Corporate Social Responsibility

SoftwareONE is committed to operating its business as an ethical company, with integrity and as a good corporate citizen. In addition to respecting all relevant laws, regulations and standards in all of the countries in which the group operates, SoftwareONE has put in place Codes of Conduct both for employees and business partners, which in part stipulate higher standards.

Company values

SoftwareONE’s business success is driven by a highly qualified, motivated and empowered global workforce that embodies its results-oriented, customer-first company culture and its core values of speed, customer focus, employee satisfaction, humble, passion, integrity and discipline.

EcoVadis CSR “Silver” rating

For its efforts in the area of corporate social responsibility (CSR), SoftwareONE achieved a “Silver” rating in the EcoVadis CSR assessment in 2019, placing it among the top 30% of the companies rated.

The EcoVadis CSR assessment is a ranking based on a performance monitoring for CSR to provide a comparison of the environmental and social practices of companies of different sizes, industries and locations. It considers a range of CSR issues, which are grouped into the four themes of environment, labor practices and human rights, fair business practices, and sustainable procurement. The CSR issues analyzed are based on international CSR standards such as the ten principles of the UN Global Compact, the International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards, the ISO 26000 standard, the Ceres Roadmap, and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

Sustainable initiatives and SoftwareONE Foundation

As a successful company with a global footprint, and in line with its core values, SoftwareONE and its founders believe it has a responsibility to give back to the society it is a part of. Beyond local initiatives in a number of the company’s markets, SoftwareONE has globally committed to support initiatives in the host countries of its annual President’s Club. In 2019, participants of the President’s Club in South Africa engaged to improve the premises of the Thembani School, where they successfully re-modelled and refurbished a large outdoor play and sport facility.

In 2020, the company intends to create the SoftwareONE Foundation – “ONELife” – as a primary platform to support long term sustainable initiatives that have a positive impact on society beyond the business. It is intended that the Foundation will support projects focused on delivering sustainable benefit in the four key areas Environment, Education, Charity and Our People. All projects would connect to SoftwareONE’s physical footprint and centre around the geographic locations of the company. It is intended that Foundation will be governed by a dedicated Board made up of external members with appropriate governing rules and charter.

Employee development

SoftwareONE continues to invest significantly into the development of its employees within the ‘People’ pillar of Vision 2022. Professional development is regionalised based on maturity of market and need, and is delivered through a mix of digital activities via the dedicated Learning Experience Platform (FUSE) as well as classroom based internal and external professional development and certification. In addition, the company has developed its own ‘Transitions Framework’ centered around ‘Success Competencies’ that fosters growth of its employees aligned to the core values.

The table below sets forth the number of employees (full-time equivalent basis) SoftwareONE employed as at 31 December 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, broken down by geographic region:

Diversity

As a global company, SoftwareONE is diverse and international in its very nature, and it believes that this is a key tenet in its ability to successfully navigate an ever-changing world economy and complex technology landscape. At a gender level, the employee population comprises of 61% male, 38% female and 1% trans or other specific gender denominations. Of equal importance, the company continues to be an equal opportunities employer represented across the major religious groups by 82 nationalities, speaking 32 languages.

Initiatives have so far focused on three key areas:

Talent Acquisition: SoftwareONE has made significant investments in its branding to show case the diverse nature of its existing employee base and has further enhanced its processes with artificial intelligence technology and training to remove unconscious bias in its recruitment and promotion activity. By removing barriers to entry and creating a fairer, more transparent decision process, the group is aiming to drive diversity at the source level to ensure improved opportunities for all of its current and future talent.

Cultural Development: Worldwide initiatives such as “Women In Technology” are providing a more empowered community to help break down any barriers in terms of gender as one aspect of diversity. The regular promotion of “Cultural Days” ensures the whole population learns about, recognises and celebrates the many cultures and nationalities that make up SoftwareONE. The international footprint and operating model of the business provide a global platform for international assignments and projects, allowing the group to develop better cross-cultural understanding and interaction both internally and with customers.

