There’s been a ripple of excitement of late as some big companies have unveiled (fairly modest) raises and bonuses for workers. Walmart announced that it would pay out up to $1,000 per employee, depending on seniority, and that it would begin a process of boosting its minimum wage to $11 per hour. American Airlines said it would pay $1,000 to all 127,600 of its people, and Wells Fargo raised its base wage from $13.50 to $15 per hour. A sound economy, a booming stock market, and huge business tax cuts, the story goes, have convinced CEOs of companies flush with cash to distribute some of it to frontline employees.
Companies That Do Right by Their Workers Start by Elevating Their Definition of Success
There’s been a ripple of excitement of late as some big companies have unveiled (fairly modest) raises and bonuses for workers. But with unemployment at record lows, yet inequality at record highs, this feels like a time for CEOs to think bigger — not just to raise wages, but to elevate their definition of success about how their companies can win big in the marketplace and afford employees a greater sense of security and participation in the workplace, how they can generate wealth and share that wealth with everyone who has a hand in its creation. John Lewis is a prime example of how this can work, with the organization owned 100% by employees. Is it too much to ask, at a time when so many big companies are enjoying so much prosperity, that their leaders imagine a more expansive and sustainable definition of success for everyone in the company?