Innovation

Ad Victoriam Solutions has many programs in place to become a better company that will achieve the UN SDGs and better the world. They do many things such as paid volunteering time off, device recycling events, and company wide groups that discuss the issues within the company and how to fix them. Some of these innovations are not necessarily brand new ideas, but the difference with Ad Victoriam is the fact that they truly implement these programs and apply them to their everyday business. This shows that Ad Victoriam is not a company that just talks about these issues to make themselves look good as a company, but they truly believe in the issues that they are trying to resolve to better the world.

One program is called HYPE, which meets once a month to see where the company stands with their current STD goals, what they can do better with these goals, and what new goals they want to set for the next month. This is very beneficial for them because without this baseline they would most likely fall off track with these STGs and would not be able to accomplish them. Another program that I focus on in this story is the paid time off volunteering program. This program set up by Ad Victoriam allows employees 40 hours a year of paid time off if they are volunteering in any way that they choose. This program benefits not only the employee but the community around them that they are volunteering for.

Inspiration

Erin Snyder is an interesting leader for many reasons. She has been at Ad Victoriam Solutions for over 4 years now and has a very thorough understanding of the company. Her official title is Practice Director which is an internal role in the company which ensures that everyone in the company is productive and efficient while they are in the workplace so that the company as a whole remains financially solvent. This ties heavily into the third STG, Good Health and Well Being, because her job is focused around ensuring the health and well being of the employees so they can maximize efficiency for their specific job.

Erin is very personable which makes her a good fit for this line of work. She studied at Columbus State University and now works remotely from her home in Tennessee. One thing that she mentioned to me is that she enjoys working remotely as it fits her working style better than working in a physical office. “There are a lot less distractions when I am in the comfort of my home compared to the office.” Erin reaps the full benefits of this program because working she can be more efficient and comfortable when she can work from within the confines of where she chooses. With Ad Victoriam allowing their employees to choose where they want to work from allows the employees to find the best environment suited for them to be the most productive and efficient that they can be.

Overall impact

This benefitted the business in many different ways that were not seen from the outside. It was more of an internal change that affected the environment of the company. When I was talking to Erin Snyder about this program she said that it has benefitted many people through being able to volunteer where ever they want to. It gives people a sense of productivity outside of their normal job. They have the freedom to pick any place that they want to go to to help and support their cause. Erin was talking about how a large number of people go volunteer for their kid’s field trips, giving them the ability to make memories with their family as they're helping a good cause.

The short-term and long-term effects of this are on a cultural level for Ad Victoriam Solutions through their day-to-day operations and the goals that they want to meet as a company in the long term. In the short term, these values and ethics of the company create a positive workspace for employees so they can be productive, efficient, and enjoy the work that they’re doing while they’re doing it. These short term actions untimely set up the foundation that rolls into the long term results of the company. The long term results of the company can be seen in many ways, such as the culture of the company, employee retainment, and overall success of the company. This all stems from the everyday actions that go unseen throughout the business.

Business benefit

Ad Victoriam Solutions became a Certified B Corp in 2018, which is roughly when they started scaling their business and workforce. “In the past three years, we’ve gone from 25 local employees to over 100 spread out across the country” (April 2021). This is a very impressive feat for them to accomplish considering how new of a company they are, being founded in 2014. There are many factors that have attributed to this, but the one that I am going to focus on is becoming a B Corp and how this has positively affected the company.

Ad Victoriam Solutions has many programs in place for employees to help their overall well-being, which I believe is a large part of why their employee retention has been so good over the last 3 years. Erin can attest to this as she has been at Ad Victoriam for almost 5 years now. Erin spoke about how being a Certified B Corp does not specifically affect just one part of the company, but more so creates an atmosphere that people want to work in which reflects how they have scaled the business to the level that they are at right now. They have put in programs such as paid time off for volunteering so employees can put time towards volunteering to whatever cause they choose and not have to worry about losing their job or money. Another program they have is called HYPE which is a B Corp/ cultural group that meets monthly and discusses the companies goals on a sustainability level and an internal ethics level.

Social and environmental benefit

Ad Victoriam Solutions positively affects the environment and society through their many different programs. This starts on the inside of the company and radiates to the environment and the society around them. They positively affect the environment through multiple programs, such as device recycling events throughout the year. This is very beneficial considering they are a technology company that revolves around utilizing many different pieces of technology, which all need to be recycled at some point in their lifetime. A larger program that factors into Ad Victoriam is allowing employees to work from home. This positively benefits the environment due to there being less pollution because employees do not need to commute to work and waste energy once they arrive at their workplace. Working remotely removes these greenhouse gases from the atmosphere saving the environment little by little.

Ad Victoriam affects society positively through their paid volunteering time off program. This affects the communities that the employees live in because they have a boost of volunteers due to Ad Victoriams program. This ties into having employees working remotely because they are located all over the country. This allows the volunteer work to affect communities all across the country, not just in Alpharetta, Georgia, where the headquarters is located. Volunteer work is beneficial for the employee because they feel as if they have contributed to the greater good, and the recipients in the community also reap the benefits of the volunteer work. Overall, Ad Victoriam solutions positively affect the environment and society and strive to do better every day.

Interview

Erin Snyder, Internal Steering Comittee