Month: August 2023

Originally published on bloomberg.com

At Bloomberg, we’re committed to building an inclusive culture that enables everyone to thrive, including neurodiverse employees.

We value the skills and experience of all our colleagues and the diversity of talent we can bring to the table. Our neurodivergent employees include those who have been diagnosed with autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia or various mental health conditions that might impact the way the people think or interact. These employees bring a wealth of experience, talent, deep focus, creativity, innovation and lateral thinking to our business.

To support all our people, we continue to focus on instilling inclusivity in our offices, the Bloomberg Terminal and our policies and processes. Our goal is to create an environment where every employee is accepted and encouraged to bring their whole self to work. Learn some of the ways we’re emphasizing inclusivity, including stories from two Bloomberg employees.

A growing internal community

Bloomberg was among the first companies to join the Valuable 500, a global movement putting disability on the business leadership agenda. The company is also a signatory to the Time to Change Employer Pledge in the U.K., which works to change the way we think about mental health in the workplace.

Inside Bloomberg, we’ve taken action to make our recruitment processes more inclusive and to deliver the best candidate experience for prospective, neurodivergent employees. Our talent acquisition team also partners with organizations across the globe to help us recruit and support students with disabilities. These include EmployAbility and MyPlus Students Club. We work with partners globally for guidance on continuing to improve as an inclusive organization.

Another important company effort is the Bloomberg Abilities Community, or B-ABLE. This growing, employee-led group is committed to raising awareness and creating a supportive and comfortable environment for neurodiverse and disabled individuals and their allies. The community has grown by 131% globally in the last five years and regularly hosts well-being sessions on mental health, neurodiversity and disability in the workplace.

The employee experience

Gemma is Head of Research Client Services in EMEA and a former co-lead of B-ABLE in London who has dyslexia. Her role involves leading a diverse team that drives operational excellence across the data department to impact and execute strategic direction. This has increased the value of the department to clients and other areas of the business, resulting in a noticeable improvement in customer service quality.

Gemma shares how she’s been supported by the company. “Our Bloomberg communities are amazing at encouraging people to be open and to talk, whereas previously some of the topics around neurodiversity were never really spoken about,” she says. “By being open, I was able to share my dyslexia with my colleagues and ask for help.”

Gemma had a sales role earlier in her Bloomberg career, which required her to help manage large clients and prepare briefing documents for senior leaders. “I worked with my colleagues on sanity checking spelling and grammar due to my dyslexia,” Gemma says. “Not only did this provide the right support, but with more minds and feedback, I was actually able to produce better work, due to having more collaboration and ideas.”

“From having dyslexia and keeping it a secret, to then being in a management role, I wanted to be open and help people who were experiencing the same thing I had,” Gemma continues. ”Thinking differently is special, and I have been able to meet so many amazing people and have a larger network because of this.”

For people who want to support their colleagues, Gemma encourages them to practice openness and share resources. “Having a supportive and approachable manager who understands what you are going through is key,” she says.

Samuel, a Data and Business Analytics lead, has dyslexia and dyspraxia. His role requires a mixture of data insight and problem-solving abilities to support strategic decision-making and operational activities.

“Having been diagnosed with dyslexia and dyspraxia as an adult, I have learned to embrace and hone my strengths, such as divergent thinking and pattern recognition, which helps me be more innovative in the workplace,” Samuel says.

He credits a mix of Bloomberg policies and programs for helping him flourish, including employee-led forums focused on creating an inclusive and supportive environment, as well as strong support from peers and managers. “The occupational health and safety team has also championed reasonable adjustments, such as speech-to-text software, mind mapping, screen overlays and more,” Samuel says.

He was a founding member of B-ABLE in London in 2016, which has brought him community and helped him advance his career.

“I have been able to leverage and be a resource to my fellow colleagues when navigating neurodiversity in the workplace,” Samuel says. “As a pillar lead, I was able to raise awareness around hidden disabilities and, at the same time, develop leadership skills, which gave me the experience needed for taking on a leadership role within our department.”

