The Things That Matter Most to People and Their Communities

By Gregory Pings

“Business!” cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. “Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!” *

So began the haunting, and eventual reformation of Ebenezer Scrooge, as told by Charles Dickens in “A Christmas Carol.”

Yes, performance in business matters, but consider what “performance” means. Here’s what matters most to people and communities, according to JUST Capital: worker treatment and compensation, job creation, community service and providing products that improve life and do not harm the environment.

Xerox was named to 2017 JUST 100 list, a survey conducted by Forbes and JUST Capital, a nonprofit that ranks the largest publicly traded corporations in the U.S.

Proud as I am, this ranking does not surprise me in the least. I’ve written much about Xerox over my 23 years on the job, and I’ve always had an embarrassment of riches whenever my boss asked for an article about corporate social responsibility at Xerox.

Here’s look at recent articles I’ve published on the things that matter most.

Xerox CEO: We Combine Good Business with Good Citizenship. Jeff Jacobson says we recognize the tremendous opportunity — and responsibility — we have to positively impact our world.

Jeff Jacobson at NYSE

Xerox Is One of World’s Most Ethical Companies for 11th Consecutive Year. Xerox is one of 13 companies that have been on this list ever since the Ethisphere Institute started it in 2006. I expect that I’ll be publishing this article over and over for years to come.

Sustainability: The Often Unspoken Term. How Brother Dominic and the Maytag repair man helped us embrace sustainability.

Environmental Sustainability – The Four-Pronged Approach. Four essential factors will determine if your sustainability efforts will succeed. Start with “spend” categories such as printing, postage or waste disposal. This approach can also work with fixed costs, but progress will be slower because of contract terms or other inflexible realities. However, adopting this process will instill discipline, creativity as well as flexibility.

Xerox Dealer Turns Expense into a Profit Center. Why spend $125,000 a year to remove garbage when you can earn nearly $27,000 recycling it? Not only did this Xerox dealer in Chicago earn money from recycling, their garbage removal bill fell from $125,000 to $3,500 per year. Read on to find out how.

More information about Xerox and Corporate Social Responsibility

Xerox’s Global Citizenship Report demonstrates the progress Xerox is making to provide technology and business process services responsibly, while helping clients and communities address the world’s greatest challenges.

More articles about things that matter the most are available here:

Corporate Social Responsibility
Diversity
Earth Day
Employee Engagement
Environment, Health, Safety and Sustainability
Environmental Protection
Sustainability

The Fate of Sustainability – It’s in the Hands of the Buyer – Before you buy, these three thingswill inndicate whether a company has a preferable sustainability profile.

10 Tips for a Greener Office. I admit, some of these tips sound like stuff for beginners, but you’ll be surprised at what you missed. Things like printer defaults set at double-sided; use recycled paper; purchase Energy Star and EPEAT-compliant equipment; use the scan functions to enable digital workflows; trade in old devices for new and we will dispose of your old device properly, or remanufacture the parts to reduce waste.

Award-Winning Xerox Remanufacturing Takes the Spotlight. Xerox realizes a cost benefit of over $127 million, saves over 115 million pounds of greenhouse gasses, and decreases cross-continental transportation. Moreover, the remanufacturing industry is valued at $43 billion and contributes an estimated 180,000 full-time U.S. jobs.

Cross Company Mentoring

Xerox Spain Takes Collaboration to the Next Level. Talent is our key asset, so talent development and retention might be our key challenge. Learn how a cross-company mentoring program promotes knowledge sharing, inspiration and professional enrichment.

The Power of Allies for Your Diversity and Inclusion Program. Engaging colleagues and leaders as allies can accelerate diversity for gender parity, LGBTQ and transgender equality, and help everybody value different perspectives. It’s one of the reasons why Xerox achieved a perfect score on the 2018 Corporate Equality Index (CEI).

Get on Board: Three Traits of an Effective Board of Directors. Three things to look for when someone invites you to join their board of directors. P.S. Take a look at your own board and see how it stacks up.

Future Inventors Invent the Future. The Xerox Science Consultant Program places Xerox people in third, fourth and fifth grade classrooms to teach hands-on science and engineering concepts. This year marks 49 years of partnership with the Rochester City and Webster School Districts in New York.

Charles Dickens has the last word: “It was always said of [Scrooge], that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! ” *

*From the Project Gutenberg eBook of “A Christmas Carol,” by Charles Dickens.

Related Posts