Serving the environment, society, and creating an all-inclusive, responsible workplace.
At Verb, we are honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Day and wanted to take some time to commemorate a man who had a better dream for the United States and celebrate his determined advocacy for civil rights through nonviolent resistance. All Verb employees took the day off to take some time to reflect on MLK’s legacy and consider how we can continue what he started by creating a more inclusive and loving culture. And it wouldn’t be a true MLK Day without recalling some of his inspiring words, so here are some quotes that can motivate us all to “stick with love.”
As we celebrated Martin Luther King Jr.'s life and legacy, we've also reflected on how our business can become more socially aware in ways similar to how we made MLK Day a company holiday. We believe that even small acts can lead to big ripples in the sea of influence. Dr. King always preached about the importance of equality and justice for all, and we must implement these values in our companies. This year, Verb Technology Company is putting a greater emphasis on ESG (environmental, social, and governance) and its factors as we make decisions and strive to be ethical examples to other businesses.
We started our journey with ESG in 2020 when we created a three-part blog series to explain our plans for contributing to this community and creating our own initiatives for being more socially and environmentally aware. Today, we're talking about how we’ve restructured and realigned our company values in the different ESG categories.
Environmental
Businesses are one of the main sources of pollutants and other harmful substances entering the atmosphere, especially if travel is involved. If even one company decided to become more focused on sustainability, recycling, and reducing travel time, it would be a win for the world. Here at Verb, we’ve entirely eliminated single-use plastics from the office and have made it our mission to recycle as much as possible.
Additionally, we use our Verb for Humanity initiative to help other organizations take steps to make the world a little greener. For example, this month, we’re organizing a fundraiser for the Los Angeles Zoo to honor Betty White and give back to the animals. To hear more about our vision for becoming an environmentally friendly company, check out this blog post.
Social
The social aspect of ESG can also be called social investing, sustainable investing, or responsible investing. This category can take on several different things, but we’d like to showcase some of the elements that we have found most meaningful. In the last year, Verb has introduced more paid company holidays to help our customers and employees commemorate some important dates in our history. For example, check out our Juneteenth blog to see how making Juneteenth an observed company holiday got us thinking about humanity’s ability to strive for a better tomorrow. Taking days like Juneteenth and Martin Luther King Day off has made their historical significance more profound to Verb employees.
Last year was also a good year for becoming more aware of the amazing initiatives around us through Verb for Humanity. In April, we teamed up with Bold.org to offer two scholarships to aspiring women in business. The application results were genuinely humbling. Our two winners exuded confidence, presented innovative business ideas, and showed a clear passion for business. To learn more about this initiative, click here for the full blog post. In fact, we were so inspired by the women we interacted within this initiative that we took it upon ourselves to focus more on women in the tech workplace and especially hiring women for tech positions. Currently, women only make up 19% of the tech workforce, and we are advocating for that to change at Verb.
Governance
Governance isn’t as loud to the public as being an environmentally and socially aware company is. It’s an internal, company-specific beast that each business approaches differently. When considering the G is in ESG, we think about management structure, executive compensation, audits, shareholder rights, and employee relations. These are the factors that, when properly cared for, increase a company’s performance over time.
Here at Verb, we’ve made maintaining our integrity with customers and with other employees our mantra. To support responsible practices and governance at Verb Technology, we have cultivated an atmosphere of respect and honesty with everyone we interact with at work and at home (which, since the pandemic hit, the two have become the same). If you’re interested in learning more about our approach to governance, you can check out this blog post.
In 2019, a Fortune Magazine survey revealed that 72% of adults believe that social responsibility should drive business strategy (Goby). That’s why, in light of MLK Day, we have been reflecting on how Verb Technology Company can better serve the environment, society and be more responsible in the workplace. This year, we’re redoubling our efforts to utilize ESG principles and be more conscious of each category in our actions and interactions. We believe the time and effort put into making these principles a reality for Verb Technology Company is far outweighed by the benefits they will have on our employees, customers, and anyone else who comes in contact with our company.
We are excited about the things this year has in store for our company, and we’re delighted that you’re here to experience it with us. Stay tuned to hear more about the exciting things that Verb has in the pipeline—we can promise that it’s going to be spectacular.
About the author:
Megan Anderson -- is a yogi, flutist, and writer. She enjoys a good turn of phrase and can never ... She is also Verb's newest copywriter on the Creative Team!