At Fiix, our higher purpose is to create a more sustainable world. Everything we do is with this goal in mind. It guides the way we do business. It helps us enable our customers to be agents of change. And it impacts the way we interact with our communities.
This page is a way to measure ourselves against this goal, highlight our wins and shortcomings, and explore new ways to make a difference while remaining accountable to our colleagues, customers, environment, and community.
Growth
At Fiix, sustainability and social impact (SSI) has always been about running a business the right way. As a Rockwell Automation company and leader in SaaS, we have the resources to create positive, lasting change for our employees, customers, community, and the planet, while being profitable.
Every year we survey our customers to understand how sustainability and social impact influenced their decision to purchase Fiix.
Five-year average revenue spent on SSI (2016-2020)
Average annual recurring revenue generated because of SSI (2017-2020)
Almost 1 in every 4 Fiix customers say SSI influenced their decision to purchase Fiix (2017-2020)
You can’t make a difference in the world without smart, talented, and dedicated teammates. Our sustainability and social impact values and activities help us attract and retain those awesome people.
More than three-quarters of new employees said our SSI program influenced their decision to join Fiix (2017-2020)
Almost 9 out 10 employees said that our SSI program influenced their decision to stay at Fiix (2019-2020)
The average employee engagement score over the last four years (2017-2020)
Our higher purpose was never just a goal for Fiix alone. We’ve always wanted to be a model for how to do business the right way. Being mentioned alongside some of the best companies in the world helps us raise our voice and talk about the things that matter most.
Governance
When we make a commitment, we mean it. That’s why it’s important to keep our goals, progress, and shortcomings visible.
To match our efforts with those of the international community, we align ourselves with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We surveyed our employees and our customers to understand which goals resonate with them. Here are the goals we work towards through our programs and partnerships:
Being accountable to our vision means putting our words and plans into action. Here are a few programs and policies we put in place in 2020 to help our employees work and live at their best.
COVID-19 response
Health and safety protocols and credits for a work-from-home environment
Diversity, inclusion, belonging, and equity
Our commitments, responsibilities, and actions that create a better workplace
Digital First Relocation Reimbursement Program
Allowance for telecommunications and setting up a remote work environment
Return to work protocols
Health and safety measures for voluntary return to the office
Career development tools
Performance management and professional development platforms to help employees learn and grow
Employee expenses platform
A system to help make it easier for employees to submit an expense claim
Workers
Our people are the heart of Fiix. We wouldn’t be where we are today without them.
We take a holistic approach to diversity, inclusion, belonging, and equity. Here are a few of the areas of our business that we look at:
Recruitment
Partnerships
Self-identification data
Training and education
Employee resource groups
Compensation
Accessibility
Competency frameworks
Career development
Employee surveys
Our diversity, inclusion, belonging, and equity efforts are never done. We’re always looking for ways to grow and improve.
Our diversity and inclusion education tool
2021 employee participation rate: (goal: 21%)
2020 employee participation rate: 20%
Diversity, inclusion, belonging, and equity conversations
Balance (Mental Health)
Pride (LGBTQIA+)
Asian Community
African-Carribbean
Hosted a company-wide discussion on racism and discrimination
Implemented a diversity, inclusion, belonging, and equity strategy
Set quantifiable goals for increasing representation of women, non-binary, and racialized employees
Reviewed and assessed compensation by gender and race
Built a competency framework to remove personal bias from talent recruitment and development
Hosted two training sessions for senior leadership to discuss inclusive leadership
Committed to inclusivity training for all employees
Developed a dashboard to analyze and report on key representation metrics
Hosted two training sessions for business leaders and people managers to discuss inclusive leadership
Introduced an equity statement into job postings
Four weeks of paid time off
Three paid volunteer days
Flexible medical and dental benefits
Corporate discounts for Perkopolis and Goodlife
$200 credit for a gym membership or fitness classes
Unlimited education allowance
Ability to work remotely or from Toronto HQ
Free snacks, coffee and tea
Employee Assistance Program
RRSP matching and employer-paid pension plan
*Benefits vary depending on employee location
Employee safety and well-being at Fiix is second-to-none. So when COVID-19 hit, we sprang into action and provided employees with:
Essential home office equipment
A remote-friendly on-boarding process
Virtual wellness events, including meditation, mobility, and workout classes
Additional time off on an as-needed basis
Our employees turn our values from words on a page into projects, policies, and action. They’re responsible for making Fiix an awesome place to work, grow, and make a difference. And we have the awards to prove it.
