I was just reminded of this story. My brother managed a Distribution Center that stocked ~100 big box stores. The company policy was to pay another company to haul away all the wood pallets that their products arrived on.
My brother found a company that would buy the wood pallets and come pick them up for free. He used that money to buy video game consoles, reclining gaming chairs, a grill, a smoker, crock pots, and food for the staff so they could regularly have “fun days” if they hit their goals. His employee turnover was so low!
Then corporate found out about it, reprimanded my brother, and started making all the distribution centers sell their pallets but kept the money for themselves. They didn't care that my brother was actually saving them money, both by not paying a company to haul away the pallets AND by keeping employee retention high. All they saw was an opportunity to put more money in their pockets, and they treated my brother like he was stealing from them. The C-suite ruins everything.