Jul 30, 2024
Our Handy Tips for Generating Concrete Impacts With an ESG Committee!
Culture
At the core of Vooban's values is the philosophy of caring for the people around us. Over the past few years, we've tried various ways of getting involved in the community and encouraging our employees to make a difference around them. For example, we allocated an annual budget for each team to spend on a cause they chose. On a second occasion, Vooban got directly involved with an organization and encouraged employees to participate in fundraising activities.
But of all our ideas, the one that has brought the most concrete and positive results is the creation of our ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) committee. With this more solid structure, we were able to maximize the impact of our donations and ensure that the causes benefited as much as possible.
Are you interested in setting up this type of committee in your company? Are you curious to know how we did it and what our budget was used for? We'll share our experience with you with great pleasure.
1. Establish guidelines
As this was the first year of operation for our ESG committee, we began by establishing its direction. This step was decisive for the rest of the process; we advise you not to skip it and to give it some serious thought!
For us, it came down to social, sporting, environmental, and technological aspects. The desire to increase our positive impact in our community by adopting social initiatives quickly stood out. But of course, we did it our way! We recommend that whatever you do, stay true to your colors.
In the spirit of fighting food insecurity, we helped Moisson Québec organize quite an exciting fundraising show! The event featured performances by Émile Bilodeau, Tom Folly, and Loëm and raised over $35,000. Vooban's financial support enabled the equivalent of 40,000 meals to be provided for those in need!
To support a small community secondhand store in a Quebec City neighborhood, we organized a big bazaar. We invited our employees to gather everything they no longer use and bring them to our event. There, everything was offered for free to colleagues. Items that didn't find any takers were forwarded to the Vestiaire du Faubourg. Just like that, we're improving our ESG practices, and it's far from boring!
2. Connect with employee concerns
One of our main objectives in setting up an ESG committee was to get closer to the causes our colleagues cared about. It's one of our best pieces of advice: take an interest in what your employees stand for. The commitment was felt, and we succeeded in making a positive local difference.
When the committee was formed, we invited our employees to contact us with their ideas. Following the requests received, we provided financial support to Maison Fontaine, a community organization offering a wide variety of services to individuals and families affected by intellectual or physical disabilities or autism spectrum disorders (ASD).
We also supported the communities of two of our employees, which were heavily affected by the disastrous floods in southern Brazil during April and May 2024.
3. Involve employees
Our third tip also concerns employees. They are your strength and represent your company beyond the workplace; involving them on a voluntary basis is essential.
At Vooban, we are united by the value of physical and mental health. Staying active and promoting our well-being is essential for us. We have been thinking about how to promote this value in our community and positively impact the health and well-being of those around us.
We quickly realized that many organizations use sports challenges to raise funds.
For instance, some of us participated in the "Grand défi Pierre-Lavoie," raising donations to provide cross-country skis to a school in need. By running for the "6 heures en coeur" event, our colleagues raised funds, to which Vooban contributed. The "Course du Père Noël" registration fees were entirely donated to the "Petits Bonheurs d'école" charitable foundation. Finally, a number of Christmas gifts were purchased so that employees could participate in "Courir pour offrir un cadeau," an event involving running to Sainte-Justine Hospital to give gifts to sick children.
In the same vein, some of our colleagues asked for Vooban's support to push themselves to their limits, both physically and mentally. Audrey, our climbing pro, wanted to climb the 5947-meter-high Alpamayo, one of the most remarkable mountains in the Peruvian Andes. Robin has set a challenge for himself by participating in the 170 km Ultra-Trail des Chic-Chocs, which is one of the most grueling trail races in Eastern Canada. To us, it's clear that these two athletes have the knife between their teeth and proudly represent Vooban's values! We were proud to support them financially in achieving these challenges.
Contributing to all these activities enabled us to have a positive impact on several causes while involving our employees in a way they loved. It's been more than satisfying to see how popular this voluntary participation has been!
4. Think sustainability
Another concern we couldn't overlook was the environment and our company's sustainability. We knew we had to do everything we could to adopt ecological initiatives and responsible consumption habits.
We have taken our first step towards reducing our carbon footprint: purchasing carbon credits from Planetair.ca, a company that invests globally in projects that prevent greenhouse gas emissions at the source, such as those related to solar energy, wind turbines, and waste management.
As we certainly will do, we suggest you rethink the green initiatives that can be taken every year. Technology evolves rapidly, and new opportunities arise every year.
An ESG committee made by and for our employees
In a few words, here's what we've learned from the success of our ESG committee's first year: employees must be at the heart of the committee in order to maximize its impact and ensure that charities benefit from it as much as possible.
The principle was simple for us. The committee was made up of employees who wanted to get involved, and it was given a budget which it could spend on the causes it felt strongly about. The only guidance given was to choose initiatives aligned with Vooban's values and the four guidelines outlined above.
There you have it—it's as simple as that. We really hope we've convinced you to set up an ESG committee in your company and given you some stimulating ideas to get you started!
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