Community
Giving back is an important part of our DNA. That’s why we work with our community partners to find the best way to address global needs at a local level.
Fiix employees gave 4,500+ volunteer hours over the last three years, which makes the drop in 2020 extremely disappointing. But it’s also understandable.
The COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult, and often impossible, to volunteer in-person. Transitioning to remote volunteering was a challenge. We have a plan to get back on track in 2021 and crush our volunteer goals again.
238
Fiix employees have spent 238 hours volunteering so far in 2021
2020: 723
10%
We are currently at 10% of our goal for employee volunteer hours in 2021
2020: 26%
Canada Learning Code
“Fiix has supported Canada Learning Code in a magnitude of ways over the years - from enabling projects to ensuring we’re delivering experiences to those who need it most...to their unwavering support as we navigated the shift from in-person learning experiences to virtual. We are thrilled to have Fiix's partnership...as we ensure all people in Canada can be creators, not just consumers, of technology.”
Melissa Sariffodeen, CEO and co-founder of Canada Learning Code
Rare Charitable Research Reserve
"Collaborating with Fiix on our pollinator mapping project helped us to take the idea to reality. Fiix shared their expertise in data visualization, graphic design, and many skills we didn’t have within our team. Our partnership has really flourished beyond just funding and we are so excited to expand what we could accomplish."
Laura Klein, Gosling Engagement Coordinator
Women in Reliability and Asset Management
“Our many collaborations with the Fiix team have been transformational. The positive energy and high performance mindset, combined with a rich tapestry of diversity and inclusion, has inspired the team at the Association of Asset Management Professionals to stand for a world that works for everyone.”
Maura Abad, Director of Women in Reliability and Asset Management AMP
Our partnership with BPTN supports our overall DIBE strategy and we are delighted to have been a founding sponsor in 2019.
For the past two years, we’ve supported the LGBTQ2A+ community with Venture Out job fair and conference.
We sponsored $5,000 towards the Centre for Social Innovation’s Next Economy series in 2020, bringing light to how we can build back better.
Canadian Business for Social Responsibility
Fiix is a proud member of Canadian Business for Social Responsibility, a professional association for Canadian companies championing business as a force for good.
Access to Success
We are committed to building a more inclusive economy by partnering with Access to Success. In 2021, we donated $5,000 to ATS Labs, Canada’s first accelerator for accessibility startups.
Scholarships
We’ve paid out $6,000 in scholarships to students pursuing continuing education between 2016 and 2020.
COVID-19 community support:
Fiix rallied to contribute $10,000 to the Toronto General & Western Hospital Foundation to help combat COVID-19 and aid those with COVID-19.
Anti-Racism Community Support
Systemic racism can’t be fixed in a year. That’s why we’ll continue to be active allies in our community. We joined forces with several community organizations in 2020, contributing $2,500 to each to support their efforts to end systemic racism.
We saw an increase in anti-Asian hate and discrimination in 2021. We’re responding by showing our support for the local Asian community and contributing $10,000 to our community partners.
Fiix's financial support in 2020 ($2,500 to each partner)
Fiix's financial support in 2021 ($5,000 to each partner)
Every year, our employees come together on Giving Tuesday to fundraise for an issue that matters to them. Fiix matches the funds that are raised.
$715 total funds raised
$8,000 total funds raised
$17,775 total funds raised (With special thanks to Georgian, Rob Kalwarowsky and Lauren Williams for collaborating on this fundraiser)
Fiix believes in the power of democracy and fully encourages active and engaged citizenship by all employees. Employees are given one day paid time off to participate in democratic demonstrations. In 2020, we had 3 employees participate.
Environment
We take responsibility for the carbon we put into the atmosphere by measuring our scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions and offsetting them with a certified project.
We measure the footprint of our server farms, air travel, energy, waste, and water. Water makes up less than 0.1% of our overall footprint and as such, has not been included here.
We’re super proud when our employees make positive changes in their lives because of our efforts at Fiix.
Customers
Millions of maintainers work every day to make our world more sustainable. And we work every day to empower them on this journey.
Fiix has partnered with Dr. Taghipour and her department at Ryerson University to create tools and fund research that help our customers reduce their environmental footprint.
