A strategic and integrated approach
Sky recognises that as a business they have a responsibility towards their customers, people, suppliers and communities in which they operate. So integral to their business is this sense of responsibility that it does not reside with a single team but rather is integrated throughout, with critical, strategic direction provided by their board-level Corporate Responsibility Steering Group.
Sky’s corporate responsibility strategy, The Bigger Picture, focuses their work on where they can make a real difference: the arts, sport and the environment. Committed to building partnerships that seek to make the arts accessible to the widest possible audience, they also encourage a healthy society by motivating everyone to get active through their programming, promotion and activities and harness the collective energy of the Sky community to maximise environmental sustainability for everyone.
Key programmes and partnerships
A key example of partnership working can be seen in their partnership with the Youth Sport Trust to deliver Sky’s schools programme, Sky Sports Living for Sports. The programme is open to all secondary schools across the UK and uses sport to engage young people aged 11-16 who are in some way disengaged at school. In addition, their sponsorship of the London Freewheel initiative encouraged 50,000 people of all ages and abilities to get involved with cycling.
Working to both a community and environmental agenda, Sky have developed the world’s first auto standby for set top boxes, through which their customers are set to save an estimated £20 million a year on their energy bills by switching off their boxes automatically when they aren’t in use. Furthermore, hundreds of primary schools are learning more about how to reduce food waste with Appetite for Action, the programme Sky run with the charity Global Action Plan.
Aware of the potential impact of their products on their communities, Sky offer market leading controls to help families manage what their children watch, include McAfee parental control software free to all broadband customers for life and work with the Internet Watch Foundation and Childnet International to block illegal or harmful images and provide advice and education to families and children on safe use of the internet. To facilitate wider access to programming and products, Sky offers 429,000 hours of subtitling a year across their channels, as well as 26,000 hours of audio described programmes. They also have a dedicated Accessibility Service team of 80 specifically trained advisors who take over 4,500 calls every week and provide key information about their services in different formats such as Braille, Audio CD and large print.
Engaging employees
To enable their staff to get involved in community investment, Sky employees are allowed up to 16 hours paid leave to do volunteer work for any charity, school, or community organisation. They also run team challenges focused on mutually beneficial community projects that provide development opportunities for Sky staff. The benefits to Sky of such activity include enhanced reputation, positive press coverage and staff development.
Visit www.jointhebiggerpicture.com to find out more about BskyB's programmes and projects.
