Corporate executives gathered in Sandy Springs with Gov. Brian Kemp for a panel discussion Friday on how their companies have changed the way they do business since the start of the pandemic.
Coronavirus and social unrest changed corporate culture significantly, they said, adding changes such as the rush to improve technology and a new appreciation for employees and shareholders have been good for business.
“We realize the value that we have to place on our employees,” Chloe Barzey, Atlanta managing director of global technology firm Accenture said. “And it’s not just Accenture but all companies are starting to see … It’s really helping our employees thrive. It’s really changing the focus from just shareholder value to stakeholder value.”
Barzey, Paul Brown, CEO of Inspire Brands and Kevin Warren, chief marketing officer of UPS were panelists for the Go Beyond Profit CEO Forum held at Inspire Brands in Sandy Springs. Go Beyond Profit, founded by Jackson Healthcare CEO Rick Jackson and President Shane Jackson, is a network of companies dedicated to philanthropy and supporting communities in need.
Jackson Healthcare is based in Alpharetta. UPS and Inspire Brands headquarters operate in close proximity on Glenlake Parkway in Sandy Springs and Accenture is located in Atlanta.
Rick Jackson facilitated the Friday morning conversation in which Kemp was an opening speaker.
Despite the pandemic, a record $11 billion in investment was received from companies doing business in the state between July 2020 and June 2021, Kemp said. More than two-thirds of that was invested outside of the metro area, he added, signaling a healthy business climate around the state.
“The business community and nonprofits have figured out how to deal with COVID-19 and it is an ever-changing environment as we all know with the delta variant,” Kemp said. “The reality is that businesses touch and better our lives everyday and sometimes we don’t get credit for that enough …”
Warren said UPS has a tangible connection to its customers. The corporation is on track to deliver 1 billion vaccines this year, he said. He recalled that early in the pandemic when it was feared the coronavirus could live for days on a cardboard box, the company of 540,000 employees made its own hand sanitizer to ensure the safety of its workers.
UPS was losing business from small to mid-size companies that had been halted by the pandemic — a segment that is the most profitable in the package shipping and delivery industry, he said. UPS held webinars to teach the businesses about e-commerce, he said.
“We invested in different chambers of commerce to help them survive,” Warren said. “We donated forgivable loans to different funds.”
The executives said that after the death of George Floyd their shareholders and stakeholders wanted to know about their diversity and inclusion policies.
Barzey said Accenture has a focus on economic equity in the company and the community. The technology firm’s specialties range from artificial intelligence to health care information technologies. Barzey said that at the height of social unrest last summer, a group of employees came to her asking to form a social justice committee. In just 2 days, 200 people signed up.
Accenture is also tackling anti-human trafficking and partnering with public defenders to help formerly incarcerated people re-enter society in Georgia, according to a statement emailed to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“We work with a number of community partners, such as Goodr, with whom we are hosting a pop up grocery store on Sept. 25 to help those experiencing food insecurity,” Aimee Ertley, a media relations representative said.
Brown said COVID and the events of 2020 has broken norms and transformed Inspire Brands in several ways. The restaurant company owns Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc., Arby’s, Jimmy John’s , Buffalo Wild Wings, Sonic and Rusty Taco. More than half of restaurants’ staff is age 24 or younger, Brown said. And many have been challenged financially, culturally or by having to go to work during the pandemic.
The company created an upward mobility program to help staff with career choices, college needs and scholarship and mentor programs.
“You have to be more accessible, listen more and be openminded to things that maybe I didn’t think or anyone thought you had to be openminded to before, Brown said. “A CEO has to actually allow his or her norms to be challenged too and you have to manage a company differently now than you did going into (the pandemic).”
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