Profit at the Bottom of the Ladder

Jody Heymann is Founding Director of the McGill Institute for Health and Social Policy. She was Founding Director of the Project on Global Working Families and chair of the Initiative on Work, Family, and Democracy at Harvard University. She has conducted research in thirty-five countries; examined working conditions in 189 nations; and advised leaders in government, UN agencies, and the private sector.

• Table of contents Introduction Chapter One: Providing All Employees with More Than a Living Wage Chapter Two: Finding Ways to Make Scheduling Flexibility Feasible and Profitable Chapter Three: Increasing Productivity and Reliability by Investing in Health Care Chapter Four: Building Assets: Ensuring That The Lowest-Level Employees are Not Left Behind Chapter Five: Offering Training Where It Is Valued the Most Chapter Six: Establishing Career Tracks for Low-Level Employees to Rise Up the Corporate Ladder Chapter Seven: Engaging Employees in the Company's Profits and Their Own Chapter Eight: Reaping Returns From Community Investments Chapter Nine: Creating Good Working Conditions Throughout The Supply Chain Chapter Ten: Developing a Blueprint for Changing Companies and Lives

"Heymann (founder & director, Project on Global Working Families) synthesizes and analyzes 500 interviews undertaken by her research team on field visits to corporations worldwide that have increased profit and productivity by obtaining or providing "health, skills, training, motivation, input, and commitment" from the staff at the lower end of the income scale. Her own case studies are generously interspersed with clearly marked risk/reward analyses, capped off with a succinct chapter on "creating a blueprint" for your own company. With corporate social responsibility a trending topic, leaders looking for a bottom-line justification to do some good for staff at the lower end of the ladder should find inspiring ideas here. Easy to read, timely, and relevant; recommended." - Library Journal, May 15, 2010 "overlooked gem" - BNET