Today’s business section in the Buffalo News (NY) has a story that seven Target employees were fired for buying Zhu Zhus, one of the hottest selling toys this Christmas season. According to the story, these employees were following policies they knew about, but were terminated for a new policy they were not aware of.

I encourage you to read the article, and then think about how you notify your employees about new company policies. Yes, the story has its emotional factors: You may not agree with Target’s policy (I didn’t) and you may also think Target’s management has their heads firmly planted in a place where Christmas lights can’t be seen (which I believe they do).

But for workplace implications, we can learn from Target’s mistake. Again, one question for employers and managers could be “how do you let people know about new company policies?”

The next question could be “Do you enforce your policies by using the letter of the law or the spirit of the law?”

In the comments following this article, some readers are so disgusted they say they won’t do any more shopping at Target. When one considers that loss of business and the costs involved in replacing and training new employees, Target’s actions here were just plain DUMB. But in the bigger picture, Target is a large company and will survive the financial hit.

Still, what can we learn? Granted, your company might survive a similar mistake, but is it worth it to take financial hits for being unwise or undisciplined when issuing or enforcing policy?

With that last question in mind, one of my Christmas wishes just became “I hope that managers strive to be intellectually honest when creating and notifying people about policies, and that they use fairness and flexibility when enforcing them.”

Especially this time of year, when Grace is a large component of the Reason for the Season.

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Filed in Work, Business, Management, Workplace, Corporate Culture, Retention