Staples 2013 Annual Report Download - page 6

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
Staples’ commitment to diversity and inclusion stems from our recognition that being a successful
company requires people with rich backgrounds and diverse perspectives. We know that
differences in age, race, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, physical ability, background and
thinking style allow us to be more innovative as a company. We believe that attracting, developing
and retaining an associate base that reflects the diversity of our customers is essential to our
success. Our diverse workforce and network of suppliers strengthens relationships with our
customers and gives us the flexibility to adapt to the ever-changing global marketplace. At Staples,
we recognize that, at every level, the best performance will come from people who understand and
appreciate this commitment.
Progress update:
Continued growth of our network of Associate Resource Groups (currently 16 chapters)
which provide members with a collective voice, a formal community, a sense of
empowerment and decision-making, deeper engagement in the company, a focus on
commonalities and a forum to celebrate differences. These groups are key business partners
that support our commitment to global inclusion and diversity and represent key
demographics like Millennials, Women, Blacks, Hispanics, Veterans, Pan Asians, and LGBT.
Greater focus on Veteran outreach via newly created internal and external web pages, as
well as increased participation in Veteran hiring events, both live and virtual.
The Staples Supplier Diversity program continued to engage with diverse suppliers,
organizations and the larger community in several ways. The Staples Supplier Diversity
Mentorship Program, now in its fifth year, promotes professional and business
development among diverse business enterprises. Staples is also an active supporter of
several organizations that promote minority- and woman-owned business development.
ENVIRONMENT
At Staples, our vision is to generate business and environmental benefits — for ourselves, our
customers and our communities — by leading the way in sustainable business practices.
We’re working to achieve this vision through a continued focus on sourcing more sustainable
products; improving our offering of recycling and other green services; maximizing our energy
efficiency and renewable energy use to reduce our climate impacts; and eliminating waste.
In 2013, we continued to make progress towards our global sustainability goals. Highlights of
contributing accomplishments include:
Globally, we offer more than 10,000 products and counting with environmental attributes in
our stores and online, representing nearly $3 billion in annual sales.
We have industry leading customer recycling programs for ink and toner cartridges and
electronics in many of our markets. In fact, we have collected more than 400 million ink
and toner cartridges globally since 2005, and in the last year, collected approximately 20
million pounds of electronics. In 2013, we expanded our US ink and toner recycling
program to include online customers, and launched a new technology trade-in program for
online and in-store customers.
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