felt the policy undermined their efforts and might even encourage more shoplifting
• Phyllis believed the policy really avoided the problem rather than solving it
• Phyllis worried about the ethical implications of such a policy for the store, its employees, and customers who did not steal
• Phyllis agonized in her own conscience about the policy, in particular letting some thieves get away without any punishment
• Phyllis had some sympathy with first-time teenage shoplifters and their parents, but to let them off scot-free was not appropriate either
• Implementing the new policy was not going to be easy for Phyllis
• Employees


  Almost always identified by corporations as critical or key stakeholders
• Issues relating to ethics and responsibilities between employees and employers

  • Working conditions
  • Workforce reduction
  • Workplace privacy
  • Fair compensation
  • Employee loyalty and duties
  • Diversity management
  • Right to due process
  • Employee engagement
• Work ethic


  A set of values that holds that work is important to members of society, work is a purposeful activity requiring an expenditure of energy with some sacrifice of leisure, some gain, usually monetary, is involved, and through work a person not only contributes to society but becomes a better individual
• The basis for the work ethic is not clear, as it involves both religion and economics
• Many people consider work as only a part of life and instead want time to spend with family, satisfaction from what they do, and a sense of purpose from their job and life
• Evidence of the work ethic includes the long hours that management and professional persons spend at their jobs or places of business
• Canadians are, in principle, committed to work, choose work over most leisure activities when they have to make that kind of choice, and would rather work than collect employment insurance
• Gig economy


  Persons whose participation in the labour force is via short-term, temporary jobs, contracts, and self-employment
• Issues associated with the work ethic today

  • Workplace stress has increased
  • Increasing use of part-time or temporary workers
  • Moonlighting has increased
  • Challenges presented by the gig economy
  • Fringe benefits are changing
  • The makeup of compensation is changing
• Employee loyalty


  Loyalty creates that extra effort and extra drive in employees to perform, encourages self-motivated behaviour, and reflects employees' confidence in management, their vision, and the corporation's purpose
• Loyalty means commitment by employees to the organization they work for, and in turn, employers are loyal to employees by providing career-long employment, good salaries, and other benefits
• Employees in today's society often want to be entities unto themselves and are seeking challenging opportunities, and some consider loyalty to self more important than to the corporation
• Commitment


  Easy to detect (turnover, early retirements)
• Loyalty


  Much more difficult to measure
• Low turnover is not necessarily a sign of loyalty, but instead may mean that employees are tied through benefit plans (particularly pensions), or that no other job opportunities exist
• Managers should also be cautious of extreme loyalty; overzealous behaviour by an employee does not necessarily mean that the employee is performing in the best interests of the enterprise
• Given the pressures of change, it may not be possible for management to provide some of the things that in the past encouraged loyalty—for example, job security and good compensation packages
• Employees in today's society

  Often want to be entities unto themselves and are seeking challenging opportunities
• Loyalty to self


  More important than to the corporation
• Many employees wonder why they should be loyal when corporations may lay them off
• Managers' responsibility


  Provide the environment that engenders loyalty
• Intelligent human resource management

  Goes a long way toward engendering loyalty
• Employees must first be trusted


  Managers must be loyal to employees
• It is critical for managers to give trust and loyalty before expecting it
• Managers often assume that they cannot expect loyalty, but loyalty and the commitment it involves can be generated by management initiatives