Xylem, Residential and Commercial Water is committed to being a responsible corporate citizen.

Values of respect, responsibility, and integrity inform the way our company interacts with stakeholders, customers, employees, suppliers, distributors, and all who depend upon Xylem RCW for products, services, jobs, top-tier performance, and the supply of clean water. Our commitment to the environment is just as strong.

Doing the right thing always is accomplished through industry leadership, transparent governance, fair competition in the marketplace, risk management, compliance, sustainable manufacturing and business practices, and a workforce strategy of training, inclusion, diversity, and safety.

Guided by Xylem’s Vision and Values, we expect our people, processes, policies, and systems to be fair and accountable—always.

Download Xylem Corporation’s Global Citizenship Report.

Vision & Values

Xylem’s Vision and Values guide the actions of every Xylem RCW employee. Xylem’s vision is at the heart of the Xylem Management System, which defines the way we do business. Xylem’s values remind us of what is truly important—respect, responsibility, integrity, and creativity in all we do.

• View Xylem’s Vision and Values
• Our values are integrated into management goals, business plans, and employee performance evaluations.
• A learning curriculum educates employees on what it means to be “Living Our Values” and how it relates to customer satisfaction.

Governance

Xylem’s processes and controls help Xylem RCW operate according to the highest governance principles. Self-assessments, internal controls, and open channels of communication create checks and balances to ensure no shortcuts are taken on the road to premier performance.

• Xylem  has an independent Board of Directors with an independent Presiding Director.
• Audits ensure existing operations and new acquisitions have necessary controls and conform with generally accepted accounting principles.
• Executive compensation is aligned with long-term value creation.
• All locations are working to have robust, up-to-date business continuity plans in place.

Transparent Communications

Xylem provides stakeholders timely communications about the direction, decisions, and priorities of its companies.

• Corporate governance principles, charters, and similar documents are accessible online.
• Employees have access to company policies, the Xylem Code of Conduct, and more through an intranet portal.
• Company decisions are disseminated to employees through regular newsletters and memos.
• Shareholders and other external audiences are offered reports, webcasts, investor conferences, earnings calls, regular news releases, and more.

Financial Controls

Xylem maintains a series of internal controls that govern how its companies collect revenues, make payments, protect confidential information, purchase equipment, and report financial results.

• Regular audits constantly monitor evolving risks and verify that we are following prescribed procedures.
• Risk management ensures proper safeguards are in place to prevent and mitigate risk.
• Senior leadership reviews quarterly and annual financial statements.
• A risk scoring system is being formalized to help populate an enterprise-level “risk map.”

Ethics and Compliance

Every year, Xylem conducts an employee survey to assess understanding about workplace ethics issues and how they are addressed. Tracking shows that the ethics program is utilized and useful.

• In 2009, more than 99% of surveyed employees were aware of the multiple channels for sharing compliance concerns.
• Xylem’s Vision and Values are included in company policies and procedures.
• A learning curriculum educates employees on what it means to be “Living Our Values” and how it relates to customer satisfaction.
• We offer Code of Conduct training, an ombudsperson network, and a help line for reporting ethics and compliance concerns.

Environment

Xylem RCW is proud of our pursuit of industry leadership in sustainability. We are conserving energy, reducing the use of natural resources, preventing pollution, and developing products that are safe for our customers and the environment.

• Our high standards of safety, reliability, energy efficiency, fairness, and diversity are thoroughly integrated into our supply chain.
• Our operations are increasing the use of recycled materials, reducing the use of natural resources and hazardous materials, and cutting production waste.
• Training, rewards, audits, and enforcement are bringing all locations up to exacting sustainability standards.
• Employees are encouraged to offer ideas on how to reduce the environmental impact of our products and make operations leaner and greener.
• Environmental organizations we belong to include the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES), the Environmental Law Institute, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, and the National Association for Environmental Management.

Product Stewardship

From design to manufacture, to purchase, to use, and ultimately to disposal, we take responsibility for the safety and impact of each product through its full lifecycle.

• Our products are “Engineered for Life,” which means we repair and retrofit equipment to maximize sustainability; we recycle materials at the end of a product’s life; and we specify recycled and recyclable materials in new products whenever possible and cost effective.
• Our engineers and designers consider safety early in the product development process, both from a manufacturing and use standpoint.
• Product safety review boards are active at all our design centers.
• Our “Lean Transformation” means employees at all levels are helping to streamline operations and reduce waste.

Code of Conduct

Xylem’s revised Code of Conduct details ways its companies are promoting an ethical culture. It also includes information on workplace human rights issues.

• We are committed to providing safe and secure working conditions, to following all applicable wage and hour laws, to prohibiting human trafficking and the use of child or forced labor, and to treating everyone fairly and equitably.
• Our human rights policy is upheld at all times and in all locations, regardless of local customs. These same commitments are expected from all business partners.
• View the Xylem Code of Conduct.

Human Resources

Xylem RCW wants its employees to be engaged and inspired, so that they ask questions that achieve true breakthroughs. To this end, we have broadened learning and development opportunities for all employees and have embedded inclusion and diversity into our hiring practices, leadership actions, and employee interactions.

• Our Careers and Learning Portal offers numerous learning resources and serves as the go-to source about job opportunities across the company.
• Employee training programs focus on workplace safety, lean manufacturing, and “Living Our Values.”
• Experiential, university-style training is offered to top leaders and high-potential leadership candidates.
• The “FrontLine Manager” training program ensures supervisors who run local operations promote teamwork, diversity, and healthy work environments.
• All US locations have completed affirmative action plans to assess and address diversity hiring practices.
• Aggressive goals have been set for representation of women and people of color in leadership and leadership pipeline positions.
• Employees are recognized when they demonstrate behavior consistent with our values.

Workplace Safety

Xylem RCW sets the workplace safety bar at world-class heights. Our successful Safety Accountability Program is embedded into our global Environment, Safety & Health Management System.

• Safety responsibilities are defined in job descriptions, reinforced through communications, measured regularly, and rewarded when performance is outstanding.
• The “Accept Only Zero” program includes online access to safety education courses in multiple languages and to “Easy Tools” that help managers and employees recognize hazards and take corrective actions.
• “Leading Indicators,” which augment traditional “lagging indicators,” help gauge the safety culture at our locations.
• We have a “zero accident” goal, challenging ourselves to meet an aggressive 20% reduction in injury frequency and severity each year.
• Workplace safety is integrated into our “Value-Based Lean Six Sigma” program—as workplaces are organized, tools are replaced, processes are streamlined, and ergonomic enhancements are made, so safety is enhanced.

Public Policy

Xylem is a global company, but our government relations and political lobbying activities are limited almost exclusively to the US, where Xylem and Xylem RCW are based.

• Xylem employs a full-time lobbyist and engages external government relations consultants to influence US public policy.
• Xylem’s Political Action Committee collects voluntary donations from company employees.
• These donations are contributed in the form of “hard money” to Members of the US House and Senate,” in compliance with US law.
• XylemPAC does not favor a particular political party. In selecting legislators to support, the sole criterion is their stance on key issues that affect our company and our stakeholders.