This article is reproduced from Jobs and Careers.

ATLANTA, August 2, 2023 /3BL/ – Keeping employees safe while working is the number one priority at Georgia-Pacific. We believe that no matter how we are performing today, we can always do better to create long-term success and improve society overall.

When thinking about improving permit-to-work processes, the company assembled a team of safety and health leaders, IT leaders, and project managers to think through the transformation. Less than two years later, the Save My Life (SML) thought process and mobile application is the new permitting standard.

The successful launch and implementation of SML across Georgia-Pacific sites gave safety and health managers Chuck Watts and Chris Brown the confidence they needed to share their knowledge outside the company. They have been traveling the country to share Georgia-Pacific’s experience with safety professionals across many industries.

“Innovative systems like Save My Life are critical to managing complex environments and providing information to employees to help them learn new ways of doing new and sometimes hazardous work while staying safe,” Chuck explained. “We believe that the process has started to accelerate our transformation of how we view and execute hazardous work in our facilities across the organization.”

They were accepted to speak at three conferences, two of which are the oldest and largest safety conferences in the United States: The National Safety Council Conference and the American Society of Safety Professionals Conference and Expo.

During the sessions, they explained the importance of Human and Organizational Performance concepts when thinking about safety and the difference between work as planned and work in practice.

When asked why they felt it important to share SML learnings, Chris said, “Saving lives doesn’t stop with our employees or the contractors that come on our sites. Saving lives is bigger than Georgia-Pacific. We believe the SML thought process is a much better approach. If we believe we can find success in saving lives with SML, we felt we needed to share that.”

Chuck and Chris’ next presentation will be in October at the National Safety Council Conference in New Orleans.

Learn more about Georgia-Pacific’s approach to knowledge sharing and long-term success here.

View original content here

As no one can overcome every challenge alone, we establish crop value-chain partnerships to provide smallholder farmers with high-quality inputs, agronomic knowledge, cost-effective financing and risk mitigation solutions, as well as market access to sell their products. These include collaborations with government research institutes, NGOs and international financial institutions. We have already forged a number of key partnerships.

DKsilos

In Southeast Mexico and Central America, we are successfully running an innovative business model with livestock farmers. We engage with more than 40,000 small-scale ranchers and support them in the production of over 100,000 hectares corn silage to secure feed supply, especially during the dry season. Having corn silage to feed their animals when the grass is scarce helps the small producers to reduce the cost of feeding, increases milk production as well as quality and improves the general health of their heard.

We are also creating alliances with the milk-processors industry to secure finance access and the right technical assistance for this farmer segment. We plan to leverage this approach to other countries and regions to embrace new customer segments in smallholder geographies.

Read more about DKsilos and Food Security

Read more about DKsilos in the Harvard Business Review Why Sharing Economic Growth with the Community is Good Business (hbr.org).

Better Life Farming

Better Life Farming is a long-term partnership between Bayer, the International Finance Corporation (IFC, part of the World Bank), Netafim and more than 30 local public and private partners as well as non-governmental organizations (NGOs). This partnership helps smallholder farmers make their farms commercially profitable and sustainable.

Within the partners’ network, the Better Life Farming centers improve access to agricultural products in remote rural regions through the so-called last-mile delivery model. They also offer access to agricultural education and consulting, adapted farming solutions, financing, market access and fair prices. We are also rolling out special approaches for the advancement of women such as the targeted development of women as agricultural entrepreneurs.

In 2022, we increased the number of Better Life Farming centers in India, Indonesia and Bangladesh to more than 2,500 and launched in Mexico and Honduras. We are planning further growth in these regions and opened the first centers in Tanzania.

Better Life Farming was honored for its exemplary stakeholder engagement by the International Public Private Partnership Forum of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) at its Build Back Better Infrastructure Awards 2021.

Read more about Better Life Farming in the Harvard Business Review Making Small Farms More Sustainable – and Profitable (hbr.org).

