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The head of the shoe and clothing multinational Timberland has said his group’s commitment to community involvement helped to restore its fortunes after a financial crisis in the mid-1990s.
Chief executive Jeff Swartz claims a decision to maintain and even increase the resources Timberland put into community programmes at the height of the troubles played a part in securing employee goodwill and holding the company together.
‘I believe – in fact, I know – that we would have lost the company if it were not for our commitment to [that] notion,’ he told the audience of the annual Tomorrow’s Company lecture in London. Swartz said that during a stormy meeting at the worst point of the 18-month crisis he was directed by the company’s bankers to scrap all community programmes as a prerequisite to recovery. But he offered to resign rather than do so. ‘I said, “You have a choice to make. It’s me or it’s somebody else, and if it’s me, then we’re going to continue to invest”.’
After surviving the meeting, Swartz immediately decided to double the amount of paid leave given to employees for community service – from 16 hours a year to 40.
He says that emphasizing Timberland’s non-financial performance increased internal confidence, stemmed staff defections by creating a strong sense of identity, and showed employees they were valued.
‘The same group of [supposed] idiots that couldn’t collect cash, couldn’t turn inventory, they’re the same people in the positions today. My leadership failure they overcame by the power of their commitment.’
Swartz said the turnaround by Timberland, which has 6000 employees worldwide and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, had confounded Wall Street analysts who told him his staff must stop ‘painting fences and hugging trees’. One even told him she hoped Timberland would fail as this would prove her right that corporate responsibility was a distraction from making a profit. The bankers in particular directed their ‘invective’ mainly at the company’s community programmes.
Under Timberland’s Path of Service programme, every employee is encouraged to work in company time on schemes such as homelessness projects and environmental clean-ups. The company says staff have spent more than 250,000 hours on such work worldwide. A Timberland service sabbatical also allows those with at least three years’ service to spend
six months at a non-profit organization. The company has been highly placed in Fortune magazine’s 100 Best Companies to Work For ranking every year since the list began in 1998.
Swartz is a leading light in the US-based Business Strengthening America organization, formed in 2002 at the behest of president George W. Bush to help business leaders to encourage greater ‘civic engagement and service’. More than 700 companies and business organizations have joined BSA, including AT&T, BellSouth, Home Depot, Time Warner, UPS and Walt Disney.
Chief executive Jeff Swartz claims a decision to maintain and even increase the resources Timberland put into community programmes at the height of the troubles played a part in securing employee goodwill and holding the company together.
‘I believe – in fact, I know – that we would have lost the company if it were not for our commitment to [that] notion,’ he told the audience of the annual Tomorrow’s Company lecture in London. Swartz said that during a stormy meeting at the worst point of the 18-month crisis he was directed by the company’s bankers to scrap all community programmes as a prerequisite to recovery. But he offered to resign rather than do so. ‘I said, “You have a choice to make. It’s me or it’s somebody else, and if it’s me, then we’re going to continue to invest”.’
After surviving the meeting, Swartz immediately decided to double the amount of paid leave given to employees for community service – from 16 hours a year to 40.
He says that emphasizing Timberland’s non-financial performance increased internal confidence, stemmed staff defections by creating a strong sense of identity, and showed employees they were valued.
‘The same group of [supposed] idiots that couldn’t collect cash, couldn’t turn inventory, they’re the same people in the positions today. My leadership failure they overcame by the power of their commitment.’
Swartz said the turnaround by Timberland, which has 6000 employees worldwide and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, had confounded Wall Street analysts who told him his staff must stop ‘painting fences and hugging trees’. One even told him she hoped Timberland would fail as this would prove her right that corporate responsibility was a distraction from making a profit. The bankers in particular directed their ‘invective’ mainly at the company’s community programmes.
Under Timberland’s Path of Service programme, every employee is encouraged to work in company time on schemes such as homelessness projects and environmental clean-ups. The company says staff have spent more than 250,000 hours on such work worldwide. A Timberland service sabbatical also allows those with at least three years’ service to spend
six months at a non-profit organization. The company has been highly placed in Fortune magazine’s 100 Best Companies to Work For ranking every year since the list began in 1998.
Swartz is a leading light in the US-based Business Strengthening America organization, formed in 2002 at the behest of president George W. Bush to help business leaders to encourage greater ‘civic engagement and service’. More than 700 companies and business organizations have joined BSA, including AT&T, BellSouth, Home Depot, Time Warner, UPS and Walt Disney.
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