Outstanding Corporate Citizenship Awards Q&A

Zeiders Enterprises, Inc.

Ginger Hayes
Marketing Manager
Outstanding Veteran and Military Advocate Award Nominee 
​
Tell us why and how you support the region’s active-duty/reserve military and/or national intelligence community, their families and/or veterans.
Zeiders is focused on delivering quality of life services and support that make a positive difference for individuals, families, organizations and communities. We work with Veteran and Military Service Organizations in an advocacy role to bring awareness to issues related to quality of life programs for active duty and veterans and including families and caregivers. Zeiders is proud to be a founding sponsor and key supporter of the Quality of Life Foundation (QOLF) whose mission is to honor and serve the families of our Nation’s severely wounded, ill, and injured. We tailor our outreach to non-profit organizations whose mission of support and advocacy for military families dovetails with our own. We believe that ensuring the readiness and resilience of the family support system enhances the ability of the warfighter in completing their individual mission and in turn provide enhanced support to the community overall.

What makes your company stand out compared to other companies participating in CSR?
Zeiders is a privately held, veteran-owned organization. Our business pursuits are military-oriented as a reflection of our corporate philosophy and deeply rooted in people-focused support programs where our ethical standards and operating procedures reflect the military order and standards on which Zeiders is based. Our Corporate Social Responsibility philosophy incorporates support for the extended members of the military family, including spouses and parents of active duty as well as reservists and veterans. We are committed to maintaining our military heritage through staffing efforts that focus on the military and veteran communities. Over 70% of Zeiders’ staff is military affiliated; we understand that our ability to provide excellence to the military and veteran communities as an organization is based on our employees’ personal passion for service and deep understanding of the military community and culture.

Do you believe contributing back to the community allows your company to have a deeper connection with its clients/customers?
Zeiders has always focused on finding ways to directly make a difference in the quality of life of our military families. One of our team recently commented, “Zeiders has a strong teamwork culture. Lots of companies say it, but at Zeiders I feel it every day. I am heard and I feel valued. On our team, no matter where we come from we all have the shared passion and purpose for helping the military community.” This really sums up the connection we have with our customers. Community involvement in diverse events including annual Salute to the Armed Forces and Valor Awards, to outreach support efforts such as the Department of Defense Warrior Games, are examples of ways we foster the quality of life connection for families. Most of our employees have a first-hand connection to the military and many have been users of the services we provide. This connection is reflected through the passion for the mission that our staff beings to delivery of services in the day-to-day contact with our customers.

What are some events or causes that inspire you and your team?
Zeiders focuses on events and causes whose mission is based on human service level support to the military and veteran communities. Our team had a lot of fun in April participating in the Purple-Up Campaign in support of Military Children, dressing and decorating their offices in purple. Other events include recognizing our many military spouses on Military Spouse Appreciation Day and saluting our many veterans and military affiliated employees on Veterans Day, Armed Forces Day and the birthdays for all branches of the armed services. Employees post individual stories of their own active duty and veteran spouses, children, or other family members on our intranet that serve as a connection between our team that is located around the world, and as an inspiration for our staff’s daily interactions.

What advice would you give to companies trying to participate in CSR?
Your Corporate Social Responsibility philosophy must be a true reflection of who you are as an organization. For example, Zeiders operates on principles that empower employees in their daily activities and engages their individual passion for service to the military and veteran communities. We incorporate Core Values that articulate what it means to be ‘a Zeiders’ employee’ and Cultural Norms to provide a framework for how our employees approach their work. Zeiders’ mission, vision, Core Values and Cultural Norms work together to guide our interaction with customers and each other. The best compliment I have received this year is, “ Zeiders is the real deal, you actually are who you say you are - you walk the walk.”