2016
Greenhouse gas calculator
2017
Repair or replace calculator
2018
Study: An optimization model for fleet management with economic and environmental considerations, under a cap-and-trade market (Read more)
2019
Sustainability score framework
2020
Study: Sustainable asset management: a repair-replacement decision model considering environmental impacts, maintenance quality, and risk (Read more)
Maintenance is sustainability. But this impact is going unrecognized because it isn't measured. We put together this framework to start to solve this problem. It shows exactly how maintainers contribute to sustainability and empowers them to implement a triple-bottom-line approach to maintenance strategies.
| PEOPLE Social |
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Health & safety |
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Quality of workplace |
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Community |
| PLANET Environmental |
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Air |
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Waste |
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Energy |
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Water |
| PROFIT Economic |
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Cost |
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Utilization |
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Compliance |
| Environment | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resource consumption | Emissions | Pollution | ||||||
| Energy | (10-80%) | Carbon emissions | (16-67%) | Hazardous substances | (-) | |||
| Water use | (-) | Other GHG emissions | (30-61%) | Ozone-depleting gases | (-) | |||
| Material | (15-25%) | Wastes | (-) | |||||
| Noise | (40-88%) | |||||||
| Social | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Occupational / Customer health & safety | Others | ||||
| Workplace safety | (-) | Employment opportunities | (45-50%) | ||
| Customer safety | (-) | Lighting & ventilation | (-) | ||
| Accidents & incidents | (20%) | ||||
| Economic | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maintenance and total operation cost | Utilization | ||||
| Maintenance costs | (11-57%) | Productivity | (-) | ||
| Resources usage costs | (30-37%) | Availability | (-) | ||
| Charges costs (safety and env.) | (20%) | Reliability | (-) | ||
| External costs | (29%) | Up time | (-) | ||
| Total production costs | (5-45%) | Down time | (-) | ||
| Failure rate | (40%) | ||||
| Production rate | (16%) | ||||
(Ghaleb and Taghipour, 2021)
Another way we track our work in sustainability and social impact is through the standards of the World Economic Forum. These are a set of universal metrics and disclosures companies around the world use to measure and report their impact on society. These metrics are organized around governance, planet, people, and prosperity.
The chart below explores how Fiix has aligned itself to the standards, how we measure up against others, the impact of our efforts in each area.
| Theme | Governance | Fiix 2020 |
|---|---|---|
|
Governing Purpose |
The company’s stated purpose, as the expression of the means by which a business proposes solutions to economic, environmental and social issues. Corporate purpose should create value for all stakeholders, including shareholders. |
Fiix's higher purpose is to create a more sustainable world. |
Quality of governing body |
Composition of the highest governance body and its committees by: competencies relating to economic, environmental and social topics; |
Board member 1 – Economic Board member 2 – Economic Board member 3 – Economic Board member 4 – Economic Board member 5 – Economic Board member 6 – Economic |
Executive or non-executive; |
Board member 1 – Non-executive Board member 2 – Executive Board member 3 – Non-executive Board member 4 – Non-executive Board member 5 – Non-executive Board member 6 – Non-executive |
|
Independence; |
Board member 1 – Not independent Board member 2 – Not independent Board member 3 – Independent Board member 4 – Independent Board member 5 – Not independent Board member 6 – Independent |
|
Tenure on the governance body; |
Board member 1 – 2 years Board member 2 – 4 years Board member 3 – 1 year Board member 4 – 7 years Board member 5 – 3 years Board member 6 – 4 years |
|
Number of each individual’s other significant positions and commitments, and the nature of the commitments; |
Board member 1 – Professional investor, sits on multiple boards Board member 2 – CEO, dedicated board member Board member 3 – Professional director, multiple boards Board member 4 – Executive VP of Technology, CIBC, angel investor Board member 5 – Professional investor, sits on multiple boards Board member 6 – Professional director, sits on multiple boards |
|
Gender; |
Board member 1 – M Board member 2 – M Board member 3 – M Board member 4 – M Board member 5 – M Board member 6 – W |
|
Membership of under-represented social groups; |
Board member 1 – No Board member 2 – No Board member 3 – No Board member 4 – No Board member 5 – No Board member 6 – Yes |
|
Stakeholder representation. |
Board member 1 – Investor Board member 2 – Company Board member 3 – Independent Board member 4 – Independent Board member 5 – Investor Board member 6 – Independent |
|
Stakeholder engagement |
A list of the topics that are material to key stakeholders and the company, how the topics were identified and how the stakeholders were engaged. |
