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siptel – corporate social responsibility overview
Our Story
Business responsibility matters to siptel and in recent years, social
and environmental responsibility has become even more important to our
business and our success.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is about understanding your business' impact on the wider world and considering how you can use this impact in a positive way. At siptel, it means taking a responsible attitude, going above and beyond the minimum legal requirements and following straightforward principles that apply, whatever the size of business.
It is critical to us that we grow as a business in a way that benefits our customers and our community – for example, through the use of communications technology to help tackle social and environmental challenges. siptel is committed to providing the latest technologies not only to the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) and Enterprise Sectors, but also to the community’s not-for-profit organisations.
As a technology company we believe we have a responsibility to ensure that technology is easily accessible to everyone in our community and we want to make a positive contribution to society. We recognise that, by investing in and supporting our communities, we can help to build a more economically sustainable, educated and socially-inclusive society. By using our expert knowledge base and access to reusable technology to benefit not-for-profit organisations, we will continue to enforce our principles.
Examples of the projects we have been involved in can be found in our News pages: http://www.siptel.co.uk/news
Supporting our Communities
siptel prides itself on helping others within the community in a variety
of ways; we want to make a positive contribution to society. Below are just
two examples of the work siptel has done to support the local community.
siptel has recently donated many prizes to the annual charity ball and
auction held by local charity ‘Link Leisure’.
Fiona Hope, from Link Leisure, said:
“Link Leisure needs a lot of help to continue to maintain the services we offer on a day-to-day basis for children and adults with learning disabilities and to respond to the growing needs in the community. siptel’s support is an extremely important contribution and money made from the auction will be used to make a difference to our members’ lives.”
Steve Rasmussen, Director at siptel, added:
“So many charities rely on regular support to enable them to keep doing their amazing work. By supporting such a worthy charity as Link Leisure, it is nice for siptel to feel that we are giving something back to the local community.”
siptel recently announced that it has enrolled as a Work Experience host for Jobcentre Plus to support young jobseekers that are struggling to find jobs.
siptel has already agreed to take on its first young person for an eight-week placement. Working with Jobcentre Plus, siptel is offering an eight-week work experience placement to provide ‘on the job’ and office experience to young people looking to develop a career in the IT and technology industries. A lack of understanding of the working world can act as a barrier for young people finding jobs, and placements like this one at siptel aim to increase their employment prospects.
Alison Linington at Jobcentre Plus in Guildford said:
“Work Experience is a great opportunity to give people the skills and experience they need to get into work. We are now calling on other companies in Surrey to get involved and help develop the skills of young jobseekers.”
Steve Rasmussen, Director at siptel, said:
“By becoming a work experience host for Jobcentre Plus, we’re able to help young local people get into the workplace. The placement in the IT department will allow our volunteer to get a taste for working in the IT industry, providing valuable experience that will hopefully provide better opportunities for them in the future. Placements at siptel are something that we’d like to repeat, so that we can continue to support Guildford Jobcentre Plus’ work with unemployed young people.”
Helping our people to make a difference
“Investors in People” is an important standard which helps organisations
transform their business performance. The frameworks are outcome focused,
outlining what you need to achieve, but never prescribing how. This flexible
approach allows thousands of different employers of every sector and size to
use the same framework.
“Investors in People” has grown to be the UK’s leading people management business improvement standard because it delivers improved performance to thousands of organisations. Currently almost seven million employees in over 35,000 organisations have achieved Investors in People recognition.
siptel is privately owned and has been established since 2003. The company has grown significantly over the last few years with turnover increasing exponentially each year, and the employee headcount increasing too. Having looked at the range of business improvement tools in the marketplace, siptel identified the “Investors in People” standard as one which would help them significantly address any challenges facing the business now and in the future. Some of siptel’s motivation for improvement and change are listed below:
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Both internal communication with employees and external communication with customers and other stakeholders needed to improve in order to develop stronger relationships and increase levels of commitment.
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While the company’s leaders had a vision of where they wanted to take the business, there was not a route map for how that vision was to be realised. By working with “Investors in People”, siptel hope to develop a more structured approach to business planning.