Learning: A major program for 2019 and continuing in 2020 has been the expansion of SoftwareONE’s “Learning & Talent Development” organisation and tools. The launch of FUSE, a social learning experience platform, has provided an accelerated digital and interactive learning capability and not only promotes professional curriculums, but more importantly open discussion and shared experiences so that learning and development becomes close to real time. SoftwareONE continues to expand the team with a dedicated organisation that not only supports competence by function, but actively drives personal development through inhouse programs such as ‘Inspire Through Culture”.

SoftwareONE’s ultimate goal remains unchanged – its people are its greatest asset and as such, it has a responsibility to attract, develop and retain the best possible talent to ensure an amazing experience for them and the group’s customers.

Management

SoftwareONE’s management is a cohesive, highly experienced global team with deep experience in a variety of industries and a track record of achieving consistent growth and margin expansion. The leadership team has also successfully led the company through its strategic repositioning as an end-to-end technology solutions provider and the strategic acquisition of Comparex completed in 2019, among other strategic acquisitions.

Compensation and rewards

As outlined in the Compensation Report, the SoftwareONE compensation philosophy extends to all of its employees and focuses on attracting, motivating and retaining the best talent in a highly competitive global environment. The group’s globally aligned incentive pay structure is based on gross profit, EBITDA, profitable customer acquisition or functional targets set in accordance with employee function or seniority.

The company offers a competitive employee benefit structure in accordance with local country legislative requirements and market/industry sector practices. Pension plans are maintained throughout the various countries where SoftwareONE employees are based, with the majority of its pension liabilities deriving from Switzerland.

In addition, the company offers a number of recognition programs including its reward platform ‘Motivosity’ that allows all employees to recognise each other for good behaviours aligned to the values across the group as well as a number of incentive programs cultminating in the pinnacle annual Presidents Club.

SoftwareONE also supports the professional and personal development of its employees through a number of programs, including international assignments, education grants and learning and development support. Furthermore, the company sponsors and supports several local programs, focusing on strengthening the group's culture and community service activities for a positive impact on society. 

Labor standards

SoftwareONE supports and respects the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights. It makes sure that it is not complicit in human rights abuses. As far as any relevant laws allow, all employees are free to form and to join or not to join trade unions or similar external representative organizations and to bargain collectively. SoftwareONE is subject to collective bargaining agreements or similar labor contracts in Brazil and Mexico. In certain other jurisdictions, including Spain and the Netherlands, a workers’ council is in place. Forced, bonded or compulsory labor is not used, and employees are free to leave their employment after reasonable notice as required by national law or contract. No person is employed who is below the minimum legal age for employment.

Discrimination and harassment

SoftwareONE is an equal opportunities employer and is committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations relating to equal employment opportunity, nondiscrimination and similar employee-related matters. All employees are treated with respect and dignity at all times, in line with the company values. SoftwareONE operates a zero-tolerance policy on harassment and discrimination of any kind. This includes but is not limited to physical or verbal abuse, physical or sexual harassment (in any form, including the distribution of sexual material), any other unlawful harassment or any threats or other forms of intimidation. All kinds of discrimination based on partiality or prejudice are prohibited, including discrimination based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, parental status, pregnancy, religion, political opinion, nationality, social status and any other characteristic protected by local law as applicable.

Anti-corruption, ethical business conduct

SoftwareONE tolerates no form of extortion or bribery, including improper offers for payments to or from, or improper entertainment of employees or organizations. It forbids bribery of office holders, clients, business partners, suppliers, or any other person, accepting improper payments from such persons or inciting these persons to such behavior in order to achieve unfair advantages.

SoftwareONE stipulates that any payment, benefit, gift or contribution received by its personnel from any current or prospective customer, supplier, business partner or a related third party must not only comply with applicable law but must also be consistent with ethical business and local cultural practices and must not be intended to improperly influence business decisions. Equally, any payment in kind, benefit, gift or contribution made by SoftwareONE personnel to any current or prospective customer, supplier, business partner or a related third party must comply with applicable law, be consistent with ethical business and local cultural practices and must not be intended to improperly influence business decisions.

