Ricoh USA, Inc. announced the company has received the Advocating for Veterans Award as part of the Coalition for Government Procurement's annual Excellence in Partnership Awards. This recognition marks the latest in several milestones demonstrating Ricoh's commitment to supporting a diverse employee base, including veterans and service members.
As part of its hiring process, Ricoh looks for candidates who understand and embody the company's corporate philosophy of The Spirit of Three Loves: “Love your neighbor,” “Love your country,” “Love your work.” Veterans have demonstrated the ultimate love of neighbor and country, and Ricoh has a strong commitment to veterans through hiring initiatives and veteran-specific skills training programs.
“We understand that loving one's neighbor includes hiring employees of diverse backgrounds and experiences. It brings a broader range of viewpoints into the conversation, so we can have a more complete view of the challenges facing people and businesses today,” said Donna Venable, Executive Vice President of Human Resources and Deputy General Manager, Shared Services, Ricoh Americas. “More diverse perspectives create more opportunity for truly surprising innovation that can make a major difference for our customers. Veterans in particular are a much sought-after addition to our organization because they have a deep, practical understanding of the transformative power of teamwork and dedication. We are humbled to be recognized for our efforts to support our service members who do so much to support us.”
The company's dedication to veterans is supported through internal infrastructure and partnerships with outside organizations. For example, Ricoh participates in career fairs, many of which cater specifically to veterans. Ricoh also sends representatives to military bases and onto the service member social media site RallyPoint to meet veterans and service members. In addition, the company maintains a dedicated team of military hiring specialists and employs many AIRS Military Certified Recruiters, who help keep veteran outreach adaptable and effective.
Ricoh's commitment to veterans' transition extends beyond hiring by providing free licenses for job-hunting veterans to take CompTIA certification courses. CompTIA certification can give IT workers a significant advantage in their job search. Furthermore, Ricoh has sponsored the Student Veterans of America (SVA) annual conference every year since 2016.
The company also honors veterans in other ways, as highlighted in the recent episode of Military Makeover: Operation Career on Lifetime TV where several veterans working at Ricoh shared their stories and discussed Ricoh's role in their transitions back to civilian life. The episode also showcased Ricoh's annual Run for Heroes, a “virtual” event that empowers nationwide fundraising by Ricoh employees to benefit military veterans. Each year, Ricoh selects organizations that provide direct support to service members and their families, for which local teams organize events to drive donations. This year, Ricoh took its support for longstanding partner Wounded Warrior Project a step further, raising thousands of dollars for the charity at a major tradeshow. Additionally, Ricoh honors the veterans it employs by recognizing them on a Wall of Honor.
The benefits and necessity of diversity, for Ricoh, don't stop with hiring, recognition efforts and charity work, and they don't stop with veterans, either. The organization also greatly values supplier diversity of all types, to the point Christina Morrow, Director, Global Procurement, Ricoh USA, Inc., was recently named a Champion of Diversity for her and the company's efforts. Under Morrow's leadership, Ricoh has seen growth in year-over-year diversity spend every year since 2010, and the company has implemented a policy mandating that every RFP process includes at least one diverse supplier. She also oversees Ricoh's sponsorship of the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) Emerging Young Entrepreneurs program. To learn more about Ricoh's corporate responsibility efforts, click here.