Corporate Responsibility at DiscoverCars.com
Driving changes for a sustainable future
Our Mission
At DiscoverCars.com, we endeavor to leave a positive imprint on people. We do this by caring about our responsibility to our employees, customers, and community.
Sustainability
An integral part of our corporate mission is environmental sustainability. We question over and over how we can make changes for a sustainable future — continutaly seeking the input of our employees and experts to make initiatives toward reducing the footprint of both our business and personal lives.
Promoting growth
We don't seek to just grow our business, but for our employees to grow, our relationships to grow, and our commitment toward the community to grow.
We have doubled down on our efforts to make sure our employees are growing daily — both personally and professionally. See below for the complete details.
We have doubled down on our efforts to make sure our employees are growing daily — both personally and professionally. See below for the complete details.
Worldwide but local at the same time
Though we facilitate car rental bookings across the world, we endeavor to leave a positive impact on our local community. We do this by sponsoring local organizations and organizing volunteering opportunties.
The Pillars of Our Corporate Focus
Customer Satisfaction
We put our customers first — we aren't satisfied if they aren't.
High-Quality Product
We seek to provide a car rental booking experience that is second to none.
Environmental Stewardship
We seek to reduce our environmental footprint as much as possible since the Earth is our only home.
Employee Welfare
Without our hard-working team, none of the other goals would be attainable.
A Sustainable Workplace
Keeping our reach wide and our footprint small is a key ethos of ours. This starts with our workplace — but certainly doesn't end there.
We have grown to incorporate environmental stewardship into our corporate mission.
We hold weekly brainstorming sessions where interested employees can come up with ideas to better take care of our environment, both as a company and personally.
Some of the ideas that have been implemented are a recycling program in our offices, replacing all light bulbs to energy-efficient ones, and a goal of eliminating the use of plastic items.
We also seek to make sure our footprint outside our workplace is also minimal. One large part of accomplishing that is holding seminars on sustainability for our employees.
As most of the world, we shifted to working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have since decided that this model will be the future model for our company, allowing those employees that would like to work remotely to do so. This will have two distinct benefits: our employees will have a better quality of life and emissions due to commuting will be cut — a win-win situation.
Finally, we keep a keen eye on our supply chain. As a car rental booking platform, our supply chain for physical products is quite small. But we still make sure anything we order is produced sustainably. This includes swag and office suppliers. We have also instituted a policy of using electronic documents and signatures to reduce printing as much as possible.
We have grown to incorporate environmental stewardship into our corporate mission.
We hold weekly brainstorming sessions where interested employees can come up with ideas to better take care of our environment, both as a company and personally.
Some of the ideas that have been implemented are a recycling program in our offices, replacing all light bulbs to energy-efficient ones, and a goal of eliminating the use of plastic items.
We also seek to make sure our footprint outside our workplace is also minimal. One large part of accomplishing that is holding seminars on sustainability for our employees.
As most of the world, we shifted to working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have since decided that this model will be the future model for our company, allowing those employees that would like to work remotely to do so. This will have two distinct benefits: our employees will have a better quality of life and emissions due to commuting will be cut — a win-win situation.
Finally, we keep a keen eye on our supply chain. As a car rental booking platform, our supply chain for physical products is quite small. But we still make sure anything we order is produced sustainably. This includes swag and office suppliers. We have also instituted a policy of using electronic documents and signatures to reduce printing as much as possible.
Some of What We Do Locally
DiscoverCars.com Cricket Club
We are the sponsor of a local cricket club — DiscoverCars.com Cricket Club. The team participates in local tournaments. And one of our employees is a member of the club, which ties into our support of our employees.
We regularly organize volunteering opportunities for our team. One type of these is the Latvian talka, which means cleaning up a section of nature. In 2019 (the last time we could before the pandemic), team members participated as part of World Cleanup Day.
In 2018, employees volunteered at Ulubele, a local animal shelter. In addition, those that couldn't attend donated supplies. And since then, some employees have organized having the rest of the team donate supplies for other animal shelters. We seek to promote a corporate culture that instills in its team the desire to volunteer or promote sustainability on their own.
We regularly organize volunteering opportunities for our team. One type of these is the Latvian talka, which means cleaning up a section of nature. In 2019 (the last time we could before the pandemic), team members participated as part of World Cleanup Day.