Visit our Better Life Farming webpage and take a 3D Farm Tour.

Building resilient food value chains to support smallholder farmers requires long-term commitment and strong partnerships. The Better Life Farming Alliance is demonstrating how such partnerships are able to bring true value to farmers and their communities. We are committed to continuing to work with Bayer and our partners to further expand the Alliance and scale it from thousands to millions of farmers.

Alan Johnson , IFC, Lead Smallholder Supply Chains, Agribusiness Advisory

View original content here.

Where does community begin and thrive? In a hybrid world where more companies have more people in more places than ever, companies need proven ways to connect everyone across remote and in-person contexts. In 2023, more companies will use their corporate purpose programs to bring their people together and strengthen culture, with volunteering acting as a key lever in achieving this.

71% of companies are increasing their reliance on volunteering to improve connections and cohesion with their people.

In 2022, volunteering came back in a big way with a full-fledged return to in-person, team volunteering — especially in cities where companies are intentionally trying to create community by bringing hybrid workers together at offices or at nonprofits to be of service. Seventy-four percent of CSR leaders will be increasing their use of in-person volunteering around office locations to improve employee connection.

While volunteering offers a valuable opportunity to bring employees together and help them make a positive impact, meeting their expectations in this way can also have a material impact on a company’s bottom line by aiding in attracting and retaining top talent. Data from Benevity’s Talent Retention Study revealed a reduction in turnover among all employee cohorts that participated in their company’s corporate purpose program. The association between purpose and retention is even more pronounced for newer employees, who see a 52% lower turnover when they participate — whether that’s through volunteering, charitable giving or other positive actions.

6 in 10 CSR leaders are increasing their corporate purpose program’s focus on attracting new talent.

7 in 10 CSR leaders are increasing their corporate purpose program’s focus on retaining talent.

Companies see a 52% lower turnover among newer employees who participate in their corporate purpose programs.* Benevity’s Talent Retention Study

Though volunteering will be central to community building in 2023, we will also see investment in employee resource groups (ERGs) to drive deeper connections and build belonging alongside corporate purpose programs, with 92% of CSR leaders indicating that ERGs are an important way for companies to create community.

Today’s workplaces are a microcosm for society’s challenges, and it’s increasingly becoming the role of companies to provide a place where connection, learning, growth and positive action can take place as a part of one’s job — not separate from it.

Investing in company culture in this way will continue to drive greater social, team and business impact, further cementing the role of purpose in the workplace and fundamentally shifting companies into communities.

Discover the top five emerging societal and industry trends shaping the future of CSR, DEI and ESG in The State of Corporate Purpose 2023.

As part of our 150th anniversary last year, the Kimberly-Clark Foundation distributed three $150,000 philanthropic grants to nonprofits working in our key focus areas: empowering women and girls, maternal and child health and access to water and sanitation. For the first time in our company’s history, employees around the world voted on which global nonprofit projects would receive the grants, ultimately choosing She’s the First, Project HOPE, and Water.org.

A year later, we are proud to share how our nonprofit recipients benefitted from our grants.

She’s the First launched a new game for girls to help teach healthy relationships and create safe personal boundaries.

Water.org reached an additional 30,000 people with the WaterCredit program that provides micro-loans to people in need of water and sanitation at home.

Project HOPE provided training for health care workers in emergency obstetric and newborn care and equipped clinics with the resources they need most.

We look forward to continuing to provide Better Care for a Better World through nonprofit partnerships like these and are proud to work with our teams who care for their communities every day.

View original content here.

To celebrate World Environment Day and raise awareness for the protection of the environment within our Company, our European division initiated a variety of environmental activities to bring our employees together and create important impact on a regional level.

One of the ways we encourage our teams to collaborate on sustainability efforts is through supporting the Climate Action pillar of our Twentyby30™ sustainability program. Through this pillar, we aim to significantly reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 to help reduce overall carbon footprint.

