Sustainability in Omega 365
Omega 365 is committed to a continuous and structured effort to make our business more sustainable. We believe that the UN's Sustainable Development Goals provide a critical framework. In our drive to enhance sustainability in our work, ISO 14001 certification serves as a vital tool.
Community responsibility
Omega 365 is owned by its employees. Our local ownership forms the foundation of our commitment to being a positive force within the local communities. While our journey began in a small village on the Norwegian coast, where our headquarters are still located, the definition of our local community has evolved and expanded over time due to the growth of our business. We now have offices in numerous locations, both within Norway and globally.
We believe that as a successful and growing business, we also bear a global responsibility to engage in initiatives aimed at combating hunger and poverty, while also promoting innovation and development. To fulfill this commitment, we actively collaborate with non-profit organizations on specific and targeted projects.
We are local
We are a company that started and is headquartered in Ølensvåg, a small community with less than 1000 inhabitants. It has been a commitment from the start to engage and contribute locally, to a diverse range of organization and causes.
Over time, we have grown and now have a large number of offices, from Calgary to Perth. These offices are also organizations that actively engage locally in causes that contribute to the development of the local community.
We are global
With our international activities, Omega 365 believes that we have a responsibility to contribute through organizations that are involved in global development. Instead of giving Christmas gifts to employees, we have replaced it with a substantial annual contribution to projects that we deem important. Some of these projects are described on our community page.
This is a joint effort by the company and employees.
Corruption, whitewashing, and child labour
Omega 365 has implemented routines to conduct risk-based evaluations when establishing new customer relationships. The objective is to ensure the accuracy of our information and gain a comprehensive understanding of the entities behind the companies. In cases where there is a potential risk of involvement in whitewashing or financing terrorism, an intensified evaluation is mandatory, along with the implementation of enhanced measures during the client relationship and transaction monitoring.
Omega 365 maintains a strict policy to prevent engagement in any activities associated with corruption, whitewashing, or child labor.
Management and Governance
We are a company owned by present and former employees. The value we create is not only measured in revenue, results, and growth but also demonstrated through our commitment to being a supportive employer for our people and a positive force within local communities and societies.
We are not solely focused on the results we generate, but also on how we generate them. We strive to conduct our business with high ethical standards, promote gender equality and diversity, and adhere to strict principles to avoid involvement in corruption, child labor, and whitewashing. Our employees have a low threshold for reporting breaches and unwanted incidents, and the company has established procedures and effective tools to ensure proper follow-up.
We believe in cultivating long-term business relationships, recognizing that trust and commitment are vital for their development. Our business practices are anchored in our core values, serving as the foundation for our operations.
According to the Norwegian Transparency Act, a Due Diligence Assessment has been provided here.
Ethics
Our Ethics policy describes what we, as a company, expect and require from our employees and management. The key elements are:
- Respect for the individual
- Uncompromising integrity
- Honesty and reliability
The policy outlines the responsibilities that each employee is required to accept upon joining Omega 365. It serves as the foundation for the way management and governance are conducted within our company.
The Ethics policy clearly states the commitment, both as a company and as individuals, to refrain from any activities that may involve corruption or bribery, human trafficking, or child labor.
Our company has implemented transactional and financial governance measures to mitigate the risk of being involved with parties associated with whitewashing.
Whistleblowing
Omega 365 has a global whistleblowing system in place, and any reports can be easily submitted through whistleblowing@omega365.com. This email address is communicated to all employees and readily accessible. Additionally, our whistleblowing policy can be found in the Employee Handbook, which is accessible on omega.omega365.com for all employees.
Ownership
Omega 365 is owned by present and former employees, with the company founders still being the major owners. This ownership structure, which requires approval of all ownership transactions, is an important tool in keeping our company focused on our key values: Open, Engaged, Generous, Humble, and Solution oriented. We have found that this enables us to work towards long-term goals rather than focusing solely on immediate solutions.
Products and services
Our value lies in our ability to develop innovative software and provide expertise to our clients. Our software contributes to the advancement of sustainable projects, as efficient project execution reduces resource consumption and pollution. In complex projects involving numerous suppliers, our solutions help ensure that all contributors adhere to defined targets and sustainable business practices.