SoftwareONE is committed to complying with all applicable competition and antitrust laws and regulations. Equally, it strives to comply with all applicable export control regulations to prevent the proliferation of software and/or technology that can be used for military purposes. Furthermore, the group is committed to being a responsible corporate citizen and good neighbor. This means it is aware of and respects the traditions, business customs, social norms and expectations of host countries and makes every effort to pursue the right course of action.

Conflicts of interest

Employees or other representatives of SoftwareONE must base their decisions on the best interests of SoftwareONE, thus avoiding conflicts of interest, along with legal and ethical considerations. Any situation that may present a conflict of interest with the company must be disclosed internally, to allow for appropriate action to be taken in order to avoid actual, potential or apparent conflicts of interest.

Privacy and data protection

All SoftwareONE employees must comply with all applicable data protection and privacy laws and ensure that any personal data is obtained properly, kept securely and is used only for those business purposes for which the data was obtained. Details are defined in SoftwareONE's IT policies and IT end-user policy.

Due to the increasingly data driven nature of SoftwareONE’s services and solutions portfolio, laws and regulations governing the protection of personally identifiable information and other data relating to individuals can have a significant impact on its business. The most important data protection regulation to which the group’s operations are subject is the European Union’s Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR), which came into effect in May 2018.

The GDPR is a uniform framework laying down principles for legitimate data processing in the European Union. Compared to it's predecessor, the Data Protection Directive (95/46/EC), the GDPR entails significantly stricter requirements for data protection, in particular for international data transfers, data mapping and accountability, processor (service provider) obligations, and the requirement to designate a Data Protection Officer. The GDPR introduces substantial sanctions for non-compliance and, depending on the nature of the infringed provision, may consist of civil liabilities, criminal sanctions and/or administrative fines. Administrative fines can amount to EUR 20 million or up to 4% of the total worldwide annual revenue, whichever is higher, for each infraction.

SoftwareONE has incurred and expects to continue to incur costs to implement various measures throughout its operations (including appropriate training of employees, fulfillment of additional documentation duties, adjustments of processes and monitoring by its data protection and compliance teams) as a result of the GDPR.

SoftwareONE is committed to safeguarding its intellectual property, including trademarks, service marks, patents, copyrights and trade secrets, as well as protecting the intellectual property of others.

Environment

While SoftwareONE is not engaged in a business of producing, processing or transporting goods with a heavy impact on the environment, it is aware that its service delivery, in particular related to its cloud services, requires substantial energy resources. In its Environmental Policy statement, the group has committed itself to continuously evaluating new ways to reduce energy consumption and to ensuring the responsible use of energy throughout the company, including conserving energy, improving energy efficiency and giving preference to renewable over non-renewable energy sources.

SoftwareONE also endeavors to reduce or eliminate waste of all types by implementing appropriate conservation measures, e.g. by recycling, re-using, or substituting materials.

Quality certifications

SoftwareONE is certified to international standards on systems management, including ISO 9001:2008 on quality management systems, ISO 14001:2015 on environmental management systems and ISO 27001:2005 on information security management (in respect of the entities acquired as part of the acquisition of Comparex, with rollout to the entire IT organization in progress).

Code of Conduct for SoftwareONE business partners

SoftwareONE requires its business partners, including suppliers, distributors, contractors and others entering into a contractual relationship with SoftwareONE, to adhere to applicable laws and regulations as well as to SoftwareONE’s values and standards. Requirements include the support of internationally proclaimed human rights, such as prohibition of child labor, adequate measures to protect the health and safety of their employees, prohibition of discrimination, anti-corruption provisions, compliance with competition and antitrust, national bidding and/or procurement, export control as well as data protection and privacy laws.