Best Sustainability or Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative

This article is taken from the the special Relocate Awards 2020 supplement – the must read for HR, global managers and relocation professionals.Click on the cover to access the digital edition, read all of the articles on our website, or order your printed copy.

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Sustainability is the responsibility of every part of a business. Excellence happens where corporate social responsibility goals are integrated and led across the whole organisation – including the global mobility function.Atlanta-headquartered Delta Air Lines annually serves more than 200 million people – including business travellers, transferees, assignees and their families – through its global network of over 300 destinations in 50-plus countries.Delta Air Line’s Think Global People-award winning approach is a window on the challenges many organisations and global mobility face as the sector looks to a more sustainable future – and on all fronts, from the environment to social inclusion.

Sustainability in business travel, global mobility and the airline industry

In a company whose business it is to bring people together, it has a long-term commitment to donate 1% of its net profits (tens of millions of dollars) to charitable causes worldwide.Among the beneficiaries is Breast Care International’s Community Outreach Programme. This provides women in rural African communities opportunities for education and breast-cancer screening.Delta also gives the resource of time in its Great Delta Give-Back – an annual paid day of service for all of Delta's people worldwide. This adds up to an impressive 640,000 hours of service every year. “When we support charitable organisations in our communities with our time, talent and resources and operate sustainably, we know we are helping to ensure an enduring planet for all,” says Neia Omer, Delta’s global mobility leader.

Boosting inclusion through global mobility

With 90,000 employees and a number of hubs and overseas locations, Delta is also actively engaged in programmes to reduce workforce inequality and boost inclusion through its 15,000-member strong Business Resource Groups as it follows its overarching globalisation and partnerships strategy.Its Global Mobility programme plays an integral role in delivering this. It promotes corporate and social responsibility across all its operations by providing opportunities in Delta’s business units and partnerships.“Delta’s mobility programme aims to have thoughtful alignment with business activities, and our social responsibilities to attract and retain the best talent,” explains Neia.“In 2019, we did this by increasing short-term assignments by 85% to provide additional opportunities to transfer knowledge and best practices with our partners and joint ventures.”

Supporting a global outlook and reducing environmental impact during international assignments

Delta’s programme also accents the social and cultural awareness aspect of assignments. The investment, Delta believes, enables assignees to maximise their assignment experience and ultimately drive business value.It offers preparation and support during business hours, critical both for helping assignees to settle and thrive in their role and for the company and assignee to truly understand the host country’s environmental, social and economic governance issues.Delta’s Global Mobility team is also actively seeking to reduce the environmental impact of business and personal travel, balancing this with securing knowledge transfer and bringing different parts of the business together.This environmental mission is supported by Delta’s goal to reduce its net aviation emissions by 50% by 2050 and its commitment to carbon offsetting. It is on the path to achieving this goal by using its own network to fly its people on company aircraft to their assignment locations and shipping a large proportion of their household goods on its aircraft.

Committed to creating an enduring planet for everyone

For the judges, Delta’s integrated and “impressive range” of CSR demonstrated the organisation’s “strong commitment to improving local communities, reducing poverty, and lowering its environmental footprint and carbon emissions.”Collecting the Think Global People award, Neia Omer said: “On behalf of Delta Air Lines it is an honour to accept the best corporate and social responsibility initiative with our global mobility programme.“If you know Delta Airlines, community and service is at the heart of what we do, so this is beyond exciting. For more than 90 years Delta not only carefully selects charitable organisations, but we also display our commitment and the time, resources and talent we invest in there. We also want to make sure that we operate sustainably and create an enduring planet for all of us, so this is an amazing win. Thank you all.”*All stats correct at time of entry March 2020https://www.delta.com/This award was sponsored by Santa Fe Relocation

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Find out more in the Relocate Awards 2020 section!

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