Our EMEA and North America region heads share how they empower their employees in the region to be ESG Advocates, as the key driving force of Ricoh Group’s pursuit in ESG excellence.

ESG is intrinsic to everything we do. This stems from our longstanding reputation as a responsible business. It’s also an ongoing journey driven by the proactive initiatives of our people.

To drive tangible impact in the context of ESG, a robust, globally agreed framework is essential. As a business, we continually conduct and review our business priorities in the context of ESG. This allows us to align our priorities to the UN SDG framework and our globally set ESG related targets.

Yet setting priorities and agreeing metrics is only the start.

When it comes to our workforce, there must be an element of self-alignment with talent possessing a strong personal ESG ethos. To help identify this, we conduct competency-based recruitment interviews based upon questions aligned to our company values, which in turn link to the ESG agenda – namely Ethics & Integrity, Innovation, Passion, Gemba and Teamwork. This ensures that when we welcome new people to our business, they are aligned with our ESG ethos. Authenticity is key. Unless you are truly committed to the ESG agenda, as Ricoh is, you simply won’t attract top talent.

Naturally, individual ESG ethos needs to be nurtured. That’s why we have expanded our mandatory sustainability training for all colleagues to become a full ESG awareness training course. We have also developed a playbook to support our sales teams and further their knowledge about Ricoh’s alignment with the ESG agenda so that they can share our approach, which we are truly passionate about, with our customers.

We actively encourage our people to participate in many aspects of ESG outside of their individual core roles within the organization. This includes our Diversity and Inclusion Council and ESG Champions, as well as skills-based volunteering and charity fundraising initiatives.

We have dedicated ESG teams through our pan-EMEA business, comprised of members from all our Ricoh entities across the region, under central leadership from our Ricoh Europe regional HQ. Yet while we have these dedicated teams, it’s important to remember that ESG is not just the job of a particular group but a priority for every single business area and colleague.

We dedicate substantial resources to help colleagues understand and, crucially, act on the ESG agenda. We’ve witnessed what can be achieved when colleagues see the link between their roles and ESG: innovation springs up in new ways across the organization.

It's important for us to continue leveraging our skills as a business to support the wider community. In the UK, for example, we work with the Prince’s Trust where we undertake a range of mentoring and fundraising activities. This relationship fully integrates our community investment work into development programs, making it a sustainable, corporate responsibility commitment.

As the world continues to globalize rapidly, having a coherent, consistent and inspiring approach to ESG across our organization motivates our people and provides clear guidance. Once colleagues understand the agenda, they can discover, on a daily basis, ways to contribute to it. That’s a huge positive for everyone – colleagues, customers, our community, and the planet.

Attracting talented people is critical to Ricoh’s focus on ESG. Fortunately, research shows that job seekers are driven to join socially and environmentally conscious organizations—which is great news for Ricoh. Our founding principles, commitment to supporting the UN’s Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs), and focus on maintaining balance among people, planet and prosperity have positioned us well among today’s workforce.

New team members begin learning about Ricoh’s ESG priorities, such as our commitment to Diversity & Inclusion, from the day they join Ricoh. Ongoing communication around ESG initiatives is also critical. One example is our "SDGs Action Month" held each June globally, during which we share how Ricoh team members come together to improve the communities in which we live and work.

To attract and retain top talent, we are building a "Culture of Excellence" in North America that strives to be open-minded and authentic, supporting our ESG focus by embracing all people, backgrounds, and perspectives, and encouraging our team members to be their authentic selves.

Supporting our belief in a diverse, inclusive, and socially responsible workplace, each month we highlight a different area of focus. Recently we celebrated MLK Month of Service, honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by encouraging and providing suggestions for volunteerism. Since 2010, Ricoh North America team members have raised more than $12 million for United Way.

Moreover, sustainability is part of Ricoh’s heritage, touching every part of our company from manufacturing to distribution to recycling. Our North American management works closely with our ESG strategy team to ensure company priorities are consistently addressed throughout our region. Policies and practices are in place to ensure Ricoh is best able to reduce our environmental footprint through programs such as resource conservation, pollution prevention and energy conservation.

At Ricoh, our people are at the core of everything we do. Our wealth of diverse experience and perspectives supports our relentless pursuit of ESG-driven excellence and enables us to better understand market needs today and anticipate changes in the future.

Related information

Ricoh President and CEO takes the stage at Reuters IMPACT 2022 ~"Empowering employees to be ESG Advocates"~