Fiix surveyed customers and employees in 2016 to identify which of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals were of highest priority. Those identified include: Quality education (4), Gender equality (5), Decent work and economic growth (8), Responsible production and consumption (12), Life on land (15). In 2021, after five years of progress against these goals we will perform an additional materiality assessment by engaging with key stakeholders. |
Ethical behaviour: anti corruption |
Total percentage of governance body members, employees and business partners who have received training on the organization’s anti-corruption policies and procedures, broken down by region. |
We do not currently undergo anti-corruption training, but will roll it out across the organization in 2021. |
Total number and nature of incidents of corruption confirmed during the current year, but related to previous years. |
None |
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Total number and nature of incidents of corruption confirmed during the current year, related to this year. |
None |
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Discussion of initiatives and stakeholder engagement to improve the broader operating environment and culture, in order to combat corruption. |
All employees will undergo anti-corruption and business ethics training on an annual basis. |
|
Ethical behaviour: Protected ethics advice and reporting mechanisms |
A description of internal and external mechanisms for: 1. Seeking advice about ethical and lawful behaviour and organizational integrity; and 2. Reporting concerns about unethical or unlawful behaviour and lack of organizational integrity. |
Internally, we have a Whistleblower policy and Anti-harassment policy and anonymous forums for employees who wish to seek advice or make a complaint. Externally, we will be rolling out an anonymous feedback forum for customers to report concerns. |
Risk and opportunity oversight |
Company risk factor and opportunity disclosures that clearly identify the principal material risks and opportunities facing the company specifically (as opposed to generic sector risks), the company appetite in respect of these risks, how these risks and opportunities have moved over time and the response to those changes. These opportunities and risks should integrate material economic, environmental and social issues, including climate change and data stewardship. |
We present a risk tracker to the Board of Directors on a quarterly basis. Material risks include: exchange rate, public company multiples, macroeconomic trends, customer concentration, employee turnover, geographic risk, churn, security and data privacy. We had a range in which we felt comfortable operating within and would take action once they went outside that range. These factors did not change over time and remained the same for all of 2020. |
| Theme | Planet | Fiix 2020 |
|---|---|---|
Climate change: Greenhouse gas emissions |
For all relevant greenhouse gases (e.g. carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, F-gases etc.), report in metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) GHG Protocol Scope 1 |
35.2 tCO2e |
Scope 2 emissions |
7.26 tCO2e |
|
Scope 3 emissions |
112.35 tCO2e |
|
Total emissions |
154.85 tCO2e |
|
Climate change: TCFD implementation |
Fully implement the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). If necessary, disclose a timeline of at most three years for full implementation. |
We do not have TCFD aligned reporting. |
Disclose whether you have set, or have committed to set, GHG emissions targets that are in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement – to limit global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C – and to achieve net-zero emissions before 2050. |
We have not yet set any GHG targets in line with the Paris Agreement. We operate as a carbon neutral company and are currently assessing how to become net positive. |
|
Nature loss |
Report the number and area (in hectares) of sites owned, leased or managed in or adjacent to protected areas and/or key biodiversity areas (KBA). |
None |
Freshwater availability |
Report for operations where material: megalitres of water withdrawn, megalitres of water consumed and the percentage of each in regions with high or extremely high baseline water stress, according to WRI Aqueduct water risk atlas tool. Estimate and report the same information for the full value chain (upstream and downstream) where appropriate. |
Not applicable. We consumed 598,000 litres of water at our head office. |
| Theme | People | Fiix 2020 |
|---|---|---|
Dignity and equality: Diversity & inclusion |
Percentage of employees per employee category: gender |
Men: 58% Women: 25% Other: 1% Prefer not to say: 16% |
Age group |
24 & under: 2.7% 25-34: 57.2% 35-44: 29.9% 45-54: 8.0% 55-64: 1.6% 65 & older: 0.5% |
|
Ethnicity |
Racialized: 25.7% Non-racialized: 48.1% Unsure: 5.9% Prefer not to say: 4.8% No answer: 15.5% |
|
Disability |
Yes: 1.1% No: 78.1% Unsure: 2.7% Prefer not to say: 2.7% No answer: 15.5% |
|
LGBTQ+ |
Yes: 5.9% No: 67.9% Prefer not to say: 5.9% No answer: 20.3% |
|
Dignity and equality: Pay equality |
Ratio of the basic salary and remuneration for each employee category by significant locations of operation for priority areas of equality: women to men |
