RYE BROOK, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL), a leading global water technology company dedicated to solving the world’s most challenging water issues, announced today it has been honored by Engage for Good (formerly the Cause Marketing Forum) with the Gold Halo Award in the Employee Engagement category.

The Halo Awards are North America’s highest honor for corporate social initiatives and cause marketing. The award recognizes social good campaigns and initiatives targeted at employees and/or consumers involving a company and a cause.

“The Halo Awards were created to acknowledge best in class corporate social impact programs. This year’s winners are a fantastic representation of the effective and innovative ways companies and causes can work together to create meaningful business and social returns,” said Engage for Good President David Hessekiel.

In 2016, Xylem launched a service-focused employee engagement initiative as part of Xylem Watermark, the company’s corporate citizenship program. Xylem Watermark’s mission is to provide and protect safe water resources for many of the world’s most vulnerable communities and to educate individuals around the globe about water issues.

Xylem Watermark partners with six global nonprofit organizations and a range of local community-based organizations to support water-related projects and educate people about the global water crisis. In addition many of these organizations provide Xylem volunteers, customers and business partners with opportunities to work on water-related projects and activities throughout the year.

“At Xylem, water is more than our business; it is our passion. Engaging our colleagues through service has helped strengthen our ability to leverage their time and talent to address water-related issues in communities around the globe,” said Patrick Decker, President and CEO of Xylem. “I am very proud of the dedication and commitment our colleagues have demonstrated to this initiative and honored that we have been recognized with this award.”

In the first year of the company’s employee engagement initiative, Xylem colleagues volunteered more than 21,000 hours through more than 450 water-related volunteer activities. In conjunction with local community organizations and global nonprofit partners, more than 3,700 colleagues from 86 offices across 35 countries built water towers, tested water sources, maintained water sheds, and educated students and communities about water, sanitation, and hygiene issues. Activities throughout the year included:

• Launching a Global Month of Service event held in October. Throughout the month, Xylem colleagues participated in more than 100 water-related activities around the globe, which generated more than 7,000 volunteer hours.
• Implementing a Community Grants program that allowed Xylem colleagues to select local volunteer partners to receive $1,000 grants to support water-related activities.
• Building water towers in China, Cambodia and the Philippines through a partnership with the Planet Water Foundation. In 2016, Planet Water engaged approximately 250 Xylem colleagues who contributed more than 3,500 volunteer hours on safe water projects.
• Selecting Xylem’s top volunteers, as part of Xylem Watermark’s rewards and recognition program, to travel with nonprofit partners and participate in their field work in India and Cambodia.
• Conducting hands-on water monitoring activities with local schools and community organizations through a partnership with EarthEcho International in an effort to educate children about the importance of protecting local water sources.

About Engage for Good

Engage for Good, producer of the Engage for Good conference and the Halo Awards, helps business and nonprofit executives succeed together by providing information and inspiration, opportunities to build valuable relationships and recognition for outstanding work engaging employees and consumers around social good and cause-related marketing efforts.

About Xylem

Xylem (XYL) is a leading global water technology company committed to developing innovative technology solutions to the world’s water challenges. The Company’s products and services move, treat, analyze, monitor and return water to the environment in public utility, industrial, residential and commercial building services, and agricultural settings. With its October 2016 acquisition of Sensus, Xylem added smart metering, network technologies and advanced data analytics for water, gas and electric utilities to its portfolio of solutions. The combined Company’s nearly 16,000 employees bring broad applications expertise with a strong focus on identifying comprehensive, sustainable solutions. Headquartered in Rye Brook, New York with 2016 revenue of $3.8 billion, Xylem does business in more than 150 countries through a number of market-leading product brands.

The name Xylem is derived from classical Greek and is the tissue that transports water in plants, highlighting the engineering efficiency of our water-centric business by linking it with the best water transportation of all – that which occurs in nature. For more information, please visit us at www.xylem.com.

About Xylem Watermark

Xylem Watermark, Xylem’s corporate citizenship program, provides and protects safe water resources for many of the world’s most vulnerable communities and educates individuals around the globe about water issues. This social commitment reflects Xylem’s ethos of valuing the “triple bottom-line”: financial, environmental and social. The company firmly believes in the notion of doing well by doing good, and dedicates resources to initiatives that demonstrate its commitment.

Xylem Watermark was founded in 2008 and, with its six nonprofit partners, has provided clean water and sanitation solutions to over three million people in 25 countries. Xylem launched its first Global Month of Service in October 2016 to provide a focused time to inspire employees to get involved and bring the mission of Xylem Watermark to their communities. This World Water Day, Xylem Watermark launched the Make Your Mark 30 Day Challenge to engage employees in solving global and local water issues in ways that they are passionate about.

To learn more about Xylem Watermark, please visit www.xylemwatermark.com.

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