Social Value
Our ambition is to help disadvantaged and underrepresented communities integrate into society.
Our Commitment to Social Value
At Atos, driving value that extends beyond the services we deliver to positively impact people and the environment has always been at the heart of our approach. In today’s society it is vital that organizations act responsibly, sustainably and actively contribute to human flourishing and we are proud to have been leading the way in our industry for over 10 years. Whether that’s becoming a recognized leader in secure decarbonized digital, ratifying our commitment in our Public Services Pledge or innovating through the various programs, partnerships and initiatives outlined below, ‘doing the right thing’ is firmly embedded within our ethos.
What is Social Value?
Social Value refers to the quantification of the net social, environmental and economic benefits organizations can deliver to ultimately change people’s lives for the better. It enables businesses to reach, support and help citizens overcome key challenges, such as economic inequality and equal opportunity. At a time when the world is still recovering from the impacts of COVID-19 and climate change should be an urgent item on everyone’s agenda, it is more important than ever before for organizations like ours to take action, demonstrate responsible behaviours and add value.
Social Value at Atos
At Atos, we recognize our role in driving positive societal change and creating a sustainable and healthy future. To demonstrate our commitment to delivering Social Value, we are proud to have dedicated teams continuously developing and delivering wide-ranging activities both internally for our employees as well as externally to our customers. To illustrate, some examples of what we’re doing are provided below:
COVID-19 recovery – We rapidly adapted to remote working, providing secure tooling and access to ensure business continuity for our customers and provide our employees with reassurance and certainty. We contributed digital expertise to global recovery efforts. For example, our support for the global COVID-19 vaccine rollout earnt us the Frost and Sullivan’s 2021 Global Customer Value Leadership Award in the Digital Vaccinations Solutions Industry.
Tackling economic inequality – We are developing high-growth digital skills across the UK. We offer Internships, Apprenticeships, Graduate programmes including fast-track 12-month training programmes in digital skills, such as cyber security and applications development. We pride ourselves in ensuring a supportive and inclusive environment for all underrepresented groups which is reflected through our attainment of the Disability Confident Leader status and being one of the Times Top 50 Employers for Women among other accreditations. We also work with specialist recruitment partners to match employment opportunities to people from groups underrepresented in our sector. Our SME Horizons Programme searches out innovative SMEs and VCSEs to introduce to our clients. We provide a safe commercial environment and proactively help them to grow as part of our supplier ecosystem.
Fighting climate change – We have committed and are on track to reduce our emissions by 50% between 2019-25 and by 90% by 2039 (11 years before the SBTi recommendation). Our leadership in climate policy and action is recognised by CDP and DJSI and we received the 2020 SEAL Business Sustainability Award as one of the Top 50 Most Sustainable Companies Worldwide (ranking first within the IT services sector). We contribute to the circular economy by working with longstanding SME partners to deliver ethical reuse or disposal of IT equipment.
Equal opportunity – We value accessibility and inclusion, and we continually review how we can increase the breadth of diversity in our recruitment candidate pool. We partner with expert advisors who provide additional guidance on recruitment and internal policy adjustments to enable a more inclusive workplace for people with neurodiverse conditions or those who have faced barriers and may need additional support. Our ED&I Networks represent the views of people across our workforce and are integral to driving continuous improvement. Our Menopause Policy, which originated in one such network led to us being the first IT company worldwide to be a Henpicked Menopause Friendly Employer.
Wellbeing and Communities – Atos understands that our employees want to make a difference, and it’s important to us as an ethical employer that we give them the chance to have a positive impact on our society. We actively encourage our employees to participate in fundraising and volunteering activities, through paid time off for volunteering and in their own time.
Through our community partnerships, we can deliver awareness campaigns, training and support for wellbeing. For example, the Atos/Antz Mentoring programme mentors people facing challenges in society, such as care-leavers, prison-leavers and refugees, and provide vital support for their wellbeing; helping mentees get into meaningful employment, training or education. The Programme won the Institute for Collaboration’s Third Sector Award in 2020.