Lesson 30 — Activity 1:The Responsibilities of Companies and Corporations
Completion requirements
Lesson 30 — Activity 1: The Responsibilities of Companies and Corporations
Warm Up
You learned previously that quality of life is the level of enjoyment and fulfillment desired by humans from the life they live. Where people work and who they work for can have an enormous impact of their quality of life.
In this activity, you will learn how businesses can impact the quality of life of their employees and also the quality of life of both the community where the business operates and globally around the world.
What can businesses do to help improve their employees' quality of life? Certainly, fair wages, paid benefits and pensions, safe working conditions, and appropriate working hours are extremely important, but what other factors are important as well?
Here are some examples of what some companies in Canada do for their employees:
- offer benefits such as bonuses for completed work and day care facilities
- offer flexible hours or work-from-home options to help with work-life balance
- make improvements in lighting, temperature, music choice, cubicle and desk arrangements, and bathroom and kitchen cleanliness to make workers more comfortable
- support nutrition, fitness, and stress relief for employees by removing junk food from vending machines and serving healthier fresh foods, as well as by allowing employees to take breaks before meetings to organize their thoughts
- offer tuition for job-related courses and offer other professional development supports such as internal training programs and conferences
Below is another example of what a company can do for their employees. This occurred in May, 2016, during the evacuation of Fort McMurray, Alberta, due to a massive forest fire.
Below is another example of what a company can do for their employees. This occurred in May, 2016, during the evacuation of Fort McMurray, Alberta, due to a massive forest fire.
Many residents of Fort McMurray who were forced north found themselves at the Suncor Firebag Aerodrome, 120 km northeast of Fort McMurray. This is where Suncor operates its own private airport. Approximately 40 Suncor employees "helped around the clock, assisting the evacuees with loading their luggage and pets onto the planes, unloading supplies, guiding buses and providing food and water to evacuees," the company said in a statement.
Since the evacuation began, 6,800 people, both Suncor employees and other displaced people, were flown out by the company, many of them from the Firebag site.
Here is what one evacuee wrote on the Suncor Facebook page: "Thank you so much for all you are doing for the evacuees that were caught north of the city, one man wrote. My wife, two boys, dog, and myself are so grateful for the accommodations we had at the Suncor Firebag camp when we were forced north. Then the busing and the use of your airstrip to be flown out. We can’t thank you and all the volunteers enough."
A woman from Calgary wrote: "A big thank you to Suncor Energy for their efforts during the evacuation. They provided accommodation, meals, medical assistance, and even took on people's pets. They used their planes to fly people to safety in Edmonton and Calgary. I had the best Mother's Day gift seeing my son and his family safe in Calgary."
Companies can also work to enhance the quality of life for the communities where they operate. Here are just some examples of what Canadian companies offer to people in communities. These companies were on the list of Canada’s Best Employers: The Top 50 Large Companies of 2015.
- Bennett Jones Law Firm, Calgary: Each year, a charity is chosen to be supported through office fundraising; volunteers work at food banks during business hours.
- British Columbia Automobile Association, Burnaby, B.C.: A donation of nearly 5,000 car seats given to community groups and families in need in the last two years.
- Clark Builders, Edmonton: They hold a Community Impact Week of events to focus on the work of five chosen charities and to raise funds; it also auctions local artwork and donates gifts like Easter and Halloween baskets.
- Island Savings Credit Union, Duncan, B.C.: They provided more than $1 million to family-focused initiatives since 2010; each branch provides volunteer support to local groups and organizations.
Large corporations work with organizations to enhance the quality of life of people in Canada and around the world.
Source: Image by willian_2000 from Pixabay