Social value and sustainable procurement policies: a statement by eCom Learning Solutions
In a move to bring its corporate responsibility policy into line with the latest social value and sustainable procurement policies of both the UK and Scottish Governments, Scotland’s leading digital learning and assessment specialist has published the following statement: “eCom Learning Solutions pursues and promotes the highest standards of corporate responsibility and is committed to supporting five social value themes: COVID-19 Recovery; Wellbeing; Fighting Climate Change; Equal Opportunity, and Tackling Economic Inequality.”
“The UK Government’s ‘Social Value Model’ and similar policies, including those of the Scottish Government, provide outcomes-based approaches and frameworks for measuring social value that are critical to achieving desired policy outcomes,” explained eCom’s Managing Director, Wendy Edie. “eCom welcomes work by all organisations to promote and elevate social value in procurement processes as we believe these initiatives can have a lasting impact on individuals, communities, and the environment.”
COVID-19 Recovery
eCom continues to do all it can to aid the recovery of its employees and their families and, by extension, local communities, businesses and economies. This includes providing employment opportunities; up-skilling and re-skilling its workforce; implementing return-to-work and hybrid working policies; continuing its community engagement and support efforts; developing and implementing new ways of working, and supporting the health and needs of those affected by the pandemic. eCom also has online communication and collaboration capabilities to help ensure and maintain business continuity - to help everyone stay safe while, simultaneously, continuing to serve its clients in a responsible and reliable way.
Wellbeing
eCom’s wellness programme, ‘eComLife’ - available to all employees - is geared towards encouraging health and vitality, maintaining quality of life and providing a positive working and living environment in which people can thrive. Community cohesion, which lies at the heart of what makes communities safe and strong, must be delivered by creating strong community networks based on the principles of trust and respect for diversity, and nurturing a sense of belonging and confidence in people and the communities in which they work and live. eCom’s commitment to working with small, diverse, high-quality suppliers is also an important aspect of its business.
Fighting climate change
Committed to combat climate change, eCom engages and collaborates with its many stakeholders to make a positive, sustainable environmental impact. This includes minimising its carbon footprint, investing in renewable energy and engaging with its people to maximise their collective impact on climate change and the company’s operations.
eCom ensures its products and services use the least amount of electricity possible, while still ensuring reliability. Its headquarters uses power which is fully renewable, and it aims to minimise water usage in its buildings and vehicles. It’s also committed to using recycled or upcycled goods as well as environmentally safe cleaning products. To further measure and assess its carbon footprint, eCom has signed-up to Pawprint, an employee engagement tool which harnesses energy to fight climate change.
Equal opportunity
eCom believes that both success and innovation begin with inclusion. It strives to build a workplace where everyone understands the important relationship between health, work and disability. It also believes all work should be fair and decent - and everyone, regardless of where they live or the sector in which they work, should be able to benefit from high quality jobs and opportunities to advance their own careers and lives. This includes both a commitment to not using zero-hour contracts, and a commitment to pay Living Wages.
eCom is also committed to creating accessible technologies and products that contribute to its employees’ productivity and with which its customers, and their audiences, engage. eCom understands and emphasises the need for its products to be usable by disabled and disadvantaged audiences.
Tackling Economic Inequality
Social purpose is woven into eCom’s fabric and values. Its vision is to help lower the unequal distribution of income and opportunity between different groups in society. It’s generating more employment and learning and development opportunities, especially for those who face barriers or obstacles to employment.
The ‘eCom Academy’ is designed to increase knowledge flow, innovation, skills development and diversity in technology fields. This internal academy provides employees with a range of free learning resources encompassing topics including social and environmental issues, business, leadership and technical skills.