At LoyaltyOne, we recognize that every business has a critical role to play in ensuring a more sustainable planet. We focus on four key areas of corporate responsibility: reducing our environmental footprint, making meaningful contributions to the communities where we do business, creating a rewarding and engaging workplace culture, and protecting the privacy of our customers' information.
As we work to uphold these responsibilities, we encourage LoyaltyOne associates, AIR MILES Collectors, our industry partners and the broader business community to become more engaged in the environmental and social challenges facing Canada and the world. Tackling issues from climate change to personal health and wellness, we work together – as individuals and as an organization – to find practical solutions and take action that sparks positive change.
Solar panels at our Mississauga office generate 165 kwh.
Our Commitment to the Planet
At LoyaltyOne, we're dedicated to reducing our environmental footprint and work with various partners to incorporate sustainability into all of our business activities. By setting a positive example, we hope to inspire our clients, Collectors and associates to make more environmentally responsible choices in their everyday lives.
In 2009, we underlined our goal of becoming a leader in this area by formalizing our sustainability commitment and environmental policy.
LoyaltyOne's Corporate Environmental Policy
Our mission is to become the environmental leader in our industry. To achieve this, we have committed to the following activities:
- integrating a concern for the environment into all of our core business functions
- adopting leading practices and contributing to the best practices of the future
- supporting our employees, Collectors and business partners with the tools and information necessary to make environmentally preferable choices
- measuring, monitoring and setting targets for reducing the impact of our footprint
- communicating our performance internally and externally.
Our Green Plan
To help us focus on the environmental priorities that matter most for our business, in 2009 LoyaltyOne also developed a systematic three-year plan. Building on the environmental activities initiated by associates in the volunteer group LEAF (Leading Environmentally Aware Forum), our phased approach sets out key performance indicators that will enable us to measure progress against a clear baseline.
We've made good progress to date but still have more work to do in achieving our environmental sustainability goals. Targets for each year of the plan are organized into four priority areas:
1. Reduce our harmful impacts
Current and planned activities include:
- use of more videoconferencing to reduce unnecessary travel
- sustainable paper policy for all documents and publications
- waste audits and reduction measures
- higher participation in working-from-home programs
- firm targets for reducing energy/water consumption and carbon dioxide emissions per associate.
2. Adopt environmentally sanctioned facilities
Current and planned activities include:
- moving into facilities certified to the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standard for sustainability – including the Mississauga Customer Care Centre, a LEED Gold building opened in late 2009, and our new LEED Silver building in Calgary
- working toward the goal of accommodating 85% of associates in LEED-certified spaces by the end of 2011
- supporting LEED accreditation for several LoyaltyOne associates
- forging an environmental coalition with property managers.
3. Enable our associates to lead sustainable lives
Current and planned activities include:
- extending our responsible commuting programs, including subsidized public transit passes for LoyaltyOne associates
- growing our fleet of fuel-efficient Smart Cars for associates who need to travel to business meetings
- expanding the successful Work from Home program, in which a large proportion of Customer Care Centre staff are able to eliminate daily commuting
- aiming to have 40% of associates actively participating in green programs.
4. Adopt a leadership role in the community and industry
Current and planned activities include:
- continuing to enhance the AIR MILES My Planet program, in which Collectors can earn or spend reward miles on eco-friendly products and services and share green information online
- setting an example of sustainable energy use with Canada's largest rooftop solar panel array on the Mississauga Customer Care Centre
- asking LoyaltyOne vendors to complete a green survey
- collaboration with schools offering programs in environmental studies
- publications, presentations and other communications initiatives, including the release of LoyaltyOne's first Accountability Report (which contains more details on all of the initiatives outlined here).
Our associates volunteer with local charities.
Our Commitment to Communities
At LoyaltyOne, we believe in giving back to the communities across Canada that have been so remarkably loyal to us. We have a long history of charitable and in-kind giving to carefully selected non-profit organizations with national scope and broad social relevance.
We believe we can make a real difference in our communities by focusing on protecting the health and well-being of children and their families, and by inspiring youth to realize the full potential of their talent and capabilities. To achieve this goal, we've committed to building strong partnerships with charities and community groups. Moving forward, we'll continue to increase our targets for annual donations while assessing the impact of our contributions to ensure we're helping make genuine, measurable improvements in communities from coast to coast.