The same solutions are utilized in our quality and sustainability initiatives, as well as in our collaborations with our suppliers.
In the execution of our own work, we strive to identify opportunities to reduce energy consumption and waste, particularly in the areas of food waste and the use of non-recyclable materials.
The way we work – reducing climate impact
As an IT company, power consumption is a significant aspect of our environmental footprint. Omega 365 has transitioned all our data management to global data centers, allowing us to reduce our impact through scalable solutions.
Additionally, Omega 365 has an established practice of utilizing web meetings internally whenever possible, rather than traveling.
Solutions that contribute to a sustainable society
Omega 365 delivers systems and expertise utilized in major building and construction projects. These projects often consume significant amounts of fossil and electric energy. By ensuring proper execution and efficient project management, valuable time can be saved, resulting in reduced energy-intensive activities.
Innovation to drive sustainable solutions
We seek innovative approaches that can create new solutions to promote sustainability in the building and construction industry. In collaboration with Oslo Kommune, Omega 365 developed the HMSREG solution, which has set new standards for controlling suppliers and employees' working conditions in large building and construction projects. The solution has seen continued growth and is currently being expanded to include support for reporting emissions and waste.
This is just one example of our commitment to identifying new areas where our solutions can contribute to building a more sustainable community.
Suppliers that contribute
Our Supplier Verification process is our way of ensuring that the suppliers we engage with, both for our own deliveries and to assist us in delivering services to our clients, adhere to the ethical and quality standards that our clients expect from us. We renew this verification annually.
Our software solutions also benefit our clients by enabling them to invite their own suppliers to utilize the systems and providing tools to ensure that these suppliers comply with the standards and principles defined for a project. The use of shared tools simplifies this process and enhances control over all activities.
People
Our people - our main asset
Our continued success is driven by our employees. It relies on our ability to build an innovative team inspired by our core values:
Open – Engaged – Generous – Humble – Solution oriented
These values form the foundation of our daily work and shape the way each Omega 365 employee interacts, both internally and with our customers.
Respect for people and human rights is also integral to our identity. We strive to promote gender equality and diversity within our staff and management.
As a global company, Omega 365 collaborates with its employees to engage in projects that contribute to local communities and participate in global initiatives aimed at combating poverty while promoting health, education, and wellness for all.
We promote decent working conditions and respect for labor rights.
Health and well-being
We encourage our employees to take care of their health by facilitating and rewarding physical activity.
We recognize the importance of balancing work with family and leisure time. Through our Advantage program, we provide opportunities for employees to enjoy active holidays with their families or friends at one of our attractive holiday homes.
Our working environment welcomes initiatives and innovative approaches. We value diverse opinions in discussions and expect loyalty once a decision is made. We expect our people to respect each other and extend the same respect to customers and partners. We are committed to making Omega 365 a positive and healthy place to work.
As part of this commitment, we have a clear substance abuse policy that is communicated to our employees.
Gender equality and diversity
Our Ethics policy clearly states our commitment to encouraging pluralism, upholding the principles of non-discrimination, and taking particular care to avoid discrimination based on sex, race, age, religion, ethnicity, or nationality.
In most of our business areas and at the corporate level, we have achieved a good gender balance. However, we face challenges in maintaining this balance across all our business areas. Despite our efforts to strengthen gender balance in software development, we still find ourselves falling short of our desired goals, largely due to the difficulty in finding sufficient female candidates during our recruitment processes. This imbalance also stems from disparities within the education systems from which we recruit our staff.
We firmly believe that our business would benefit from a better gender balance, particularly within our software sector. Therefore, we are actively taking steps to increase the number of female employees and managers in this area of our business.
Our Lifehack initiative is a six-month program conducted by our Stjørdal office, which invites refugees to receive training in programming. The aim is to provide refugees with meaningful opportunities and, hopefully, to recruit some of them to our company. The students in this program come from various backgrounds, with approximately 50 percent being Ukrainian, while others are Syrian, Turkish, and Canadian working immigrants.
Respect for human rights
Respect for individuals and the principles of human rights is a key value in Omega 365, as reflected in our Ethics policy. Omega 365 is committed to abstaining from engaging in any business activities that pose a risk of violating basic human rights.
Omega 365 is actively promoting the right of employees to organize and exercise their labor rights.