At Productsup, we care.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at Productsup is intrinsic to our mission, culture, and values. It inspires our corporate practice and enables our employees to contribute to social, cultural, and environmental change.
The Productsup CSR program was launched in January 2022. The 9 founding members came from various professional backgrounds, bringing a diversity of skills together. They listened, then planned, and finally implemented CSR policies and initiatives for the whole company. The current committee includes representatives from the Engineering, Solutions, Pre-Sales, Marketing, and People & Culture departments.
Barry Carney, CSR Lead at Productsup, recognizes that CSR programs help businesses to appreciate their place in the world.
“Whether we’re talking about a business’s place within society or an employee’s within an organization, I’m fascinated by the interdependence between the whole and its parts”, explains Barry. “CSR programs are about expanding the remit of corporate responsibility beyond the ‘office walls’, and connecting with wider opportunities to make a positive difference. It’s a global impact at work.”
Our CSR mission statement
Productsup's core mission is to “empower commerce.” The CSR program at Productsup builds on this philosophy with our goal to “empower change”. Our corporate values of Achieve, Build, and Care are also tightly woven into our CSR work.
Barry says, “I would struggle to show up for work every day if it meant leaving my passions behind. I believe that work and purpose should co-exist. And if we don’t know what is our purpose yet, then why can’t the workplace provide the environment to discover it?”
The Productsup CSR program encourages people to bring their whole personality to their workspace. It creates a space for people to discover how to apply their skills and expertise. From providing employees with opportunities to volunteer during working hours to hosting sustainability workshops, we believe in giving our team the resources and time needed to positively impact their communities and globally.
Meet our CSR team
Hello! Please tell us more about yourselves.
Hi, my name is Oscar Jägers. I’ve been with Productsup for almost 1.5 years. I’m currently the Team Lead for Business Development in the EMEA and APAC regions. I’ve been a member of the Productsup CSR team since the program launched.
Oscar, Productsup CSR committee member.
My name is Maryna, and I have been working at Productsup for one year as the Internal Communications Manager.
Why did you join the CSR team at Productsup?
Oscar: With an educational background in sociology, I’ve worked at NGOs. I was always interested in sustainability and social development. When the CSR program was first introduced, it was a no-brainer for me to apply.
I believe the Productsup CSR program helps bring our employees' skills together for a good cause. CSR shouldn’t only focus on donating money to charities – it should also be about creating valuable and sustainable ideas that relate to our industry. Utilizing the Productsup platform for these causes is the end goal, and the journey there will raise awareness among our customers and partners of the need to create a better world and future for everyone.
Maryna: When I heard about the CSR initiative and that we could apply to join the group, I signed up immediately. I felt that developing our own CSR strategy and initiatives to align with our business priorities was exciting work. After less than a year of brainstorming, discussions, and establishing processes, I feel proud to see what we’ve achieved. Represented in one of our core company values, Care, I care about the people around me and the world we live in. I get my energy from giving back to the community around me. When I feel good, I feel I can perform better at work.
How can a CSR program make real change?
Oscar: It all starts with finding like-minded people committed to the same cause as you. Of course, we need support from the organization, but the key to creating true impact is to combine our skills and qualities. A good example of this is the Productsup IMPACT days when Productsup employees can take one working day to volunteer individually or as a group for a cause of their choice.
Maryna: I believe that any action can be meaningful. If every person or company did something to improve our world, we'd feel the difference. We all should begin thinking about what we can do as individuals or businesses, and then regularly review our daily habits and reflect on how we operate as a company.
What is the best thing about the CSR program at Productsup?
Oscar: It’s super exciting to see what we’ve already achieved with the CSR team. Nevertheless, we’re just getting started and we still have many big plans. We're going to focus more on the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, which is a personal passion of mine. In addition to local initiatives, we’ll focus on global problems that can’t be solved by Productsup alone. We are just one piece of a huge puzzle. I’m really excited about what our future projects with partners and customers will look like.
Maryna: I like that we're very flexible about what we can do and that we can move quickly. We have the opportunity to pitch our ideas and make them happen. We recently launched IMPACT days. This is one of our initiatives that allows everyone in the company to be involved in our CSR program. It gives every employee one working day – up to 8 hours – to volunteer on a local community project or with an NGO of their choice. It can be done individually or can be done in a group as a team-building activity. I believe this is just the beginning, and I can’t wait to see how many of our colleagues worldwide want to give something back to their communities.
On Thursday, 27 October, I used my Productsup IMPACT day with 10 colleagues from Berlin: Xacobe Pajares, Maruška Kapić, Mischa Gorinskat, Marilena Kyriakou, Julia Sotzko, Darya Ilina, Regina Ulman, Lenny Geomor, Robert Weber, and Zac Boatwright. We spent the day at Spendenbruecke-Ukraine sorting, packing, and preparing donations for transport to Ukraine.
At the end of the day, we were all exhausted from packing all of the boxes, but felt inspired. I am excited to see what other initiatives will happen during volunteering days at Productsup.
Maryna and colleagues in Spendenbrücke Ukraine
Employee involvement in sustainability initiatives that support our company's CSR objectives improve business results and empower team members to live more sustainably at work and in our communities.
Productsup is a sum of its unique blend of talented individuals who are the main ingredient in our collective success. We have over 300 employees from 43 nationalities and work with over 1000 customers covering 45 markets. Together we build, together we achieve, together we care.
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