Spotlight on Safran CSR initiatives in North America
Safran’s new Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy was the focus during this month’s Women@Safran North America’s virtual meeting, with more than 160 participants from around North America learning about the Group’s commitments.
Christine Hadley, the CSR Director at Safran Cabin, explained that Safran’s strategy – called “Engage for the Future” – began with employees developing Safran’s core purpose statement. The next step was to create the supporting pillars and commitments that align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, of which Safran has been a signatory since 2014.
Safran's four-pronged CSR strategy covers the following goals:
- Be recognized as leader in decarbonization of the aviation sector;
- Be an exemplary employer;
- Embody responsible industry;
- Contribute to community development.
CSR IN ACTION AT SAFRAN'S BUSINESSES
Hadley brought her presentation to life with examples of CSR in action at Safran Cabin, Safran Electrical & Power, Safran Landing Systems, Safran Seats, and Safran USA.
Through its Give & Grow foundation, Safran Cabin is improving the lives of children and schools in need through three specific missions: create, educate and donate.
Employees at Safran Electrical & Power serve on a variety of boards and councils within organizations such as United Way of Denton County – a nonprofit that supports families and children; veterans; homelessness; and mental health – and Serve Denton, which co-locates multiple non-profits in the same facility, creating a one-stop resource for people in need.
Safran Seats in Gainesville, Texas is an award-winning contributor to the community through its support of 70 organizations and eight local school districts over the past six years. The company's Community Involvement Program – which is fully funded by employees – generates contributions through a reserved parking system that allocates funds to local organizations on a monthly basis.
STEM INITIATIVES
Launched in 2016, Safran Landing Systems' Community Volunteering Program is recognized as being essential at the highest level of the organization. In 2020, the company set the following Balance Scorecard (BSC) goal: organize and participate in three community charitable events. Initiatives in Walton, Kentucky include participation in the KYFAME (Kentucky Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education) / AMT (Advanced Manufacturing Technician) Program – which includes sponsoring two interns per year until graduation.
Additionally, Safran Landing Systems seeks to foster Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education – hosting middle school students during STEM Days Out and providing engineering outreach to high schools. As a key contributor to the local aerospace industry, the site also hosts Teacher Externships – during which three to four teachers spend up to three days learning about manufacturing. Employee-inspired community actions include painting fences, cleaning up local parks, and wrapping gifts for holiday drives.
Investing in the future workforce is a major priority for Safran – as evidenced by Safran USA's support of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's STEM in 30 program – an Emmy-nominated webcast series that encourages young students to aspire to careers in aviation and space. Safran has sponsored several episodes and spotlighted engineers as part of the program. Additionally, Safran USA is helping advance aerospace education in the state of Alabama through financial sponsorship and donation of aircraft equipment to the Flight Works Alabama aerospace exhibition and education center at the Airbus A320 Manufacturing Facility in Mobile.
GREEN INITIATIVES AT SAFRAN HELICOPTER ENGINES
Safran Helicopter Engines USA's strategy for reducing its carbon footprint in Grand Prairie was outlined by Norma Lantz, Executive VP - Airframer Sales and Marketing and Freda Hopkins, Director of Human Resources. Participants learned that after forming a "Green Team", the Grand Prairie site reviewed company goals and devised a strategy for deployment to team members. With a goal of reducing the site's carbon footprint by 5% in 2021, the Green Team focused on two main areas – energy (electric and gas consumption) and waste (elimination / prevention of waste; recycling; water usage). One note-worthy initiative that was cited is the removal of all extruded-foam cups – which were replaced with reusable mugs for each employee.
Through regular communications, Safran Helicopter Engines provides progress updates and reinforces the message to team members. The engaging presentation given by the Safran Helicopter Engines duo illustrated how the company has empowered employees to become "agents of change" by providing opportunities for individuals and teams to submit ideas.
Women@Safran is an organization that directly supports CSR pillar 2, by contributing to being an exemplary employer. The Women@Safran employee resource group offers a platform to encourage equal opportunities, promote diversity and inspire women in leadership. It contributes to individual professional development, mentorship and cross-cultural networking to target Safran's CSR KPI goal for 22% of women in senior management positions by 2025.
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