Last week, Corporate Responsibility (CR) Magazine announced their annual 100 Best Corporate Citizens List and we are proud to announce that Symantec has climbed 52 spots to #35! The ranking, in its 18th year, is based on publicly available disclosures for 260 indicators across key CR areas such as philanthropy/community engagement, environmental sustainability, human rights, climate change, employee relations, financial performance and corporate governance. Symantec’s highest rankings were in the areas of employee relations, including diversity and inclusion, (#3) and corporate governance (#5).
The list looks at three key characteristics for each indicator – disclosure, policy and performance – all of which underline the core mission of CR Magazine and the purpose of the list – accountability. At CR magazine they “believe it’s vital for investors, regulators, customers, suppliers, and employees to know as much as possible about the companies they invest in, do business with, and work for.”
Accountability in this sense extends far beyond financial metrics to how the impacts a company has on its people, communities and the environment. Within CR, trust and transparency are the building blocks of relationships with stakeholders internally and externally who help us make a positive impact and difference in the world.
Each year we look to expand and evolve our engagement and communication with stakeholders through our annual Corporate Responsibility report, ongoing communications such as our CR blog, through targeted disclosures such as CDP and EICC, socially responsible indices such as DJSI and FTSE4Good, and a variety of industry rankings.
This year we continued to expand our policies, drive performance, and improve disclosure, all strengthening accountability for:
- Our planet: Continued implementation of our strategy to meet our ambitious, science-based goal to reduce GHG emissions by 30 percent by 2025 (compared with FY15). This includes optimizing the use of our spaces, implementing energy efficiency projects, leveraging clean and renewable energy sources, and engaging employees in energy conservation. For example, this year we are launching a Green Team campaign to support energy reduction efforts.
- Our customers: Certifying 100 percent of our hardware products as Energy Star by the end of 2015. Additionally, in FY18, we will continue to work with our customers to educate professionals, their families and communities on the changing online safety landscape.
- Our suppliers: Ensuring supply chain responsibility by implementing the Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition’s (EICC) code of conduct with 100 percent of our Tier One suppliers.
- Our communities and industry: Expanding our signature Symantec Cyber Career Connection (SC3) program that provides a pathway for underrepresented young adults and veterans to enter the cyber security field. To date, 87% of SC3 graduates are employed in cyber security and IT jobs, or are pursuing additional degrees.
- Our people: Through our employee resource groups, public advocacy, and internal policy development, we are creating a culture where diverse talent can thrive and innovate, and better understand and serve our diverse global markets. For example, our publication #iamtech features the experience of technology professionals of diverse backgrounds, and we have been recognized as a leader for LGBTQ professionals, implementing guidelines to support employees transitioning on the job, developing inclusive bathrooms and joining hundreds of leading tech companies publicly standing up for regulation that support people of all backgrounds.
While we are proud of this recognition, we also understand that true accountability and trust requires continuous improvement and an evolution of our strategy and priorities. It is also requires honesty about where our weaknesses lie. For example, our annual CR report highlights priority areas we are working to more strongly support, it calls out if we have not met a goal on target and when we expect to do so. It also includes comments from our report and strategy review process, where we’ve received over 200 pieces of feedback on strengths and opportunities for improvement.
As CR magazine highlights:
“Being a good corporate citizen is a goal of most leading organizations, but actually achieving this can be a challenge in today’s business climate. There are many working pieces of a responsible operation—risk management, diversity and inclusion, and the supply chain for example—that make efficient and effective operations quite onerous. So when a company succeeds at being transparent, responsible, and accountable—with all aspects backed up by data—they end up earning a coveted spot on Corporate Responsibility Magazine’s 100 Best Corporate Citizens List.”
The very nature of our business—assuring the security, availability, and integrity of our customers' information—requires a global culture of responsibility. We are proud to be recognized for achieving our mission of bringing together our people, passions and powerful technology to support social and environmental priorities and make the world a better, safer place.
The full list of 2017 recipients can be accessed here.