Staples 2007 Annual Report Download - page 8

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Denver, we engage community, business and political leaders to help us create locally aligned
community platforms around education and job skills training.
• Helping associates help others. Provided associates with opportunities to secure support for
charities they are personally involved with through $100,000 in donations. We also provided
associates with access to volunteer opportunities with charitable organizations such as Boys &
Girls Clubs of America, Ashoka and Earth Force, to enable them to become more involved and
invested in the community.
• Developing leaders with global perspectives. Hosted the fourth session of our International
Management Trainee Program, in which we bring associates from around the world to the home
office for 12 weeks of intensive training and an energetic exchange of best practices and
innovation.
• Building capacity. Mentored diverse suppliers to help build capacity within their organizations,
which resulted in impressive sales growth, profitability and job creation, and increased market
share.
• Maximizing diversity of talent. Increased the number of U.S. minority associates by 7% and
women associates by 2% since 2002. Diversity of talent has helped drive some of the company’s
highest customer satisfaction in the South Florida market.
• Avoiding hundreds of workplace accidents. Company-wide safety programs decreased injury
costs by 27%, an estimated $7 million, over the last five years.
As you can see, Staples Soul is on a roll. In fact, Staples is now in its fourth year as a member of the Dow
Jones Sustainability Index. Moreover, Staples was recently named to Corporate Responsibility Officer
(CRO) magazine’s list of the “100 Best Corporate Citizens” of 2008 — coming in at number 30. The CRO
list ranks the corporate responsibility efforts of large-cap companies from the Russell 1000 index through
a scoring methodology based on eight categories: climate change, employee relations, environment,
financial, governance, human rights, lobbying and philanthropy.
We are proud of all of our accomplishments, the many steps forward we took and the positive impact we
created in 2007. Still, like most companies and communities, and even countries, we have more to do.
As we look ahead, we see great potential for Staples Soul. Corporate responsibility will continue to be an
integral component of our business strategies, helping us be an employer and neighbor of choice,
differentiate our brand and grow profitably and responsibly. To that end, we share the following goals for
the coming year.
ETHICS
• Introduce new tools to help associates recognize potential ethical dilemmas and how to handle
them.
• Customize and implement online Code of Ethics training in China, India and Europe.
• Finish implementing our Privacy and Information Management Program worldwide.
• Refine our Anticorruption Program and continue the implementation process.
• Design a measurement strategy to help evaluate the effectiveness and performance of our ethics
and compliance program.
ENVIRONMENT
• Move the majority of paper products offered for sale to FSC-certified paper by the end of 2010,
based on availability of supply and market conditions.
• Launch new Web site functionality and catalog offerings in 2008 to make it easier for customers
to find and shop for eco-friendly products and services.
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