From Work-Family Balance to Work-Family Interaction

Chapter 5

Corporate Responsibilities

Paul OrfaleaChairperson and Founder, Kinko’s, Inc.

The title of this chapter is “Corporate Responsibilities,” but a more accurate title would really be “Corporate Opportunities.” I think there is a big opportunity to inspire workers. At Kinko’s, I always used to say that the only competitive advantage we have is the sparkle in our workers’ eyes. There is a tremendous business opportunity in taking advantage of motivating workers.

When I was a boy, my father had a factory with about 500 workers. I remember he would never bring work home with him no matter how business was going. But the one problem, the one concern that he would always carry with him, was the difficulty of firing a worker. Be it a janitor or ...