Costco Gets It Right

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Being nosey by nature, I am never bashful when it comes to asking questions about things that interest me, and, as a retired public educator and social worker, one thing that always has my attention is the general mood and job satisfaction of the people in the service industry who deal with me as I shop.  So I ask questions.  One of the things I often ask is "How do you like working here?"  That question stirs nods or shrugs, and usually simple responses like "The job is fine," or "It pays the bills," but sometimes it is a lot more revealing.  There is much that can be learned about the culture of a business by an employee's casual response to a simple inquiry.

And I don't like to spend my time or money in businesses where the employees are not appreciated and valued by management.

Two businesses where I continually hear good things from the employees regarding management are Trader Joe's and Costco.  Both offer good pay and benefits, and both have a vibe of being staffed by a contented workforce.  On a recent trip to a Costco in the Kansas City area I asked a man who was working at the checkout how he liked his job.  He looked up, smiled, and said matter-of-factly, "My insurance is better than yours," and then added, "This is a great place to work."   His answer came across as frank and honest.

There has been an ugly social movement in this country over the last few years to do away with efforts to insure and increase levels of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within American educational institutions and businesses.  The move from the political far right is an overt effort to roll back social and economic advances by minorities over the past several years, often due to intentional policies that promote DEI.  Opponents of DEI claim that the policies that allow for those advances discriminate against the people who have traditionally benefitted from past patterns of discrimination - people such as straight white males.

This year a right-wing "think tank" called the National Center for Pubic Policy Research came out with a generic proposal for activist shareholders to put before the boards of various corporations in an effort to get them to roll back DEI policies - and many corporations quickly caved to that political pressure.  Walmart and John Deere, as just two examples, began abandoning their past efforts to create a more diverse  workforce.

But when the activists targeted Costco, they encountered a corporation with both a heart and a backbone.  Costco's board of directors encouraged their shareholders to vote against the shareholder-generated proposal to do away with their DEI safeguards.  The Costco board reasoned that a diverse workforce made for a better working and shopping environment, and my own nosey and highly informal research would tend to back that up.

If it isn't broke, don't try and fix it.

Costco is doing the right thing by continuing to focus on having a diverse and inclusive workforce.   It makes for a better work experience and a better shopping experience.   Speaking as a straight white male, we have been at the front of the privilege line long enough.  It's time to share the wealth and open the doors of opportunity for all.