Ethics refers to a set of principles and guidelines that an organization imposes to its employees, including those performing management roles in the company. It pertains to acceptable behaviors that guide a company and its employees in conducting themselves and their actions to the fulfillment of the company’s mission, vision, and standards. It also helps in enhancing the level of company trust as it demonstrates commitment to following high standards when it comes to completing goals and tasks (“What Is Ethics”). Capgemini is a technology, consulting, and outsourcing firm that helps its employees and clients make their mark in the IT industry by enforcing ethical standards in all their business deals.
Capgemini believes that the “value of technology comes from and through people” (Capgemini website). The principle behind is that without competitive and expert people to think about the innovations that would propel the clients to greatness, including the execution of ideas, clients might not get the best services and solutions to their issues. However, with a “human-centered approach to technology” (Capgemini website), anything is possible. This vision coincides with the company’s mission, that is, with the clients, the company “create[s] and deliver[s] business and technology solutions that fit [the clients’] needs and drive the results [the clients] want” (Capgemini website). What Capgemini wants is to empower clients so the clients learn to adapt to changes occurring due to shifting market dynamics. By doing so, clients are able to maintain their high standards as well as collaborate with Capgemini and its associates directly.
Capgemini and Its Consumers
Capgemini only works with companies that share the same values as the company. Understanding that clients want practical solutions to their everyday technology issues, Capgemini guarantees that everyone in the company follows strict ethical standards when working with clients. For instance, in July 2013, Capgemini signed a contract with Consumers Energy Company (CEC) in Michigan to help in the implementation of a smart metering system and other technology related infrastructure that will be used in the setting up of Consumer Energy’s Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI). The purpose of such efforts is for the improvement of the company’s customer service through delivery of accurate bills, improved power outage, and other efforts that will help consumers conserve energy and consequently, save on money. Capgemini also ensures that they choose their partners very well. This includes office personnel and suppliers, as they want everyone to be treated with respect and fairly (Capgemini website). For Capgemini, this business approach does not only help increasing the productivity level of the company worldwide, but it also improves the living conditions of people all over the world.
Capgemini and the Environment
Capgemini does not produce any products, but the company recognizes that it has a responsibility to the environment due to their business operations. As a company, Capgemini consumes electricity, gas, and oil, to provide power to their offices and data centers to be able to host the clients’ IT equipment, which, in turn, emits carbon footprint into the environment. They also do a lot of travelling abroad and by road, which further adds to carbon emissions. They also recognize that they contribute to paper wastes, garbage from office restorations, and electrical and energy wastes. Because of this, Capgemini’s thrust is to diminish the company’s contribution in the environmental degradation by reducing “carbon footprint from non-data center activities by 20% by 2014 (35% by 2020), [improving] energy efficiency in data centers by more than 20% by 2014, [reducing] carbon emissions related to travel by more than 30% by 2014, [sending] zero office waste to landfill by 2014, [and finally, implementing] an ISO 14001 certified Environmental Management System” (Capgemini website). Capgemini is in partnership with EMC, Microsoft, IBM, Oracle, and SAP, among others.
Capgemini and Its Employees
The company recognizes that its strength lies in its people. Thus, its thrust is ensuring that employees are well-taken care of in terms of their health and safety while at work and their general wellbeing. To address these concerns, Capgemini ensures that employees are provided with information and training on the use and disposal of hazardous substances, use of protective equipment, awareness about company emergency procedure methods, first aid, and avoidance of office accidents, among others. The company also believes that a generally happy employee increases his or her productivity levels and maintains company loyalty. Therefore, Capgemini pushes for processes that accommodate the needs of employees such as work-life balance programs through sports and capability to work from home when the need arises. This also includes stress management training and activities so that employees maintain a high sense of job satisfaction. It also helps that the company ensures to continually make adjustments and improvements on how to develop employee-manager relationships (Capgemini website).
Effects of Morally Conscious Decisions
The success of a company can be traced back to how happy, satisfied, and motivated employees are. From productivity measures to increasing a company’s profitability, hardworking employees can lead the way to the company’s success. No matter how great a company’s products are, if the employees are not motivated to achieve the goals, mission, and vision of the company, it is doomed to failure.
Motivating people has no secret formula, thus, it can be difficult to inspire people as they have different reasons for working. Some may be motivated by high salary and bonuses, some because of job recognition for projects completed, some because of promotions, and some because of their interest in the company. In the end, understanding employee motivation can be done by finding out what employees want and what pushes them to work harder and produce good results. In addition, finding ways to give employees what they need, helping them achieve their goals, and enabling employees to earn their rewards can initiate the learning and understanding process for motivating employees (Scotland Motivates). With Capgemini’s driving force in improving their processes for the benefit of their customers, taking into account how the company contributes to the environmental safety of the world, and coming up with programs that would make all employees happy and satisfied with the working conditions, Capgemini will surely remain to be one of the best and morally sound companies to work for.
Areas for Improvement
Reviewing Capgemini’s website, including all links pertaining to the company’s mission, vision, and thrusts, it would appear that it is already an ideal company to work for. As the company says, “People matter. Results count” (Capgemini website), the company strives to strike a balance between how to handle the people and keeping them happy, while at the same time, ensuring that these same people work towards the achievement of the company’s goals. However, Capgemini can still improve on some aspects of people management that can guarantee the loyalty of its employees.
One, provide perks that are not only financial in nature since not everyone is motivated by money. What Capgemini should do is allow office parties that will give various teams an opportunity to mingle with other departments in a very casual setting, instead of always being confined in a conference room to discuss issues. The company can also sponsor social activities that would involve not only the employees, but their families as well in order to give the family a chance to meet the people the spouse works with everyday. This way, they also develop an understanding and appreciation of the job and the company.
Second, providing a continuing education program for employees is also one way to keep employees motivated. Considering that Capgemini is in the technology and services industry, it is just right that employees get the chance to upgrade their knowledge through up skilling methods because they belong to a very volatile industry where advancements and changes happen at high-speed.
Conclusion
In a business environment, being ethical does not only mean applying the principles of fairness and honesty in their dealings with employees and customers. It also means thinking about how the company affects the environment and reflecting about the company’s role in environmental safety and protection. Being called an ethical company also equates to building a good company reputation, ability to retain good employees, providing a positive working environment, and avoidance of future legal problems. Companies that uphold high ethical standards, such as Capgemini, understand the value of training every member within the organization about the behavioral conduct that they are expected to espouse and follow.
References
Capgemini website. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.capgemini.com/
Scotland Motivates. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.scotlandmotivates.com/why-you-need-motivated-employees.php
“What is ethics.” (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/introduction/intro_1.shtml
