Pitney Bowes is a global technology company operating in 100 countries with 14700 employees globally. Operating from seven site offices in India, Pitney Bowes has been named a Great Place to Work 8 times in the last 10 years. Manish Choudhary, Senior Vice President, Global SMB Products and Strategy & Chairman, India Operations, Pitney Bowes Inc shared his views on CSR journey with India CSR Network. Enjoy the reading:
Give an overview of Pitney Bowes’ CSR journey globally and in India.
For the last 100 years, we have stood by our core value statement, “We do the right thing, the right way,” and the company’s success as industry leader and employer has been built on these commitments. In 2016, Pitney Bowes CSR programs reached 187,000 students through our grants and partnerships, providing more than 4.3 million hours of enrichment through early literacy, STEM education, entrepreneurial training, and mentoring programs. In India, Pitney Bowes’ social responsibility initiatives impacted more than 20,000 lives including more than 600 children across the country in the last two years.
Our employees take pride in the fact that as a company we help in improving the well-being of our communities.
We have a strong focus on environmentally friendly products. Our company has a long legacy of product remanufacturing and recycling. We started our product take-back program fifty years ago, and since then we have recovered millions of pounds of equipment and components for reuse and recycling. Today, 95 percent of our mailing equipment parts are recyclable.
Pitney Bowes is also devoted to diversity and inclusion, it is a defining element in our code of conduct. In India, we support Catalyst, a non-profit organization that works to accelerate progress for women through workplace inclusion. Pitney Bowes continues to be highly regarded in its diversity initiatives in India and globally.
What are some of the CSR initiatives that Pitney Bowes has driven in India?
In India, we are dedicated to supporting education and, in particular, the education of young children in need. We focus on helping students who are underserved and providing opportunities for them to learn vocational skills and be better prepared to join the workforce of tomorrow.
To that end, our employees are very engaged with our CSR focus and lead many of our community initiatives. JORAD (Just One Rupee A Day) is an ongoing collection drive by and for employees who donate a rupee every day towards food and items for orphanages and elderly homes. We partner with NGOs who work towards empowerment and education by hosting events, exhibitions that would drive their cause forward. These included NGOs such as Parichay, Manthan, Antarkranti and Antardrishti. ‘Project Khelghar’ was an initiative undertaken in Pune to provide learning centers for kids, helped a total of 553 underprivileged children. We have Project Dhaarna which is a diversity and inclusion program aimed at identifying specific development paths for women while simultaneously engaging men in gender conversations. Our Pitney Bowes Code Inspire is the annual women-only coding challenge crafted by Pitney Bowes attracted participation from more than 3,000 women engineering graduates from 180 universities. Upon conclusion, five women were offered positions at Pitney Bowes. We run an annual Employee Giving campaign where employees, including those in India, donate funds/leaves voluntarily. The Pitney Bowes Foundation matches the collected donations, doubling the total amount that is sent for charity.
Does Pitney Bowes work in the area of increasing women in technology in India?
We have consistently supported women in tech initiatives throughout our inception in India and believe in the cause. We work very diligently towards attracting and retaining our women workforce through a number of programs including offering flexibility, maternity benefits, sabbaticals and others. Over the last few years, we have annually organized women-only hackathons to encourage and recognize this section of talent pool. On a global level, the Pitney Bowes Women’s Inclusion Network (PBWIN) is designed to support the inclusion and development of women across all fields to further the company’s business success
What are your views on the role of business in society?
There is an ongoing debate about the role of business in society in the 21st century. From my perspective, it is impossible to do right by your shareholders if you do not do right by your clients, your employees and your communities. For us at Pitney Bowes, as we head toward our second century, our core values of responsible, purposeful innovation is stronger than ever, expressing itself every day through programs and actions that benefit stakeholders around the world.
