CRO Association Our mission is to accelerate the profession of corporate responsibility.
Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/100674
Thought Leader to maintain an environment with more open communication, even between me and an entry-level employee. Why can���t that happen? We have a new internal platform���think of it as Facebook for business���and we���re up to 7,000 users, and we haven���t even officially rolled it out. We have Phillipinos now engaging with Latin Americans or Lexingtonians, and all of a sudden they���re looking for some kind of expert, and they���re completely connected. Which builds productivity and trust. What about the demonization of offshoring���what do you tell your friends here in Lexington or around the country? Well, first I point out that we���ve also acquired five high value tech companies here in the United States. So while we���ve outsourced some, we���ve built here as well. And we still do a lot of supply chain and distribution locally���like our local customization work, particularly of laser products and software, just south of here. Our solutions aren���t under the Henry Ford model of ���you take what we give you.��� So what about the need for a better educated workforce? We���re focused on the whole STEM [science, technology, engineering, mathematics] pipeline of education in the United States, which is a problem. I���m on a business for higher education board that brings together university presidents and corporate heads, and we talk about the whole pipeline, from elementary to post grad, where there���s leakages all along the way. How do you inspire those students? How do you recruit and retain them? We���re working with lots of partners, including local schools, on this. We don���t all need bachelor���s or master���s degrees. A two-year degree with the right skill can fit the bill. Right up the road here we���re renovating a library into a teaching facility with the University of Kentucky���bringing in high school, middle school teachers from here in Kentucky���to improve science and math instruction. That also means recognizing teachers. And every month we go out and select one science, math teacher here locally���and also in Kansas and Colorado where we have facilities���and give them an award and a check, which is only for a thousand dollars, but the recognition is important. Once you understand where the leakage points are, you have a better idea where to show the love. You have a global footprint. That can create cross-cultural problems, which can create legal problems when dealing with something like the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. What procedures do you have in place on that? One area that has to be watched on that front is sales. But there are others. It���s about relations with customers and internally, whether in China or Mexico. And we spend a lot of time advocating for our values with our employees here and overseas. But we also have a system in place whereby an employee, any employee, can report on something that concerns them in sensitive, ethical areas, and they can report directly to the board. They can do it anonymously if they think there���s monkey business going in any part of the world. And we have a separate group dedicated to following up on that. So we���ve got a very open door process on that to make the employee feel safe. There���s no magic. It takes constant, constant effort. What are your major compliance issues? Well, we have the basic SOX [Sarbanes-Oxley Act] obligations. Which I don���t think was ever the catch-all some said. If you���ve got crookedness, and the tone hasn���t started at the top, it���s going to happen whether you have SOX or Dodd-Frank or what have you. I think we went a bit far there, but it���s coming back now, because it���s clearly not going to be the end all. Last, what about the aging workforce? In a world without pensions, can we afford to stop working? Everybody���s different. Not everybody is going to want to keep inventing a faster printer into their 60s. They might want to teach or work in the community or for a non-profit. And we have wonderful talent here. So take that teaching facility we���re building. We have people here who would be great working there who don���t even know that about themselves. So we���re starting to think about matchmaking to help people think about retirement and being on the other side. WINTER 2012 | www.thecro.com [7]