Is making a difference important to you?

It should be, since most workers are happier and more productive in companies that give back.

That holds true no matter the age of the worker or the size of the company.

Companies, departments, teams or individuals can choose to make a difference.

Some go far afield and seek to mitigate the problems and tragedies of less fortunate countries.

Others focus on local problems, which makes sense since companies are usually urban.

That said, you don’t have to go overseas to third-world countries to find third-world problems to solve.

Tech could start less than 200 miles from San Francisco in Fresno, CA.

While Facebook wanted to wire India, it isn’t interested in doing the same in the US.

Though Central Valley harvests most of the country’s crops, tech workers often forget their neighboring region exists. In the Bay Area map according to Urban Dictionary, the Central Valley is jokingly referred to as “unknown parts.”

And consider this.

According to a recent Pew survey, approximately five million students still lack access to high-speed Internet. Experts have taken to calling it the “homework gap.”

Or turn your gaze to the other coast and some of the most beautiful countryside in America — Appalachia — home to some of the most grinding poverty and third-world living conditions to be found in the US.

And while you’re gazing, check out what’s being done to change that.

Crunching all the data imaginable won’t always yield a solution, since anomalies do happen (for an in-depth understanding of that read Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series, still brilliant/viable after 60+ years).

Back when I lived in San Francisco, it was often termed “49 square miles surrounded by reality.”

That’s expanded to 7,000 square miles (contained in the nine-county Bay Area) surrounded by the reality of places like Fresno.

Tech needs to understand that technology in and of itself is not a solution.

Tech is digital, while the world and the humans who inhabit it are, and always will be, analog.

So while technology itself isn’t a solution, the ways it can be applied may be.

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One more request.

School is starting soon and most kids are shopping, whether at Nordstrom or Walmart, while thousands of foster kids are facing school without even a backpack.

There are dozens of ways you can help them.

Skip a few Starbucks or Peets visits, choose a charity, check it out and donate the coffee money you saved.

Flickr image credit: Duck Lover

A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here

It’s a short post today, because there are a number of links well worth reading.

Way back in 2008 I wrote It’s the People, Stupid, about the value of taking care of your people, as exemplified by Zappos, Costco and Trader Joe’s.

I’ve written many posts citing Walmart’s chew-them-up/spit-them-out lack of care and how banks, Yelp, HubSpot and Nest, among others, are following the Walmart model.

Dan Lyons, who spent two years at HubSpot, has written a book about his experiences called “Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Start-Up Bubble.”

You can get a sense of how HubSpot chews and spits from his opinion piece in the NY Times.

The upshot of all this is that you, as a founder, have a choice as to which model you’ll emulate.

Walmart or Zappos.

Just understand that you can’t switch from one to the other based on the employment market or your mood.

Image credit: HikingArtist

Ever head the old French proverb, ‘the more things change the more they stay the same’?

Ever since the advent of modern business, managers have faced the same conundrum, i.e., how do you accomplish your objectives when your resources (human or other) are continually reduced or the objectives are significantly expanded, but the staff isn’t.

Walmart is the most recent poster child for this approach and it is especially obvious in the fresh grocery section.

“Labor hours have been cut so thin, that they don’t have the people to do many activities,” said Burt P. Flickinger III, a retail consultant. “The fact that they don’t do some of these things every day, every shift, shows what a complete breakdown Walmart has in staffing and training.”

Walmart continually sends out detailed memos of work that needs to be done daily, such as discounting older meat and eggs, testing/filtering deli oil and watering plants, but adds a rider that practically guarantees managers inability to perform.

At the same time, the memo warns managers not to exceed the weekly hours assigned to their stores. It tells managers to examine whether they are assigning employees too many hours or overtime beyond what the company had budgeted.

Walmart’s employment numbers are misleading, too, since it would require an additional 200,000 workers to have kept pace with its square footage growth.

There are thousands of companies, large and small, consumer, enterprise and startup that play the same game; Walmart is just one of the most visible.

The basic point is simple and should be embedded in your cultural DNA.

When objectives change resources, human and otherwise, need to change (whether increase or decrease) with them.

Flickr image credit: USFWS Mountain-Prairie

What’s going on?

Why is there such a disconnect between management and minimum wage workers?

A disconnect that goes beyond all logic.

A disconnect that treats low wage workers more like serfs.

Two weeks ago it was Walmart’s efforts to enforce a dress code at their employees’ expense.

Now it’s companies such as Jimmy John’s sub shops requiring minimum wage workers to sign noncompete agreements.

