Digital Cognate Joins 'The Good Business Charter'
Digital Cognate is delighted to confirm it has signed up to the Good Business Charter, an accreditation that seeks to raise the bar on business practices for employees, customers and suppliers, as well as demonstrating its commitments to safeguarding the environment.
The Good Business Charter (GBC) is a not-for-profit organisation, to which businesses can apply to achieve recognition of their responsible business practices. The GBC measures an organisation’s behaviour within 10 pre-defined areas and encourages the setting of annual goals for continuous development under each of these categories. To achieve accreditation, organisations must meet their stated commitments in each of the 10 areas within the given 12-month period.
Digital Cognate’s recent accreditation demonstrates our commitment to responsible practices including fairness, respect, helping the environmental and employee well-being. And we are in good company - The Good Business Charter is an increasingly recognised accreditation with well over a thousand responsible and like-minded businesses across the UK already signed up, including the likes of Deloitte, Aviva, Legal and General and TSB.
Committed to playing our part for a better future, Digital Cognate’s corporate values of Trust, Learning, Leadership, Responsible and Accessibility sit right at the heart of our innovation and sustainability aspirations.
How Digital Cognate is playing its part
Secured sustainability:
With a “customer first” mentality, our next generation trust technology solution enables businesses to operate both more securely and sustainably, and with far greater trust and certainty than ever before.
Protecting the Environment:
Digital Cognate is committed to reducing waste, increasing our use of renewable / recycled / recyclable resources and maximising efficiency.
Investing in our People:
An equal opportunities organisation, we fully embed the actions and principles of diversity, inclusivity and belonging. We are also committed to the training, investment in and personal development of our all staff, encouraging flexible working with a focus on mental health and well-being.
Integrity and business practice:
Fairness, transparency and corporate integrity are at the top of our responsibility agenda, including fair employment contracts, prompt payment to employees, suppliers and partners, and in the meeting of all our tax and legal obligations.
Digital Cognate’s chairman, Dr David Landsman OBE said “We are proud to become members of the Good Business Charter and to be recognised as a responsible business. At Digital Cognate, we believe it is so important to ensure a commitment to sustainability and integrity in everything we do – not just as part of our own values system, but so our clients can be reassured we are a credible and responsible partner that makes the right decisions but also, to ensure we are playing our part for a safer, fairer and more sustainable future for us all!”
Welcoming Digital Cognate as a member, a spokesperson for the GBC stated “At a time when people are caring more about who they work for and who they buy from, the Good Business Charter offers a straightforward accreditation which recognises those organisations that prioritise and care for their employees, the environment, customers and suppliers. It has never been more important for businesses to regain trust and show they care about more than just profit. We believe that the GBC has enormous potential to change business practice for good, and with our members, new and old, seek to inspire many other businesses to also follow suit.”
To find out more about our ESG credentials and commitments Click Here
Our Commitments
We are proud to be accredited by the Good Business Charter. The GBC consists of 10 components and more details for each of these components can be found on their website: www.goodbusinesscharter.com
As an organisation with under 51 employees:
1. We commit to pay our directly employed and regularly contracted staff the real living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation.
2. We commit to only use zero or minimal hours contracts when it is mutually beneficial and accepted by both us and the employee.
3. We will actively support and encourage employee well-being treating those with legitimate sickness in a fair and respectful manner and promote access to impartial support and advice for employees with physical and mental health needs.
4. We commit to having a way where every employee can make suggestions or raise issues with senior management.
5. We commit to have robust measures in place to encourage diversity at key stages of recruitment, selection and retention of employees and to prevent harassment or victimisation in the workplace.
6. We care about the environment and encourage the development of good environmental practice as an organisation, seeking to minimise our impact and commit to improve it.
7. We commit to pay our taxes where applicable, only use tax allowances for the purpose intended, and be transparent in our relationship with HMRC.
8. We have a clear commitment to our stakeholders and prioritise addressing and learning from stakeholder feedback, seeking to put negative issues right.
9. We commit to ethical sourcing of anything we purchase, such as by applying standards set out in the Ethical Trading Initiative Base Code where relevant.
10. We commit to paying our suppliers promptly, and within at least 30 days.
About The Good Business Charter
The Good Business Charter is an initiative of the Good Business Foundation, a charity registered in England and Wales. The CBI (Confederation of British Industry) and the TUC (Trades Union Congress) both have trustee representation on the board of the Good Business Foundation to ensure that the voices of business and employees are heard.
The 10 GBC components are: real living wage, fairer hours and contracts, employee well-being, employee representation, diversity and inclusion, environmental responsibility, paying fair tax, commitment to customers, ethical sourcing, and prompt payment
For more information about the GBC, click here:
