March 2022

Philippa Green, Director, Social Responsibility

Being a responsible business is foundational at CGI. It’s one of our core company values and a key measurement criteria for how we see ourselves and how we’re seen by our clients.

Our commitment to responsible business never has and never will begin and end with our Community activities – the term ‘CSR’ just does not fully encapsulate all we do to embed this ethos throughout our organisation. For us, ‘being responsible’ is a mindset that guides us all.

We’re also aware that there’s always more we can do in this area, whether that’s by;

  • Spreading the message of the importance of responsible business and how it can be achieved with training and exchanging of best practice
  • Widening the net of types of organisations that we work with to support our operations; more social enterprises to support our supply chain
  • Engaging an even more diverse range of community organisations to ensure we can interact with and support the most disadvantaged in our society, such as prison leavers.

The potential is vast. We’re excited to continue our progression as a responsible business in every way, and as some of our members reflect below, it makes us all of us even prouder to say we belong to CGI!

Andrew Peck, Innovations Consultant and Tech Researcher

There are people out there who can sleep at night no matter what they or their overlords get up to, but by and large I want to know that what I do matters in the world and that I’m in a company that’s contributing to making it a better place.

To me, a responsible business is one that thinks about the impacts of all of its actions on the local and wider community, as evidenced at CGI. Here, recruitment isn’t about “poaching staff” but about creating genuine career opportunities. Diversity, equity and inclusion is about being genuinely and totally inclusive, not just putting a poster up when it's fashionable to do so. And our Operations and Purchasing teams make decisions based on emissions, local relevance and our impact on the environment – it’s never just about costs or our own bottom line at CGI.

Andrew Hislop, Software Engineer

It’s important to me that the business I work for is meaningful and gives back to the community

A company that is responsible will, as well as do business that is ethical and serves communities, engage in activities that support people, from community initiatives that are philanthropic, care for the environment and so on, to the way it operates internally and makes decisions. Furthermore, it will encourage and enable every member to allocate time to participate in these activities.

The job we each do forms a massive part of life, and as a person of faith, I mainly see my work as a service to God and to others in various communities and nations, as well as a means of earning money to provide for myself and my family. I really do get a great sense of achievement and purpose knowing that by working for CGI, I am making a positive difference to others.

Craig Murch, Agile Coach

CGI genuinely cares about the people, communities and environment in which we work.

Outside of community outreach programs, CGI ensures that ethical practices are a core part of the business we conduct, whether for members, shareholders or clients. We always try to do what’s best for all three stakeholders. One major example of this is when CGI UK chose not to claim any money from the government throughout the COVID-19 lockdowns, despite our eligibility for it. As far as our community activities themselves go, they are all implemented for the benefits of the groups they help, with little consideration for the bottom line of the company itself.

To me, all of this encompasses what being a responsible business means, and the best part of it is that it means we help people. There is no better purpose in life than helping others in their endeavours and to see the impact of CGI’s outreach programs post-completion gives me a very warm and fuzzy feeling!

Shabnam Latif, Director Consulting Delivery

I’ve got a young family and I want them to grow up in a society where we demonstrate by example how we should best lead our lives. I want them to see that caring for our environment and fairness in society are held in high regard. That’s why I love working at CGI, where a social conscience and responsible business is embedded into our DNA and part of every members’ objectives.

As an organisation, every little individual contribution can collectively amount to something substantial. I believe a lot of organisations pay lip service to responsible business but don’t necessarily foster a culture where employees embody such values. However, CGI really encourages us to do whatever we can, however small, as long as it’s meaningful to us.

For example, I was the first in my immediate family to go to university, so I now seek to support others who may have come from disadvantaged backgrounds, and mentor students from underprivileged communities. I think it is important that the organisations we work for reflect our personal values and ethics and CGI really does that for me. 

Chloe Toothill, Business Analyst

CGI is built upon thinking how we can support our members, our clients, shareholders and the local community, in a way that we can all work together to be part of the solution. To me, that’s the difference between being a truly responsible business, and a business that engages in community activities. It’s in the finer detail.

CGI is actively involved in giving back to the community. I personally gain so much satisfaction in giving back to the environment and my village with things like our tree planting community initiatives. But I also really value the way some of our extremely talented members take the opportunity to get out there and share their experience and knowledge with their local communities and provide education on climate change, reducing their carbon footprint and sustainable lifestyle choices.

To me, that’s where we’re seeing some of the most important and REAL impact of being such a responsible business.

Have you ever thought about what being part of a genuinely responsible business means to you? You can hear more about the ways our amazing members make a difference through CGI here, and for career opportunities with us, please head over to our careers page.