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Symantec makes a positive impact on the lives of its employees by promoting a culture of mutual trust, respect, personal achievement, and individual leadership.
The very nature of our business—assuring the security, availability, and integrity of our customers' information—inspires a global culture of responsibility. Our employees are guided by our Code of Conduct, which ensures that a focus on integrity is embedded in our daily interactions with our customers and each other, no matter where we are in the world.
We are especially mindful of the labor and human rights principles of the United Nations Global Compact in developing employee and supplier policies, programs, and initiatives.
Symantec defines diversity as all of the differences that make each of us a unique individual. Our ability to attract, retain, and fully engage diverse talents leads to enhanced innovation and creativity in our products. As such, we recognize that a continuing commitment to inclusive hiring practices is a business imperative tied directly to our bottom line.
Our recruiting success to date affords us the distinct competitive advantages of a first-class global workforce. With more than 17,000 employees at 200 sites in more than 40 countries, we are able to address the needs of businesses, governments, organizations, and consumers in all of the markets in which we do business.
Management oversight
Symantec’s commitment to diversity starts at the top with an Executive Steering Committee that drives and champions Symantec’s global diversity and inclusion initiative. Symantec has also formed local Diversity and Inclusion Councils. These councils are composed of employees that reflect the diversity of their site and who volunteer their time and talents to build diversity awareness and promote an inclusive work environment.
Engaging employees
We offer a variety of programs to teach our own employees how to conduct business successfully in a multicultural and multiethnic world. New employees receive diversity training as part of their orientation, and all employees have access to “Globe Smart”, an online tool designed to raise awareness of cultural differences among people around the world. The homepage of Symantec’s intranet includes a “Cultural Heritage Calendar”, and employees are encouraged to visit our internal diversity and inclusion website for easy access to information on diversity issues, outreach activities, and other resources.
Enhancing opportunities for women in technology
In the technology industry, women are under-represented in technical and leadership positions. Symantec recognizes that a commitment to systemic change and a proactive and deliberate initiative to address this disparity in the workforce is needed in order to attract and retain female technical talent and to ensure a diversity of perspectives in business planning. To this end, we launched a women’s initiative with the goal of increasing the number of women in leadership, technical, and sales positions. Our overarching objective is to build a work environment that supports and encourages all women in their career aspirations.
Calvert Women’s Principles™
In October 2007 Symantec’s Diversity and Inclusion Steering Committee adopted the Calvert Women’s Principles™. The Principles are the first global code of corporate conduct focused exclusively on women’s issues. We are working to operationalize the principles throughout the company.
Symantec Women’s Action Network (SWAN)
Symantec’s Women’s Action Network (SWAN) is designed to attract talented women and to support and encourage them to further their careers here at Symantec. Through SWAN, women now have a forum for personal and professional networking throughout all levels of the company, providing them with opportunities to build relationships and share information about how to make Symantec an even more rewarding place for women to work.
Reaching out to the LGBT community
Symantec demonstrates its support for members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community in several ways. We offer domestic partner benefits, have established a virtual networking group, received a score of 100% in the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index (CEI) Survey in 2008 (up from 85% in 2007), adopted Gender Transition Guidelines, and sponsored Gay Pride events. The Diversity and Inclusion Councils were instrumental in these activities. The councils also promoted revisions to Symantec’s Equal Employment Opportunity Policy and Policy Against Discrimination and Harassment to includes provisions around gender identity. Gender identity language will be added to Symantec’s Code of Conduct in the next revision.
Partnering with diversity organizations
Symantec supports and partners with a variety of organizations that promote diversity and inclusion.
We rely on our employees to think creatively and constantly seek out new ways to meet our customers’ needs. By giving our employees the opportunity to develop new skills and refine existing talents to do their jobs better, we are, in fact, investing in the long-term success of our company.
Training
Symantec’s robust employee development program offers a curriculum that is applied globally across all functions. The program enhances employees’ business, technical, and interpersonal skills and enables them to excel in their chosen career paths. We combine instructor-led and e-learning classes to ensure that our people can reach their maximum professional potential. We also offer tuition reimbursement for qualifying employees.
Work-Life Balance
Employees who maintain a balanced personal and professional life are more satisfied and productive and experience lower levels of stress. We seek to promote that balance by providing employees with a variety of programs and benefits to help them manage personal and family obligations.
We offer paid leave to parents of newborns, adopted, and newly-placed foster children; we encourage fathers as well as mothers to take advantage of this benefit. Symantec has also established child/parenting support services through our Employee Assistance Program, including childcare referrals, free care kits for children, parents, and elders, an online interactive tool called Live and Work Well Here, and our Informed Health Line, which employees can call 24/7 to receive health information.
We believe that alternate schedules and telecommuting can be useful tools in managing the demands of work and home while enhancing employee productivity. We encourage employees to work with their managers to arrange personalized telecommuting options and flexible hours.
As part of our efforts to ensure a healthy work/life balance, Symantec participates in organizations such as the Silicon Valley Employers Forum. The Forum provides an opportunity for Symantec to share best practices with regional businesses and explore new ways of enhancing the quality of its work/life programs.
More information about working at Symantec is available on our Careers Web site.
Symantec takes very seriously the health and safety of its employees. We have implemented a suite of programs designed to help employees to avoid unsafe situations and respond to accidents, disasters, and medical emergencies.
Global Injury and Illness Prevention Program
Symantec’s Global Injury and Illness Prevention Program provides employees with information and training on office ergonomics, emergency preparedness, emergency communication, and security. Symantec has also implemented a global emergency medical advisory, treatment, and security program for employees traveling abroad.
Health and Safety Performance (FY08)
Total injuries and illnesses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Lost work days. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Fatalities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
Emergency Response Teams
We have developed a network of onsite volunteer Emergency Response Teams (ERT) that have received extensively training in emergency medical and disaster response. Each team is prepared to respond immediately to medical incidents or accidents that may occur onsite. In addition, each Symantec location that has an onsite ERT has access to automatic external defibrillators to provide life-saving assistance to employees and visitors experiencing cardiac failure. More than 500 employees throughout North America, EMEA, and the Asia Pacific regions participate in the ERT program.
We strongly encourage our employees to volunteer in their local communities, both during and outside of work hours. Our “Dollars for Doers” program allows employees who volunteer with nonprofit organizations to have their hours matched with money paid by Symantec directly to the nonprofit, at the rate of $15 per hour up to a maximum of $1,000 per employee per year. We also promote volunteerism as a valuable component of departmental team-building.
We work with our community partners to create compelling volunteer opportunities. To suggest a volunteer opportunity, send an email message to community_relations@Symantec.com.
Symantec also matches employees' charitable donations to eligible nonprofit organizations. Each year, the percentage of employees participating in Symantec's matching gift program continues to increase.
25th Anniversary Volunteer Challenge
In celebration of Symantec’s 25th anniversary, the company challenged all employees to give back to their community by volunteering at least 25 hours over the course of the 2008 fiscal year. The Volunteer Challenge was a tremendous success, boosting volunteerism rates by more than 230 percent over the previous fiscal year. Read more about the Volunteer Challenge on our Community Web site.
