AUSTIN, Texas — Stephenie Haldane, vice president of end user sales at HID, is proud of the security industry for the strides it’s taken in broadening the reach and scope of its community service efforts over the years–but she’s challenging her co-workers and others in the industry to do even more.
HID employees have worked for several years as partners of Convergint on that company’s annual Social Responsibility Day. The Security Industry Association took the philanthropic spirit a step further this year, declaring the first Friday in June as Community Service Day across the security industry.
One of the biggest community service efforts every year for HID Global is Keep Austin Beautiful, where companies adopt a stretch of road and go once a quarter to beautify the area they’ve adopted. HID has been involved in that effort for about five years with about 50 employees doing the cleanup each time.
That’s certainly not the only philanthropic effort on HID’s calendar by any means. The company is a gold sponsor for Mission 500, working with that organization to sponsor the 5K ,charity run ahead of ISC West every year and stuffing backpacks for local children in need of school supplies.
“What we try to do from a leadership perspective within all of our different business areas is just to really in embody a culture of giving back,” says Haldane. “That looks different ways within different business areas throughout the whole company.
“Of course, employees don’t have to participate because these are voluntary, philanthropic events and it does require their time off the clock. What we try to do is just help them understand the value of giving back and really creating a culture around that. That comes from our leadership,” she says.
Community Service Comes in All Shapes and Sizes
HID’s parent company, ASSA ABLOY, has its own community service initiatives as well, some of which overlap with what HID does and others that don’t.
Photo courtesy of HID Global
“We just kind of embody that philosophy of being able to give back into whatever that looks like within our area,” says Haldane. “I believe there’s several reasons why you give back, but I definitely think it gives you a purpose.
“We’re just always trying to look at how we can bring more exposure and understand how we can support these things better,” says Haldane, noting Mission 500 raised $100,000 at this year’s 5K.
“What if we could double that for next year and how do we double that? It’s a well-attended race, but there’s not enough people aware of it,” she says. “We had over 500 bags filled to the brim with everyday essentials but what if we could double that?”
HID has a morale committee that helps to spearhead its community service initiatives and Haldane says it’s critical for there to be a champion or champions within the company to ensure all the efforts they discussed are put into place when it comes to giving back.
“I think that we’ve come a long way and I think we have a long way to go in really being able to be an industry that gives back,” she says. “It goes back to exposure and the importance of it.
“If you spend a day [doing community service], it humbles you to the fact of being grateful for the role that you have about being able to protect those who are vulnerable and those that are less fortunate. It just reminds us of the importance and the significance of our role in the security industry,” says Haldane.
If you participated in Security Industry Community Service Day this year or are involved in other service-based initiatives, please contact SSI digital editor Craig MacCormack at [email protected] to be part of our ongoing Security Gives Back series.
Click here to read all the stories in our Security Gives Back series!
