Tag Archive for: sustainability

Throw a Party: Celebrate Company Milestones

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AQ turns 15 this year.

That made us think. A lot. About where we started, where we’re headed, and how best to celebrate company milestones.

When you’re little, birthday parties are the best thing in the world. I was always convinced that I’d get a pony for my tenth birthday, my thinking was that I’d obviously be ‘growed up’ enough by then to harness that sort of responsibility .

Then, of course, you realize that 10 isn’t really that big a deal and it’s really your thirteenth birthday you should be looking out for. That’s when life really starts.

Companies go through this too. A business needs to learn how to crawl, then walk, and finally to run with its competitors. There are moments of great joy, absolute panic, disillusionment, and massive pride – sometimes all at once.

A young company dreams too – not of ponies perhaps, but of industry domination, great piles of money, many awards, that sort of thing. The difference being here, that a company can actually do something with all those things, whereas a 10-year-old would likely get bored with a pony and all the work involved with keeping one. Give a 10-year-old a goldfish or a guinea pig; much safer.

If they’re lucky and smart, companies eventually reach a point where they’re wearing their big-boy (or girl) pants, and the playground rules have changed. They’re no longer just growing for their own sake but in order to stay ahead of the rest of the field.

We might think that once we reach that point in time we’re set for life, but that’s not really true is it? The Roman Empire’s collapse really only started when it stopped expanding…

“In this world, if you’re not growing, you’re dying so get in motion and grow.” – Lou Holtz

Sustainable growth is a great thing, though difficult to achieve. Several statistics – such as those in this article – suggest that the average lifespan of companies has dropped below 20 years, this means that any milestone is now a cause for celebration!

Anniversaries, like birthdays (and dreams of ponies), remind everyone what they’ve worked for and what they’ve achieved. It’s important to take a moment and look back on where the company’s come from, and where it’s going next.

It’s also a good reason to have a party, pat ourselves on the back and acknowledge that we’ve done good. Nods all around. And drinks, confetti, cake.

We’ll be having some of that here actually.

This month marks the point in time where, 15 years ago, Jan-Willem Smulders and his business partner founded AQ Services International. Graduates of The Hague’s Hotelschool, these two men set this company on a path that has lead right here. We’ve learned to crawl, walk and run; we’ve taken some tumbles and got right back into the saddle.

And guess what? We’re still here.

This in no small way due to our hardworking team across all our offices. AQ has grown from an idea to a full-fledged company that can hold its head up high and say:

“We’re here and we still believe in what we’re doing. We’re going to keep making it happen. Here’s to another 15 years.”

Here’s to our clients, our secret shopper, our people: thank you for the last 15 years. Let’s create more magic in the many years to come, and let’s let people experience great service.

Here's to you, AQ

Have a pony party, you all deserve one.

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Corporate Social Responsibility: Should we bother?

The quest for corporate social responsibility goes on. In a world where we are now combating more crisis and global issues than ever before, it has become imperative that companies lead the way towards a sustainable future for society and the environment.

Corporate Social Responsibility: what is it?

Corporate social responsibility – CSR for short, or “for pretty” as my aunts would say – is not just about lowering a company’s carbon footprint and saving the world from global warming – though that is certainly part of it! CSR also demands that companies no longer turn a blind eye to the social issues of the world such as poverty, unemployment, healthcare, and education.

The concept behind corporate social responsibility is fairly straightforward: everyone is part of the world, and everyone should be helping build its future. By ignoring issues, social, economical and/or environmental, individuals or companies are making those issues worse. The message is simple: take responsibility, and if you’ve got the power, it’s your responsibility to to help solve the world’s issues.

Also read this article for more information: How To Improve Customer Experience

How does Corporate Social Responsibility impact a company? aka. Why are we so focussed on Millennials?

Studies have shown that companies with a solid reputation as being a socially responsible business are more likely to attract Millennial customers. And believe us when we say you want to attract them; Millennials are today’s consumers and are rapidly becoming today’s leaders, if we don’t take steps to engage them our companies are bound to crumble and fall.

In a previous article, I’ve touched on their importance, but to summarize the ever-important subject, we should know that Millennials are the ‘always connected generation’ which is a nice way of saying that we – because I’m one of them – don’t have the excuse of shutting out the world’s problems thanks to the Internet and our inability to survive without social media.