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By working with “Investors in People” siptel hope to develop a more systematic approach to both inducting new recruits and succession planning to support the long-term development of the business.
Recent research demonstrates that “Investors in People” improves financial performance, increases profitability and helps organisations meet their strategic objectives. It is also recognised as a world class good practice, with a framework that has been developed over 18 years, with some of the world’s leading organisations.
Steve Rasmussen, Director of siptel, said on the latest accreditation: "”Investors in People” is an excellent tool that can be used to identify ways of raising siptel’s performance and is a practical and reliable framework for continuous development".
Rasmussen added, “I find the strategy of continuous development appealing, whereby the “Investors in People” advisers, assessors and self-check tools can tell how well we are performing, suggesting key performance indicators or providing tailored business advice on where to best focus development activity.”
Protecting our environment
siptel believes that businesses must be accountable for managing their
impact on the environment.
siptel has partnered with Carbon Managers, taking proactive steps to reduce
our own carbon footprint. Carbon Managers provide carbon management
solutions for progressive businesses, by conducting carbon audits and tree
planting initiatives.
siptel went through the carbon audit process, in accordance with ISO
standard 14064. Carbon Managers also arranged cost-effective tree planting;
this is a simple eco action that benefits customers, staff and stakeholders.
One hundred native Caledonian trees were planted in Scotland’s Alladale
Reserve, by Alladale Reserve staff and local school children from the
Alladale Challenge Programme – an exciting opportunity for children to spend
time in the natural environment.
siptel goes green
siptel is now working with a recycling partner, RCS Recycling (www.rcsrecycling.co.uk).
Until very recently, over 75% of waste electrical equipment in the UK has
been land-filled but we all have a legal responsibility to change that.
It is now a requirement that you obtain and keep proof that your Waste, Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) is given to a waste management company, and treated and disposed of in an environmentally sound way.
RCS Recycling now disposes of both siptel’s and some of our customers’ redundant stock in accordance with WEE compliance. If you want further information on how to recycle your electrical waste, please contact siptel on 0870 871 1400.
Helping our customers
siptel always puts our customers first, by helping them to achieve their
business objectives that will contribute to efficiencies and improvements in
the way they operate. Below are just two examples of the work siptel does to
support our customers.
siptel deploys VoiP in forward-thinking education sector
The King Edmund School (KES), located in Rochford, Essex was designated
one of the first Business and Enterprise Specialist Schools in the UK. The
school is becoming increasingly well known for some of its great work in
vocational training and teaching in science and business. Their strength as
a provider of business education has long been recognised and they boast
some of the finest facilities in the area. The 1,500 students also enjoy the
many links they have with local, national and international businesses.
A Business and Enterprise school means that the State provides funding, then approach local businesses for further investment. Consequently, KES decided to dispose of their legacy analogue PBX which was proving costly to maintain and support, and deploy a new IP solution on their existing HP ProCurve LAN infrastructure (which was capable of delivering Voice over IP). They initially obtained quotes from three suppliers, including siptel, who were recommended to them through a referral. KES chose siptel to implement their new IP solution, based on their prior knowledge and expertise of IP technology.
siptel does their bit for the community: Midsomer Norton Primary School
siptel has donated a selection of media equipment to Midsomer Norton
Primary School in Somerset. The school’s vision statement is 'Learning is a
way of life'; they therefore place great emphasis on children developing the
skills and qualities of independent learners, such as enquiring minds,
creativity, analytical skills, perseverance, teamwork and resourcefulness.
The school already had one lap top per classroom as well as white board projectors. siptel provided them with metal flight case boxes, used for protection, containing digital cameras and tripods for every class, as well as web cams and microphones. Now, with siptel’s donation, a full raft of multimedia applications has been brought to the classroom. The children have been given the chance to see first-hand how powerful technology can be and they can appreciate the full extent of what computers can do. Pupils can take their own pictures and videos, edit them, download them and essentially bring them to life.
siptel is delighted that their provision of additional multimedia equipment can benefit young and enquiring minds and help them understand at such a young age the amazing potential of IT.