But who knows, perhaps there is a proprietary trick to spreading mayo that I’m not aware of.

California outlawed most non-compete clauses on the basis that people have a right to earn a living.

And then there is the sexual harassment of low wage women workers.

The study showed that women reliant on tips made up the highest share of those who had experienced harassment and that those who lived in states where the tipped minimum wage was $2.13 an hour (the federal minimum for tipped workers) were twice as likely to experience sexual harassment as those who lived in places where a single minimum wage standard applied to all workers.

Whether large corporation or small business, it seems that those in the upper levels, who are financially secure, place little-to-no value on those who actually keep their company running.

And as for morality, well, that comes down to whether more employers decide that basic human decency requires viewing their workers not as interchangeable cogs to be paid as little as possible and worked to the bone but as valuable partners in building a company for the long term.

Centuries ago, when describing the actions of leaders, Lao Tzu ended by saying,

To lead the people, walk behind them.

Today it reads,

To lead the people, walk upon them.

Flickr image credit: Derek Purdy

WalMart is moving to improve your shopping experience.

No, not lower prices or expanded inventory.

Certainly not more women and minorities in management roles.

But soon, all ‘associates’ will greet you wearing collared shirts and khaki bottoms.

That’s right. Walmart wants to implement a dress code—but not pay for it.

The annual cost is probably around $50, which is a lot considering the pay.

Richard Reynoso, a Wal-Mart employee in Duarte, Calif., representing a campaign called Organization United for Respect at Walmart said in a letter to the company’s management: “I’m getting paid only about $800-$900 a month. The sad truth is that I do not have $50 lying around the house to spend on new uniform clothes just because Wal-Mart suddenly decided to change its policy.”

If pushed the action is likely to generate additional class action lawsuits, not to mention fan public outrage and generate a significant backlash.

But that isn’t what troubles me.

In the 21^st Century our largest employers are the likes of Walmart and McDonald’s.

They pay $8 to $12 an hour and would pay less if they could get away with it.

Businesses on and off-line are working to improve your shopping experience, but most are unwilling to do what Henry Ford did 100 years ago.

Pay people enough that they can afford to consume.

(For more information see previous posts No Help Wanted and Workforce USA)

Flickr image credit: rychlepozicky.com

Last month we looked at the economic dichotomy of having a consumer-based economy while simultaneously reducing wages.

Henry Ford understood that paying higher wages was good business.

Ford astonished the world in 1914 by offering a $5 per day wage ($110 today), which more than doubled the rate of most of his workers. (…) The move proved extremely profitable; instead of constant turnover of employees, the best mechanics in Detroit flocked to Ford, bringing their human capital and expertise, raising productivity, and lowering training costs.

Not to mention that a good part of that disposable income was used to buy Ford cars.

Business counters that idea by pointing to all the costs that didn’t exist in 1914 as justification for relentlessly cutting wages and benefits.

But nothing justifies the current minimum wage in many states.

Speaking of a hundred years, it took that long for new research by Zeynep Ton, a business professor at M.I.T.’s Sloan School of Management and author of “The Good Jobs Strategy,” to prove Ford was correct.

For every dollar of increased wages, one retailer that was studied by Fisher brought in $10 more in revenue. For more-understaffed stores in the study, the boost was as high as $28.

Not only doe it affect employees, but apparently higher wages has a halo effect on stock.

Costco pays its workers about $21 an hour; Walmart is just about $13. Yet Costco’s stock performance has thoroughly walloped Walmart’s for a decade.

Ton’s work is of major competitive importance whether you’re a boss in a small business or head up a giant enterprise.

Flickr image credit: ping.fm

As Sharlyn Lauby, our August Carnival host, points out, we’re already a third of the way through third quarter! My, how time flies when you’re having fun—or fighting fires.

Along with the great posts this month, she queried everybody for their book recommendations, especially useful to the heavy travelers among you or those who just prefer curated reading lists. So without any more blathering on my part here is the carnival. Enjoy!

Joel Garfinkle, author of Career Advancement Blog, shared the story of a manager overcoming being passed over for a promotion in “How to Get a Promotion After Being Rejected”

And he spent his summer promoting his new book “Getting Ahead: Three Steps to Take Your Career to the Next Level” – congrats!

