Posts Tagged ‘Corporate social responsibility’
Living Generously
Posted on: November 13, 2011
It made me stop and reflect, not only about personal aspirations, but also on the wider topic of corporate social responsibility. The shift of society’s expectations and companies’ efforts towards corporate social responsibility is a positive one; yet it is so much more powerful when it involves not only companies donating money, but enables individuals to engage with good causes. When companies can strike the balance right to provide opportunities for their staff to donate their time, expertise and skills for charity and fully support them in doing so, it is a powerful developmental and retention tool, which can be hugely motivating.
Our corporate social responsibility actions have had a powerful and at times life-changing effect on some of our staff this year: from the exec team who raised money by climbing Kilimanjaro, the two volunteer programmes we have run to Costa Rica and Thailand, the team who trekked across the Himalayas to raise funds for Japan and the delegation we sent to the One Young World conference. That the volunteer programmes have been open to all staff to apply and that the individuals who were selected by the staff board have ranged from one of the receptionists to senior managers, has been a powerful force for strengthened working relationships, staff engagement and culture change. Giving money is sometimes the easy part; providing a forum for individuals to demonstrate how truly extraordinary they are and how prepared they are to live generously and contribute is by far the most powerful and humbling.
So, here’s to living generously as individuals…and working with our companies to provide opportunities to bring some of that fantastic positive and life-affirming energy to work.
I’d love to hear what you think.
The Blank CV
Posted on: May 18, 2011
- In: Community | HR | Recruitment | Responsibility | Values
- 2 Comments
Last week the Prince’s Trust came to give a presentation to Informa’s divisional HR directors and corporate social responsibility committee, as we have recently become a patron of their organisation. It was an inspiring and interactive discussion with lots of ideas of how individuals and companies can get involved and make a difference.
Let us never become immune to the shocking statistics –
- around 2 million young people (16-24 year olds) in the UK are growing up in unemployed households, in many cases second, third or even fourth generation unemployed
- 10% of young people leave school in the UK with absolutely nothing: no qualifications, no work experience, little if anything in the way of interests, hobbies or skills…their CV is blank and their self-worth and sense of value negligible at best
- Youth unemployment costs the UK £22m every week
The Prince’s Trust has helped over 600,000 young people since it was set up in 1976 and focuses on providing real support to those who have under-achieved at school, are long-term unemployed, have been in trouble with the law or have grown up in care.
They have a huge range of initiatives for companies and individuals to get involved with…if you want to learn more please do check out their website.
I can only imagine how inaccessible the world of work must seem when your CV is truly blank…with our collective HR, business and recruitment expertise, I would sincerely hope we can start to make a tangible difference.
The HR Juggler 