In 2018, employees volunteered at Ulubele, a local animal shelter. In addition, those that couldn't attend donated supplies. And since then, some employees have organized having the rest of the team donate supplies for other animal shelters. We seek to promote a corporate culture that instills in its team the desire to volunteer or promote sustainability on their own.
Employee Growth
At DiscoverCars.com, the welfare of our employees is one of our four areas of focus. And the largest part of this is making sure that our employees are constantly growing — we don't want them to feel that they are stagnating and becoming dissatisfied. This leads to burnout and is just simply bad business.
As a company, we have grown in how we support the professional growth of our employees over the years. We now offer multiple different ways for employees to gain valuable skills that will not just help them in their current role, but also in the future.
We regularly offer courses and training for our employees. Just one example is a complete spreadsheet course available to all employees — after completing the course, they will be spreadsheet gurus. We have also offered language lessons and programs.
Employees can take up to a day each month to study or practice something related to their role. This self-development time is widely used and leads to higher employee satisfaction.
Our company anonymously surveys all employees every quarter about how the company is doing regarding employee welfare and support across all areas. A focus of this is measuring how employees feel they are growing professionally. The survey also tells management how well employees feel they are supported by their managers and whether they have everything they need to complete their tasks.
Over the course of providing these surveys, our company has seen a vast improvement in employee welfare across all fronts, but particularly when it comes to growth. Our programs are a direct result of what our employees have told us. We commit to continuing to listen to our employees and promote their welfare through growth and other means.
We don't just address the professional growth of our workforce, but also their individual wellness. Some of what we have instituted to address this include hosting weekly yoga sessions in the office led by an experienced instructor and supporting a daily meditation session led by our employees. Both of these reduce stress and allow time to reset and refocus.
Finally, it is important to understand the interconnectedness of our main pillars. Many of our employees care deeply about the other main focuses of our company. They are inspired by working towards making our customers happy, providing a product that is second to none, and taking care of our environment.
As a company, we have grown in how we support the professional growth of our employees over the years. We now offer multiple different ways for employees to gain valuable skills that will not just help them in their current role, but also in the future.
We regularly offer courses and training for our employees. Just one example is a complete spreadsheet course available to all employees — after completing the course, they will be spreadsheet gurus. We have also offered language lessons and programs.
Employees can take up to a day each month to study or practice something related to their role. This self-development time is widely used and leads to higher employee satisfaction.
Our company anonymously surveys all employees every quarter about how the company is doing regarding employee welfare and support across all areas. A focus of this is measuring how employees feel they are growing professionally. The survey also tells management how well employees feel they are supported by their managers and whether they have everything they need to complete their tasks.
Over the course of providing these surveys, our company has seen a vast improvement in employee welfare across all fronts, but particularly when it comes to growth. Our programs are a direct result of what our employees have told us. We commit to continuing to listen to our employees and promote their welfare through growth and other means.
We don't just address the professional growth of our workforce, but also their individual wellness. Some of what we have instituted to address this include hosting weekly yoga sessions in the office led by an experienced instructor and supporting a daily meditation session led by our employees. Both of these reduce stress and allow time to reset and refocus.
Finally, it is important to understand the interconnectedness of our main pillars. Many of our employees care deeply about the other main focuses of our company. They are inspired by working towards making our customers happy, providing a product that is second to none, and taking care of our environment.
An Enviornmentally-Friendly Product
We've already stated what we have done to reduce our environmental footprint in regards to our office and workforce, but what about the product we offer?
One of the results to come out of our employee brainstorm sessions has been the addition of, and focus on promoting, hybrid and electric vehicles. We have added both hybrid and electric categories under our car specifications filter.
But even better, we have added a special offer and badge for zero-emission vehicles. This way it's both easy to find and stands out to customers that want to reduce the environmental impact of the rental.
One of the results to come out of our employee brainstorm sessions has been the addition of, and focus on promoting, hybrid and electric vehicles. We have added both hybrid and electric categories under our car specifications filter.
But even better, we have added a special offer and badge for zero-emission vehicles. This way it's both easy to find and stands out to customers that want to reduce the environmental impact of the rental.
Have any suggestions of local projects we should get involved with or other ways we can be a more responsible corporate citizen? Contact our Head of Human Resources with your ideas!