Special Olympics Canada
Since 1994, LoyaltyOne has supported the Special Olympics movement – including Special
Olympics Canada, provincial chapters, the Special Olympics Canada Foundation and
Motionball – helping to enrich the lives of Canadians with intellectual disabilities through participation in sport. Each year, Special Olympics Canada provides training and competition opportunities to more than 34,000 Canadian athletes of all ages and abilities. LoyaltyOne associates, AIR MILES Collectors and our business partners donate reward miles to help Special Olympics athletes and their coaches travel to events worldwide.
Kids Help Phone
Since 2005, LoyaltyOne has helped empower young people who find themselves in difficult situations by supporting Kids Help Phone, Canada's only toll-free, 24-hour, bilingual phone and web-based centre for counseling, information and referrals. Kids Help Phone provides anonymous and confidential support services to children and youth in distress in nearly 3,000 communities across the country. We partner with AIR MILES Sponsors to create in-store donation campaigns promoting the organization nationwide.
Holiday Matching Charity Drive
Through LoyaltyOne's annual holiday charity drive, we make cash contributions to match associates' gifts of toys, food items and individual financial contributions raised through a variety of events. All donations go to local charities in Calgary, Montreal and the Greater Toronto Area and are distributed to families in need during the end-of-year holiday period. Driven by our associates' philanthropic efforts and supported by the LoyaltyOne culture of social engagement, it's one more way we support the communities where we live and work.
Alexandra Park Community Centre
In 2008, LoyaltyOne discovered the vibrant Alexandra Park Community Centre, just around the corner from our downtown Toronto headquarters. The centre is dedicated to enriching the lives of people in the local community, which includes many recent immigrants, refugees and low-income families. To support the Centre's youth programming, LoyaltyOne has donated reward miles that can be redeemed for a variety of much-needed products and services. We've also funded two $4,000 scholarships for university-bound students.
CommunityOne
At LoyaltyOne, we believe it's important to donate time as well as money, so we encourage our associates to play an active role in effecting positive change while gaining valuable experience outside the workplace. In 2009, we launched CommunityOne, designating one workday in June when associates across Canada can volunteer their time, energy and passion to charitable organizations in their local communities. Feedback from associates and the charities involved has been so overwhelmingly positive, we've now made it an annual event.
LoyaltyOne's team spirit extends outside the office.
Our Culture
The culture of LoyaltyOne mirrors the business we're in. Not surprisingly for a company focused on rewarding loyalty, the day-to-day interactions within our organization revolve around working together to achieve valued goals and build long-term engagement.
Our business is propelled by collaborative teamwork and the search for reciprocal wins. We believe in recognizing and rewarding a job well done. And we uphold principles such as respect and trust as we listen to what our associates are saying and try to align their individual aspirations with the overall goals of the business we're building together.
The culture of LoyaltyOne is not something we've layered onto the business after the fact. It's the essence of who we are and how we interact with each other, our clients, our Sponsors, our Collectors, our business partners and the world around us.
Great People Make a Great Employer
In 2010, LoyaltyOne was recognized by Hewitt Associates as one of the 50 Best Employers in Canada. We're proud to be singled out for our efforts to create an engaged workforce and make LoyaltyOne a place where all associates can do their best. What's more, we understand that this award really recognizes our employees – nearly 1,400 talented and dedicated individuals who are the backbone of LoyaltyOne and play an integral role in our success.
It is our collective knowledge, skills and innovative thinking that enable LoyaltyOne to keep on creating new success stories with our clients and partners. Our performance has always been driven by teams of dynamic, thoughtful people who are passionate about the business and never stop looking for opportunities to take what we do well and do it even better.
For more on LoyaltyOne's innovative approaches to career development, rewards and recognition, creative work environments and associate engagement, please see the Careers section.
Respecting privacy is top of mind for all LoyaltyOne associates.
Our Commitment to Privacy
Given the trust that people have placed in LoyaltyOne, we recognize that we play a very important stewardship role in protecting their interests. A deep respect for customers' expectations around privacy is a cornerstone of our culture.
- Bryan A. Pearson, President and CEO
LoyaltyOne and its affiliated businesses are leading advocates of privacy policies, practices and approaches that maintain an appropriate balance between the rights and expectations of individuals and the reasonable needs of business. In doing so, we engage customers, clients, business partners, industry leaders, government agencies and other loyalty stakeholders in the evolving discussion about data privacy and the proper protection, use and disclosure of personal information in all of the jurisdictions in which we operate. For further information about our privacy policies and approaches, please review the Privacy Policy of each specific LoyaltyOne line of business. In addition, you can check out our parent-company's privacy overview at www.alliancedata.com.
