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The advantages of having a business with a reputation for honesty, fairness, and environmental responsibility are almost endless. Not only will such an organization benefit from repeat business, but when prospective clients are ready to switch to a new operation, the organization which is well-known as a good corporate citizen will be among the first to be considered.

There are no more successful advertising techniques than word-of-mouth recommendations from satisfied employees and customers. If executives make a priority to ensure that their company has a flawless reputation, the success of the enterprise is assured. Here are some suggestions as to how this desired state of affairs may be achieved:

- Hire employees on the grounds of their education, experience and ability. There must be no discrimination based on gender, race, age, or other external factors. Most especially, there must be no preferential hiring of friends or family members.

- Pay a fair living wage, with bonuses for outstanding contributions to the company. Publicize special awards in the media.

-Provide a means for employees to have input into company procedures and policies. Often those on the front lines will see more efficient or better methods of accomplishing necessary procedures. Listen to their ideas, evaluate them and provide feedback.

-Provide all possible assistance to employees during times of crisis: a death or serious illness in the family, or of a worker himself. Set up a fund for extraordinary medical costs not covered by insurance.

- Sponsor sport teams in the community and give generous corporate donations to community projects and charities.

- Establish scholarships and bursaries for higher education of capable young people, children of employees, and also include a number of young people from the community.

- The executives of the company must take care to avoid any hint of scandal, both in their personal lives and in their financial dealings. They should be role models of good behavior for the employees. They should reside in the community where the business operates, take part in community activities, join a service organization and perhaps attend church, if they are religiously inclined.

- Celebrate special occasions with the employees. Have a company Christmas party with gifts for workers' children, give out turkeys at Thanksgiving, and perhaps a company picnic on the Fourth of July.

- Celebrate also some occasions with the community, for example: a children's egg hunt at Easter, or a winter skating party at the local arena.

-Ensure that all the company operations are environmentally friendly. If necessary, install mechanisms to clean up all air, water and soil pollution which may occur in the process of your business. This may be a major expense initially, but it will soon pay for itself in the appreciation and the goodwill of the employees, their families, the customers and the entire community.

Companies which make it a priority to be good corporate citizens are almost invariably successful. Instead of pinching pennies and reinvesting everything in the business, the executives make it a point to share a significant part of the profits with the employees and with the community in which the company operates. This policy results in happy employees, satisfied customers, goodwill from the community, company growth and even greater profits for all involved.

Learn more about this author, Carolyn Tytler.
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