CEO Harriet must decide what the correct protocol is when a supplier repeatedly tries to give a personal gift against company policy.
Harriet is the CEO of a small wealth management firm with about 100 staff members. The company has a gifts policy in place which states that all gifts received must be declared to the HR manager. Items of low value or items that have been personalised or engraved (such as pens or calendars) may be kept after being declared. Additionally, gifts may be kept if they have been given as a result of a personal connection or relationship – but this is subject to Harriet’s discretion. Otherwise, all gifts are held by HR and staff members are given the chance to enter a raffle and win one of the gifts on the day before the office closes for the Christmas break.
One of the firm’s suppliers is a small, privately owned printing company, Rainbow, to whom the firm has sent all of its printing for a number of years, and where Harriet has a friendly relationship with its Managing Director, Herman.
In early December, a package arrives from Rainbow containing six bottles of wine, with a generic note saying: “Thank you for being such a great customer this year. We hope that your staff members enjoy this contribution to your Christmas gift raffle.” This is not unusual – Rainbow has sent the same gift for the past two years in a row – and the package is given to HR to be declared and added to the collection of other gifts received throughout the year.
However, a week later another package arrives from Rainbow, addressed personally to Harriet. This is a bottle of wine, which Harriet knows is more expensive than the wine already received. It is accompanied by a slightly cryptic note from Herman to Harriet: “I know your policy is to share gifts between your employees at Christmas, but I did not want you to feel left out.”
Harriet sends this gift to HR to be added to the Christmas raffle and sends a polite note back to Herman thanking him for the wine, saying she is glad that he has enjoyed working with her, but that she is sure that Herman will understand that she cannot ignore the firm’s rules just because she is the boss.
A week or so after returning to work following the Christmas break, Harriet receives an email from Herman inviting her to lunch with him in a few days’ time. Harriet is happy to accept as it does not appear that Herman has taken offence over the note she sent to him regarding the bottle of wine. Herman says that he will meet Harriet at her office and they can go on to the restaurant together.
As arranged, Herman calls for Harriet at her office, and tells Harriet that he has booked a table at a well-known restaurant, just a short walk away. Harriet has not been there before as it is considerably more expensive than she would normally choose for a business lunch. Nevertheless, she enjoys a convivial lunch with Herman, whom she is able to reassure that the firm has no current plans to change its suppliers and they part on good terms.
A few days later, Harriet arrives home late after attending an evening function and is greeted by her partner who says that they have received a package, which she opens to discover two bottles of rather good claret in a very nice presentation box. There was a note from Herman, which said simply: “Enjoy!”
Slightly irked by the prospect of having to lug the heavy box in to work at a time when she is very busy, Harriet thinks no more about it and goes to bed.
With Harriet’s heavy schedule, the matter of the wine slips from her mind until a few weeks later when preparing for a dinner party. Her partner says that he has opened the wine that Herman sent as it looks rather good.
On hearing this, Harriet sighs, remembering that she had meant to take the wine in to work and give it to HR to hold until Christmas. Clearly this is no longer an option.
What should Harriet do?
- It’s just a couple of bottles of wine given to her personally, so she can enjoy them with a clear conscience. Cheers!
- She must find out the price of the gift package and contribute an equivalent value of wine to the staff ‘Christmas fund’.
- Recognise that the action that Herman has taken is a deliberate attempt to circumvent the firm’s policy on gifts, which he is aware of. This calls into question his overall standard of integrity. Might this extend to his business dealings? She must review the firm’s dealings with Herman.
- She must write to Herman, from the office, in polite but strong terms, telling him that his generosity was misplaced in sending the gift to her home, as he knows that she cannot accept it. She will warn him that he is in danger of upsetting their previously good professional relationship.