Sustainability in Practice

Recently some U. S. corporations and retailers opted to slash their DEI initiatives, but they may have overplayed their hand with one shortsighted move. DEI attempts to maintain equity in the workplace — it protects everyone, and ensures equal access to opportunity. Rather than protect their workers, or the consumers who support their business - they were blinded by greed. They chose to bet against their own interests — unable to resist the lure of Greed's trappings. The small, but bold and mighty, action sent ripples through American communities. The message was received, loud and clear, by consumers, workers, and investors — these corporations don't see us as unique, distinct individuals - they only see us as profits and losses. Their greed has blinded them to our distinctions and differences. Financial data doesn't reflect our diversity - we're all just green, or red cogs. Viewing everyone through an amalgamating lens is proving to have been a huge misstep, with serious consequences. Now they're scrambling; frantically trying to gather the refuse to rebuild their shattered legacies. Some corporations are demonstrating that, perhaps, they’re more undeserving, and unappreciative, of their success, than others, because when it came down to it, they opted for enriching themselves, over servicing the community.

As retailers fall from grace , Costco is suddenly more popular than ever — there are long lines just to get in the doors of their warehouses, their stock is doing pretty well, and they increased the pay of their workers. But Costco isn’t choosing to stand up for consumers in the dawn of a bleak economy – they’ve always championed for their loyal customer base, and it makes their surge in popularity deserved . Costco has already proved themselves to be a corporation that puts community above profits when they can. From generous salaries, to free samples, to their Costco hot dog and soda combo that has defied odds by costing $1.50 since the 80’s. Over the decades, CEO’s have been tempted to raise the price to avoid selling it at a loss, but one of the founders suggested finding another way to offset costs because raising the price wasn't an option. The modest combo isn’t grand in theory, but the principal behind it is. Many consumers make the inexpensive meal part of their Costco run. Rather than raise the price of the dog — Costco innovated. They opened a hot dog plant to process their own hot dogs, thereby making their cost significantly less. Everybody wins, or nobody loses- however you want to spin that.

In his book, *Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose, the late, Tony Hsieh wrote about his tenure as the CEO of Zappos- the online shoe retailer. Zappos was one of the firsts to attempt selling shoes online, and Hsieh was responsible for convincing consumers to shop in an entirely new way. Shoes had always been an in-person purchase, since size can vary from brand to brand, and from foot to foot. To get shoppers to embrace that initial discomfort, Zappos lowered the risk by offering free shipping and free returns on all purchases. In the first decade under Hsieh's leadership, Zappos grew from an unknown business into a company with over $1 billion in annual sales. They experienced highs and lows as the business grew, and at times Hsieh considered rolling back the generous shipping and return promo. But Hsieh was an 'out of the box' problem solver, and he believed the generous gesture had been pivotal in coaxing shoppers to change their shopping habits by alleviating some of the risk. To keep free shipping and returns as part of the Zappos legacy, Hsieh chose to write off the shipping costs as a necessary marketing expense. Free shipping and returns were officially built into their business model. Zappos turned an outlying expense into a sustainable practice. In 2009, Amazon acquired Zappos. Amazon still honors the free shipping and returns that Hsieh believed were responsible for winning over consumers. In efforts to 'streamline' operations — and without Hsieh at the helm — the brand has been shedding value as it falls more and more towards dystopian capitalism.

Like Zappos, Amazon also offers free shipping — but with limitations; you have to have an Amazon Prime membership, or spend a predetermined amount, in order to qualify for it. In my (slightly controversial) opinion, 2-day shipping is one of the most unsustainable offerings a business of this size could make. Why is free shipping from Amazon unsustainable, while free shipping from Zappos was sustainable? Amazon offered 2-day shipping to make themselves a better, faster choice for consumers — they offer shipping to lure people, but it's not exactly 'free'. Zappos offered free shipping to make online shoe shopping less risky for shoppers. The truth is, Amazon’s 2-day shipping is disruptive to their business. It creates absurd metrics for workers. The minute an order is processed through their website, a clock starts ticking, and the race is on to get that product from the warehouse into the buyer's hand within 48 hours. There’s so much pressure to meet goals that workers can’t always make time for necessary bio breaks, or safety trainings — two vastly important things for the health and safety of workers. Constant pressure around time constraints, paired with being underpaid, leads to quicker burnout, and higher employee turnover. Employees won't build loyalty with employers who treat them carelessly, or with indifference. As soon as a better opportunity presents itself, they’ll be gone — and they won't think twice about leaving the warehouse understaffed.

Call it boycotting, or cancel culture — but that’s not all that we’re experiencing at this moment in time. It's also an awakening, of sorts— a more thorough understanding of our individual worth as consumers. It was our unchecked consumerism that birthed these behemoth corporations. Instead of being grateful for loyal consumers, and workers that helped to shape, mold, and grow the operation – the CEOs won't hesitate to slash benefits, lower wages, end customer promos, or increase prices. Anything is fair game- as long as their pay packages go untouched. This type of CEOs rarely innovate, they don't take strides to integrate purpose and meaning, into their business models. If they want customers back, they're going to have to earn them back by shifting their model from growth and profit at all costs – to something sustainable, that offers equity, opportunity, and incentive to all workers, and provides benefit to all consumers. The power of the dollar is in the hands of consumers. Exercise your power, and wield it wisely.

*Hsieh, Tony. Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose. Grand Central Publishing, 2010.