Defining the Millennial generation is fairly straightforward, and so far the best definition I’ve come across came from LinkedIn’s Alex Rynne in the introduction for her Millennial Playbook:

  • You grew up with the Internet
  • You didn’t see any of the first three Star Wars movies in the theater
  • You were in elementary school (or kindergarten) when grunge was popular
  • You don’t remember leaded gasoline or smoking on airplanes

[…]Odds are you were born between 1980 and 2000.[…] According to Gen Xers and Baby Boomers, we’re lazy, entitled, thin-skinned, and always distracted. We require constant positive feedback. We can’t function without three screens in front of us at all times.

Estimates for the buying power of the Millennial generation sits around $1 Trillion – yes, that’s trillion with a ‘t’. For marketers and salespeople, Millennials don’t buy into the ‘traditional’ tactics we were taught in school. On the contrary, according to many studies – like this one – they’re not swayed by advertising and they’re likely to research a product or survey before they buy it. More than that, they are more likely to trust a brand they know has a solid socially responsible reputation than one they know nothing about.

In other words, we’re not very far off from having only Millennial customers, and those Millennials take CSR very seriously; so seriously, in fact, the 2013 Cone Communications Social Impact Study shows that when companies support social and environmental issues, Millennial consumers respond with 91% increased brand trust, 89% increase in brand loyalty, and an 89% increase in the likelihood to buy companies’ products and services.

Corporate Social Responsibility isn’t just about the PR

Let’s be really honest for a moment: humanity and the planet could use the help. If all companies did what they could, even on a small scale, the world would be a better place.

If we’re extra honest, however, I think we can all look at our feet a little and shuffle around the fact that a lot of us actually don’t really care about the issues, and we’re actually chasing the PR behind corporate social responsibility. Let’s face it, it looks really good when you can say “We fund research to cure cancer!”.

Actually supporting that research is great, but shouldn’t this be about actually finding the cure for cancer rather than just the warm and fuzzy feeling we get from knowing that we’re actually being responsible?

Technically, motives shouldn’t make a difference: after all, as long as the research (for cancer, or to combat global warming, or eliminate starvation in Africa) gets done, should it matter why donate or drive that research? 10% of PR-motivated research funding is still more than 60% of nothing. Should it matter what motivates a company to do the right thing and take responsibility?

Maybe not.

But think about it for a minute. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from popular television drama: the truth always gets out. Perception of the truth is a great thing, but all it takes is a whiff of hypocrisy and the brand is instantly damaged.
Take the Volkswagen carbon emissions scandal for example. They may not have been lying outright about the numbers, but now that The Truth™ – and its many versions – has come out, there’s no denying that their reputation – and their sales! – have taken a hit. How long before they make a full recovery? Can they?

Corporate Social Responsibility + Sustainability = Happy Planet, Happy Society, Unbreakable Company

Which leads directly into the big issues of sustainability.

A sustainable company will outlast all the other companies out there (because it’s self-sustaining! Obviously.). A company with solid CSR policies will naturally develop a better level of sustainability. We’ve established that Millennials will buy from a company with a strong CSR reputation; those same Millennials prefer to work for the same types of companies, and given that they make up the largest percentage of the workforce already, this is not something to sneeze at.

Recruiting, managing and retaining Millennial talent is a subject worthwhile of its own exploration!

To be responsible, or not to be responsible…

We might sit here, behind our desks, twiddling our thumbs about the whole thing. Why bother? If we can’t decide on a cause we actually believe in, should we still chase this down just because of the PR?

My argument would be: yes. Even if your company doesn’t actually believe in a cause, there are plenty of things in the world that need fixing, and every bit help. But I’m a pragmatist and I believe that money’s money, as long as what needs doing is getting done then what’s the problem?

There are plenty of people who would disagree with me, and being a Libra, I understand where they’re coming from.

The point is: human nature dictates that if we truly believe in a cause, then we’re not just tipping our hats, but we’re feeling the need that drives us to support it. That awareness, that motivation, is the essence of what will really change the world.

For a company to be truly responsible on a corporate level, the people behind that company have to be aware of the world’s issues.

And any problem can be fixed as long as people realize it’s a problem first.

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