Initially, two factors drove me to pursue a part-time sales associate position at Banana Republic, an apparel brand under Gap Inc. Firstly, I was seeking customer service experience and one of the best ways to achieve that is through retail. Secondly, I was a fan of their menswear so I really wanted their employee discount. What I had never considered was the sustainability of the company; and it dawned on me that after a year and a half of working at Banana Republic (plus 3 months of sustainability courses), I still had no clue whether Gap Inc. was a socially responsible company!
After a few clicks from Google it became apparent that Gap Inc. had a strong sustainability presence. On their corporate website, Gap Inc. provides 4 infographics about their commitments towards the environment, the global community, their employees, and human rights. Gap Inc. also publishes a Corporate Social Responsibility Report and maintains a hub dedicated to their promise to ‘do more than sell clothes‘. Personally I found the social responsibility initiatives for women in their factories to be the most intriguing aspect of their CSR report rather than their environmental initiatives, especially when you consider the human rights scandals that Gap has faced over the years.
According to their 2011/2012 Social & Environmental Responsibility Report, Gap Inc.’s P.A.C.E. program provides female garment workers with “the foundational life skills and enhanced technical skills needed to advance in their personal lives and in the workplace.” What’s special about P.A.C.E. is that the program’s effectiveness was measured, making the claims more credible. Below is a graph taken from the same report:
As you can see, there was a noticeable improvement with respect to women’s personal lives after implementation of P.A.C.E. With 80% of garment workers in world being women, I believe Gap Inc. is doing the right thing by focusing their efforts on their female workers.
What are your thoughts on Gap Inc.’s CSR report? Is there anything I missed that deserves to be recognized?