VMware Inc. said it is committed to socially responsible policies; to the company that does not mean simply writing a check to a charity or mandating a hiring quota. At the Women Transforming Technology conference in Palo Alto, CA, Sindy Braun (pictured), vice president of social impact at VMware, said that the company’s good karma finds its way back to them.

“For us, it’s always been driving it into the business, of making it a business-led initiative as opposed to an HR-led initiative, which is where a lot of companies do this,” she said.

Braun told Rebecca Knight (@knightrm), host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile live streaming studio, that VMware creates an inclusive environment for its diverse teams with several different tactics. (*Disclosure below.)

“It’s about changing consciousness; it’s about changing the conversations; and it’s about seeing the movement in both the diversity side, which is the numbers associated with it, and the inclusiveness side, which is how do you bring your whole self to it?” she explained.

Boomerang to business

The VMware Foundation’s citizen philanthropy provides special “service learning” programs to employees; they don’t call it “volunteering,” because “really, we’re focusing on being of service and what do you learn from that?” Braun said.

The happy side effect is that employees who participate are 25 percent more likely to recommend the company to others, positively affecting hiring, retention and culture, Braun explained.

“They will recommend it to their friends who are looking for more in a company than ‘how am I going to earn my paycheck?'” she concluded.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of the Women Transforming Technology 2017 event. (*Disclosure: TheCUBE is a media partner at the conference. Neither VMware Inc. nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE