Business gets a bad rap, and it’s often deserved. Polls conducted in Florida, my home state, conclude that most people think businesses look out for themselves at the expense of their employees and the broader community.

It is easy to understand why many believe businesses only focus on financial results. They hear earnings reports that seem exorbitant and often cannot understand why executives of public companies earn the compensation they do. These highly publicized news items make some companies seem cold-hearted and selfish, even when they may be trying to do the right thing.

The company I lead, Correct Craft, is a billion-dollar-plus business that’s nearly a century old. We have manufacturing plants across the United States and distributors in about 70 countries. While it’s a high-performing company, we also take seriously the why of our motto, “Making Life Better.”

Businesses like ours have a unique platform to make people’s lives better. We can make life better through how we deliver products and services to customers, how we treat employees and what kind of advocate we are for our industry. The most unusual and impactful way businesses can make life better is how we treat those who can never pay us back.

Philanthropy is one of the foundations of our company. We want to make great products, give great service, make money and reward employees, but we also want to use our platform for good.

Because we identify as a philanthropic organization, hardly a day goes by without someone asking for money. We make some donations, but the requestors are almost always disappointed when they learn donations are not a core part of our philanthropic strategy. Most are great causes, but we want to target our philanthropy so that it benefits those who need it outside our organization while simultaneously helping our team.

This works by targeting most of our giving toward projects to which our team can contribute time. For instance, we have been recognized by Habitat for Humanity because we funded several of its home projects. Habitat for Humanity is appealing to us because our team can invest their skills and time to help build the homes.

During the past 15 years, I have taken employees to Cambodia, India, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, and across Central America and the Caribbean to help people who will never be able to repay us. Our teams across the United States work locally with organizations in their communities, assisting people who most need help.

Our strategy is based on the belief that one of the best things we can do for our team members is to offer them a higher purpose. We are a high-performing business, but we want to be high-performing in our communities, too. This energizes employees who are excited to be part of a team that is making lives better.

People often ask about the financial cost of the service projects we undertake. They also suggest it would be financially prudent to make donations, rather than to send people around the world to serve. These are legitimate concerns, but we believe combining our gifts of money with time and talent benefit the people we are serving and our team.

While I believe our motivations are right, related to serving our communities, our culture of service results in a substantial positive impact on our organization. Service significantly impacts the organizational culture at Correct Craft. When people are focused on a purpose higher than themselves, it improves everything within the organization. Even those who choose not to participate in service projects — they are voluntary — are impacted. Service helps drive an unselfish organizational culture.

Also, people want to work for a company that makes an impact. Finding good employees is challenging. However, a culture of service and higher purpose plays a significant role in helping us recruit and retain exceptional team members.

Although our service projects are expensive, we have yet to try to quantify the return on investment. However, I am convinced that a culture of service has a dramatic, positive impact on our financial results. People are energized to be part of a team that cares, and it shows up in all kinds of ways, including financially.

We are far from perfect and make many mistakes, but we work hard to leverage our business platform for impact. We are trying to Make Life Better. When organizations use their platforms for good, it greatly impacts our communities and the world. I encourage you to join us. 

Bill Yeargin is CEO of Correct Craft and has written five books, including the best seller Education of a CEO.

This article was originally published in the March 2023 issue.