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Most of the stories in this edition touch on values in some way: sharing values, aligning values, staying true to values…and, unfortunately, turning away from values. By "values," I mean more than a list on a corporate website. These values are intrinsic, linked to behaviors, and guided by purpose. They're not easy to change, which is why the alignment of values—between companies and stakeholders, employees and employers, consumers and products—is so important. Staying true to values can require tradeoffs and tough decisions, but it's made easier when stakeholders have a shared desire to stand by those values, too.
Hit your sales quotas, increase customer retention rates…and save the earth?
Mastercard employees now have a new metric linked to their bonus pay: ESG goals. The payments processor is extending a compensation model previously put in place for senior executives, which links incentive pay to targets related to carbon neutrality, financial inclusion, and gender pay parity. The new plan applies to all employees starting this year.
ESG Today: Mastercard Links Compensation for All Employees to ESG Goals
Reuters: Mastercard to link all employee bonuses to ESG goals
Call it what you want.
The great resignation, reshuffle, realignment… Ultimately, the dynamic between employers and employees has shifted. Employees are going to (or staying with) companies that mirror their values and value their priorities. Those companies with strong values, culture, and commitments to the "whole" employee have actually reported high retention and low turnover over the last 1-2 years. New research from MetLife explores what it means to honor and serve the "whole" employee—and by doing so, benefit as a business.
MetLife: The Rise of the Whole Employee
Cheers to this.
Budweiser is helping local pubs adopt renewable energy to power their establishments as part of a newly-launched initiative, The Energy Collective. Through the Collective, Budweiser encourages 2,000 pubs in Brazil to use local renewable energy, even claiming to help with affordability when costs are an issue. Notably, "it doesn't matter if the venue serves other products from other companies. The point is to help decarbonize the value chain, not pick and choose among parts of that chain."
Triple Pundit: Budweiser Pledges More Renewable Energy for Thousands of Pubs
Cision: Budweiser Launches The Energy Collective To Help Power The World With Renewable Electricity
Injustice for all?
While scores of reports, pulse surveys, case studies, and videos highlighted the critical role of workers over the past two years of the pandemic, they're still being left behind. A Brookings analysis of 22 US firms found that shareholder wealth grew 57 times the amount of additional worker compensation among the companies' combined 7 million+ employees. Nearly all the companies fell short of commitments to inclusivity, and the majority still don't pay a living wage. Meanwhile, company shareholders grew $1.5 trillion richer, as firms spent five times more on dividends and stock buybacks than on additional pay for workers.
Brookings: Profits and the pandemic —As shareholder wealth soared, workers were left behind
Jacobin: Remember 'Frontline Workers'? America Wants You To Forget
These communities are getting "cooler."
Urban heat islands occur when land-locked urban areas experience higher temperatures than surrounding suburban areas—sometimes up to 7 degrees hotter during the daytime. This effect is often concentrated in underserved areas, where residents may not have access to air conditioning or other reliable means of cooling. And with climate change, it's only going to get worse. GAF, North America's largest roofing company, is helping to offset this effect with one of its lesser-known but ubiquitous products: StreetBond. This is the material you see coating bike and bus lanes, playgrounds, and parks—and it also helps cool ambient air by reflecting 60% of sunlight. As part of the GAF Cool Community Project, StreetBond will be applied to a 10-square block pilot area in Los Angeles while GAF and partners study the coating's cooling effects.
Sustainable Brands: GAF Project Aims to Increase Quality of Life, Climate Resilience in Urban Communities
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