Opening Rooms, Rides, and Hearts with Tech
As featured in the 2018 Comcast NBCUniversal Corporate Social Responsibility Re…
After you are evacuated from your home, where do you go? Relatives may be fleeing too. Hotels fill up fast. In September 2017, that question was on many minds as people in Florida tried to escape the path of Hurricane Irma. But for our affected employees, their co-workers had an answer.
Our teams in nearby Atlanta collaborated to create an internal digital listing of homes for rent for the Comcast NBCUniversal family. Those with living space to share could list their homes as options for their teammates in need.
Quick thinking and big hearts led to this innovative solution, which holds the potential to help many more employees. “The new resource provides a way for employees to put their desire to help into action and can ultimately be leveraged to help those in need in future disasters or crisis situations,” says Dan Stafford, Human Resources and Business Improvement Manager in Atlanta.
Employees in Houston and California also turned to technology to connect with their colleagues in need.
Hurricane Harvey destroyed more cars than any other natural disaster event in U.S. history, leaving many without a reliable way to commute. Recognizing the need to equip employees with alternative transportation, a Comcast Information Technology team in California developed an internal rideshare app. With the app, employees with working vehicles could register as drivers. Then the app used the proximity to a driver’s home to match drivers with employees in need of a ride. More than 50 employees in Houston took advantage of the app. Later, the technology was used again in the aftermath of fires in California.
These tech-driven solutions ensure that our employees can get the support they need in trying times. But more than that, the connections forged by the digital home rental site and rideshare app exemplify the deep personal bonds within Comcast NBCUniversal and the problem-solving spirit of our people.
“I can’t think of another company that would be able to execute and get truly needed resources so quickly,” says Brennan Hammer, Human Resources Manager for our Atlanta-based Comcast Cable Central Division.