To do their part, Crown employees across the EMEA region got involved in tree planting and gardening activities—actions that help to promote less polluted air—as well as made an effort to connect with nature through cycling, hiking and rock climbing. Some incentives to cycle or use another sustainable commuting method were also rewarded to further inspire more proactivity and contribution from employees.

We are so inspired to see that so many of our employees are committed to practicing sustainability both personally and within their roles at Crown, and we will continue to encourage, inform and empower our teams to be active participants in our efforts. Thank you to all of our EMEA plants for contributing to this collective change and organizing an impactful World Environment Day 2023.

View original content here.

June 20 was World Refugee Day. Launched in 2000 by the United Nations General Assembly, it is celebrated around the world to raise awareness about the plight of refugees and celebrate their strength and courage. Cisco has a long history of supporting refugees around the world, and we do so by tapping into our people, our technology, and our financial resources. This includes launching humanitarian relief campaigns where Cisco employees can make donations which the Cisco Foundation matches 1:1.

Cisco donates its technology to provide connectivity for refugee communities so they can connect with their loved ones and avail themselves of local resources and support services. The technology donations also facilitate coordination, collaboration, and communication among humanitarian relief agencies so they can deliver services with efficiency, effectiveness, transparency, and security.

Cisco complements all of this with financial resources to invest in the work and tech-enabled solutions developed and delivered by its non-governmental organization (NGO) partners to provide equitable access to critical information and resources to people in need, whether they have been displaced due to war, other conflict, climate events, etc. And, Cisco invests along a continuum, providing humanitarian relief in the immediate aftermath of a crisis, as well as longer term investments in education and economic empowerment initiatives to foster long-term stability, security, and resilience.

This year’s theme is Compassion, and as we reflect on the numerous partnerships that Cisco and the Cisco Foundation have in relation to helping refugees in crisis, we want to highlight just a few of our incredible NGO partners and their life-changing work.

HIAS

HIAS stands for a world in which refugees find welcome, safety, and opportunity. The world’s oldest refugee agency, HIAS brings over 100 years of experience protecting displaced persons—including women and children, and ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities—whose lives are in danger for being who they are. HIAS currently works in 22 countries across the United States, Latin America, Africa, Eurasia, and the Middle East to help refugees rebuild their lives in safety, and advocates to ensure that all displaced people are treated with dignity. In 2022 alone, HIAS reached over 1.35 million people directly and indirectly through their signature approach programs including legal protection, economic inclusion, gender-based violence (GBV) prevention and response and community-based mental health and psychosocial services. The global refugee crisis shows no signs of abating as war, violence, and climate change continue to force people to flee their homes. Across its programs, HIAS will continue to protect the safety, health, and rights of vulnerable individuals and support their ongoing recovery through integrated programming focused on mental health support, prevention, and response to gender-based violence, economic inclusion, and legal protection. Learn more about HIAS at https://hias.org.

ReDI School

ReDI School of Digital Integration is a non-profit tech school located in Germany, Denmark, and Sweden. The name ReDI derives from “readiness” and “digital integration”. Founded in 2015 in Berlin, ReDI School makes it easier for refugees to integrate and find work in the IT industry. Today, ReDI School offers free high-quality tech education to newcomers as well as locals without access to digital education or a professional network. Additionally, ReDI School teaches soft skills, connects its students with mentors, and organizes networking events with companies for a fast-tracked integration into jobs.

Since founding the first ReDI School, more than 7,600 students from 107 nations have been trained for the job market. Each semester more than 4,000 experts volunteer as coaches, mentors, or teachers at ReDI School and accompany the students on their integration process. Today 60% of the students are female. In addition to high-end tech and coding-classes, ReDI School also offers digital literacy training to newcomers, as well as programs and workshops especially created for women, kids, and teens. Cisco has also supported several ReDI milestones, including the launch of the Digital Women Program which supports women in building tech skills, as well as a tailored program for Ukrainian refugees. Learn more about ReDI School at https://www.redi-school.org.

Save the Children – Waliku

Cisco’s partner, Save the Children, supports the world’s hardest-to-reach children—including refugees and internally displaced people. For better data and decision-making on how to deliver education to at-risk kids, Waliku—a technology team at Save the Children—is transforming projects at the forefront of humanitarian service. Waliku’s bespoke solutions for digital data capture and education analytics are the result of a collaborative process with project clients to meet their needs and contexts.

Since its 2018 pilot of digital enrollment and attendance tracking, Waliku has enhanced projects across 17 countries. Refugee education projects supported by Waliku include large formal interventions like Gateway, funded by USAID across 400 schools in Yemen. There, Waliku’s dashboard and reports provide insights into learner enrollment, chronic absence, and academic performance. Waliku also caters to the digital monitoring of non-formal learning like Save the Children’s remedial Catch-up Clubs (CuCs), an intensive 13-week course for achieving reading with comprehension. CuCs are implemented in refugee settlements across three locations in Uganda. Using Waliku’s app and tools in the CuC project in Uganda, and similar initiatives elsewhere have been able to longitudinally track individual learners and their progression to “reader” status. To learn more about Waliku’s work, visit www.waliku.org.

Sistech

Since 2017, Sistech has supported the professional empowerment and autonomy of refugee women through technical and digital jobs across France, Italy, and Greece. Today, approximately 71% of the women supported through Sistech have found job opportunities after attending a Sistech program.

Sistech implements a set of 3 programs aimed at accelerating the professional inclusion of refugee women in technical and digital jobs including:

The Pathway: A career orientation program to develop fundamental IT skills, understand the local job market, and opportunities in technical and digital fields.The Springboard: A training program allowing participants to train in the technical or digital job of their choice including web development, data analysis, cybersecurity, digital marketing, UX/UI design, and digital project or product management.The Boost: A professional inclusion program to build the participant’s network through events and company visits, understand the local job market, and create essential tools for their job search (CV, cover letter, etc.).

During the programs, participants are supported individually by technical professionals volunteering as mentors, trainers, and linguistic tandems. And free services are offered, thanks in part to partnerships with the Cisco Foundation, to give participants the best chances of success, including babysitting services, transportation and accommodation costs covered, IT equipment, and psychosocial support. Learn more about Sistech at https://sis.tech.

Upwardly Global

Upwardly Global is the leading organization dedicated to helping refugee professionals rebuild their lives and careers in the U.S. They support forcibly displaced individuals across the country—including refugees, asylum seekers, humanitarian parolees, and Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) holders—in fully utilizing their advanced education and work experience to secure professional roles. Their goal is to promote long-term mobility, inclusion, and advancement.

Among Upwardly Global’s job seekers, 60% arrived in the U.S. as refugees. Since 2021, Upwardly Global has led national efforts to support thousands of Afghan evacuees who fled their home country after the Fall of Kabul, actively focusing its efforts on providing them with training, skilling, and professional networking opportunities to enhance their employability. Upwardly Global has also extended similar support to Ukrainian refugees, over 70% of whom are women. Now, they are advocating tirelessly for the swift inclusion of asylum seekers from Mexico, Central America, and South America fleeing violence and extreme poverty in pursuit of safety and security in the U.S.

In the last year alone, Upwardly Global has assisted nearly 700 refugees in finding their first professional job in the U.S. As a measure of long-term resilience, 90%+ of its job seekers retain their role and/or receive a promotion 12-months post-placement. Learn more about Upwardly Global at https://www.upwardlyglobal.org.

According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), as of mid-2022, it is estimated that global forced displacement has reached 103 million, with 32.5 million being refugees. With continued violence, natural disasters, and other crises continuing around the world, this number will only continue to grow, and it is imperative that we show compassion and support for all refugees.

Learn more about the Cisco’s investments around crisis response,

education, and economic empowerment by visiting our

Cisco Foundation

View original content here.