P1: 0.90 P2: 0.98 P3: 1.04 P4: 0.95 P5: no women comparators M1: 0.84 M2: no women comparators M3: 1.05 M4: no women comparators M5: no women comparators E: 0.57 |
Minor to major ethnic groups |
P1: 0.96 P2: 0.89 P3: 0.95 P4: 1.03 P5: no racialized comparators M1: 0.91 M2: 0.93 M3: 0.98 M4: 1.29 M5: no racialized comparators E: no racialized comparators |
|
Other relevant equality areas. |
We do not track any other equality areas. |
|
Dignity and equality: Wage level |
Ratios of standard entry level wage by gender compared to local minimum wage. |
M&W: 1.9:1 |
Ratio of the annual total compensation of the CEO to the median of the annual total compensation of all its employees, except the CEO. |
4.5:1 |
|
Dignity and equality: Risk for incidents of child, forced or compulsory labour |
An explanation of the operations and suppliers considered to have significant risk for incidents of child labour, forced or compulsory labour. Such risks could emerge in relation to: a) type of operation (such as manufacturing plant) and type of supplier; and b) countries or geographic areas with operations and suppliers considered at risk. |
As a software company, we have little to no risk. Our major suppliers (45%) are made up of catering, services, office supplies, and events. |
Health and well-being: Health and safety |
The number and rate of fatalities as a result of work-related injury; high-consequence work-related injuries (excluding fatalities); recordable work-related injuries; main types of work-related injury; and the number of hours worked. |
No injuries or fatalities. |
An explanation of how the organization facilitates workers’ access to non-occupational medical and healthcare services, and the scope of access provided for employees and workers. |
Employees are provided with extensive benefits, 100% covered by Fiix with an additional $300 lifestyle spending account, wellness classes, and personal days off work. |
|
Skills for the future: Training provided |
Average hours of training per person that the organization’s employees have undertaken during the reporting period, by gender |
This is not something that we tracked in 2020. |
Employee category (total number of hours of training provided to employees divided by the number of employees). |
This is not something that we tracked in 2020. |
|
Average training and development expenditure per full time employee (total cost of training provided to employees divided by the number of employees). |
$2,000 |
| Theme | Prosperity | Fiix 2020 |
|---|---|---|
Employment and wealth generation: Absolute number and rate of employment |
Total number and rate of new employee hires during the reporting period, by age group |
24 & under: 3 25-34: 24 35-44: 12 45-54: 4 55-64: 0 65 & older: 1 |
Gender |
Men: 22 Women: 10 No answer: 12 |
|
Disability |
No: 31 Prefer not to say: 1 No answer: 12 |
|
LGBTQ+ |
Yes: 3 No: 28 Prefer not to say: 1 No answer: 12 |
|
Total number and rate of employee turnover during the reporting period, by age group |
24 & under: 1 25-34: 23 35-44: 7 45-54: 1 55-64: 0 65 & older: 0 |
|
Gender |
Men: 14 Women: 8 No answer: 9 Prefer not to say: 1 |
|
Disability |
No: 22 Prefer not to say: 1 No answer: 9 |
|
LGBTQ+ |
Yes: 2 No: 16 Prefer not to say: 1 No answer: 13 |
|
Employment and wealth generation: Economic contribution |
Direct economic value generated and distributed (EVG&D), on an accruals basis, covering the basic components for the organization’s global operations by Revenues |
We do not disclose this information |
Operating costs |
We do not disclose this information |
|
Employee wages and benefits |
We do not disclose this information |
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Payments to providers of capital |
We do not disclose this information |
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Payments to government |
We do not disclose this information |
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Community investment |
$97,450 CAD |
|
Financial assistance received from the government: total monetary value of financial assistance received by the organization from any government during the reporting period. |
We do not disclose this information |
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Employment and wealth generation: Financial investment contribution |
Total capital expenditures (CapEx) minus depreciation, supported by narrative to describe the company’s investment strategy. Share buybacks plus dividend payments, supported by narrative to describe the company’s strategy for returns of capital to shareholders. |
We do not disclose this information |
Innovation of better products and services: Total R&D expenses |
Total costs related to research and development. |
We do not disclose this information |
Community and social vitality: Total tax paid |
The total global tax borne by the company, including corporate income taxes |
We do not disclose this information |
Property taxes |
We do not disclose this information |
|
Non-creditable VAT |
We do not disclose this information |
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Other sales taxes |
We do not disclose this information |
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Employer-paid payroll taxes |
We do not disclose this information |
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Other taxes that constitute costs to the company, by category of taxes |
We do not disclose this information |