Changing Winds blog by Jim Taggert submitted “Real Leaders Don’t Have the Attention Spans of Squirrels”

On his summer reading list was “A Thousand Farewells: A Reporter’s Journey from Refugee Camp the the Arab Spring” by CBC journalist Nahlah Ayed

At the Driving Results Through Culture blog, S. Chris Edmonds utilizes the recent sanctions against Penn State to start a discussion about “Gauging Your Organization’s Integrity”

He’s reading Mark Levy’s “Accidental Genius: Using Writing to Generate Your Best Ideas, Insight, and Content” – and says, it’s well…genius.

Anne Perschel at Germane Insights discusses “Killer CEO Character Traits and How to Find Them”

Her summer reading suggestion? “The Dovekeepers” by Alice Hoffman

Great Leadership by Dan McCarthy published “10 Simple ‘Truths’ about Management vs. Leadership”

His summer reading list included Robert B. Parker’s “Lullaby” written by Ace Atkins

Horizon Point blog discusses the need for leaders to have expertise in the post “The Es of Leadership”

Mark Stelzner at Inflexion Advisors tells us “10 (Avoidable) Ways to Lose an HR RFP”

He cranked through two excellent novels by Gillian Flynn – “Sharp Objects” and “Dark Places”

Jesse Lyn Stoner communicates “How to Identify Your Team or Organization’s Purpose”

And she just finished “Buddha’s Brain” The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom” by Rick Hanson

David Burkus at LDRLB penned “Celebrity Leaders May Actually Be Falling Stars”

The best read of his summer was Cynthia Montgomery’s “The Strategist: Be the Leader Your Business Needs”

LeadBIG blog’s Jane Perdue tells us it’s okay to throw some spaghetti in her post “In praise of mad genius”

Her must read is “Leading with Kindness: How Good People Consistently Get Superior Results” by William Baker and Michael O’Malley

Mike Henry at Lead Change Group shared a post written by David M. Dye on the “7 Practical Questions that will Multiply Your Influence”

He recommends reading “The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business” by Patrick Lencioni followed closely by “Great By Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck – Why Some Thrive Despite Them All” by Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen

Leading with Trust by Randy Conley asks the question “Are You a Good Boss or a Bad Boss? 8 Ways to Tell”

His good book this summer was “One Big Thing: Discovering What You Were Born to Do” by Phil Cooke

Management Excellence by Art Petty shares with us “The Hard Work of Getting Better at What You Do”

His book recommendation: “Do Nothing: How to Stop Overmanaging and Become a Great Leader” by J. Keith Murninghan

Management is a Journey blog, written by Robert Tanner, talks about the “Three Questions Senior Leaders Must Ask Before Undertaking Organizational Change”

MAPping Company Success talks about extremes in “Hate, Intolerance and Responsibility”

Miki recommends “Screw Business as Usual” by Richard Branson

Tim Milburn shares the lessons he’s learned in “3 Things Putting a Golf Ball Taught Me about Decision-Making”

And he read “Stillpower: Excellence with Ease in Sports and Life” by Garret Kramer

Bernd Geropp at More Leadership blog tells us “What you ought to know about performance based bonus”

He just finished “Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation” from Sally Hogshead

Anna Farmery, author of The Engaging Brand, outlines the “5 Trends Driving Social Business”

Her good read of the summer is “Infinite Possibility: Creating Customer Value on the Digital Frontier” by B. Joseph Pine

Jennifer V. Miller at The People Equation discusses integrity in her post “4 Filters Your Team Uses to Gauge Trust”

Her summer reads included Michael Hyatt’s “Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World”

Three Star Leadership by Wally Bock teaches us “Lessons from Sam Walton as WalMart turns 50”

And last but certainly not least, Lisa Kohn tells us “5 surprising reason why you shouldn’t be so nice” at The Thoughtful Leaders Blog.

Image credit: Great Leadership

Image credit:Brave New Films

Yet another article on Wal-Mart’s commitment to sustainability. Now, I’m not knocking what they’re doing, but I do wonder if Wal-Mart’s sustainability efforts will ever be extended to their workforce.

Of course, according to Northeast corporate affairs representative Steve Restivo it is, “”Another component, and the one, frankly, that I’m most proud of, is the Personal Sustainability Program for our associates.” At the Portsmouth store, employees are taking part in three programs — stopping smoking, losing weight and changing to CFL bulbs in their homes.”

It really is too bad that sustainability doesn’t extend to equality in the workplace, health insurance, full-time employment and decent wages, but maybe the shopping public won’t support that.

What do you think? Are Wal-Mart’s efforts ground-breaking or damage control?