Hiring for Change: Is your vendor socially responsible?
Not that long ago consumers bought products without taking the impact of their choices into consideration; consumers bought goods manufactured in sweatshops, ate foods harmful to endangered species, and purchased jewels mined in conflict areas. A broad cultural shift toward sustainable consumption changed all that. Now it’s common practice for people to purchase goods that have a perceived positive social impact. Everything from buying shoes to drinking coffee is an opportunity to change the world for the better. But within the technology services sector (think cloud-based), measuring social impact can be difficult due to the lack of a physical product. Consumers should contemplate the social impact of their technology as much as they would their coffee. Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it isn’t there.
There’s no arguing that consumers put a high value on social responsibility; so much so that it has become financially advantageous for companies to connect a social cause to their product. However, the services sector has in many ways lagged behind that of consumer goods. The tech sector is notorious for inequality and a lack of accessibility, and for every company that’s focused on saving the environment, there are those who waste and discriminate. While the culture is beginning to shift and transparency is gaining traction, it’s still important for consumers to know which tech firms value more than the bottom line.
B and Benefit Corporations
Just as consumers need labels to identify dolphin-safe tuna and free trade coffee, they also need help figuring out which software provider or technology vendor to trust. One way to for companies to show off their commitment to social responsibility is to become a benefit corporation or a B-Corporation (yes, there’s a difference between the two). As a B-Corp ourselves, we’re frequently asked by curious customers what exactly that means. Think of it as a benchmark against which companies measure their commitment to commonly held standards of social responsibility, like providing products/services that address a social issue, practicing recycling and waste reduction, or offering paid time off for community service. So even though B-Corps are for-profit businesses, the importance of doing good is privileged in the workplace.
Pay it forward models
The 1-1-1 model is another popular avenue for doing good in the tech sector. Started by Salesforce, this philanthropic approach for private companies takes 1% of the workday, 1% of product, and 1% of equity and contributes them towards nonprofit organizations. This effort to promote civic engagement and social responsibility is part of the reason Salesforce offers up to 10 free licenses for nonprofits. This corporate philanthropic effort has expanded to the Pledge 1% movement, which is aimed at helping startups implement the 1-1-1 model. It’s a great way for tech companies to show off their commitment to having a social mission, and help deserving communities and organizations in the process. At Idealist Consulting we have our own Pay It Forward program where for every 100 hours of paid consultation by a private sector client, 5 hours of service will be gifted to a nonprofit client.
As consumers of technology, whether services or products, you have the ability to dictate major shifts in the marketplace. By choosing to work exclusively with vendors that can evidence a commitment to positive social change, you are in effect directing resources and capital back into the community and supporting civic engagement through enterprise. Think of it as an opportunity to improve the world and your technology.
Check out our Pay it forward program
