Translating talent into social impact: bringing your people with you

AN ORGANISATION WITH TRUE PURPOSE CONNECTS THOSE WHO WORK FOR IT WITH EACH OTHER, AND WITH THEIR COMMUNITIES.

It offers a shared vision where employees can play a part in delivering its corporate social impact but can also forge a role as individuals in making a difference. It fosters a culture of belonging where everyone feels respected and valued for themselves. It recognises that people are its greatest resource. Currently, 82% of employees feel that purpose is important but only 42% believe that organizations actually drive impact.

The Adecco Group, the world’s leading advisory and solutions company, is committed to bridging that gap, connecting colleagues and organisations to facilitate greater change, in a future that works for everyone. By harnessing the background, talent, skills, goals, beliefs and experiences of its employees, it can not only drive its business performance but enhance its social impact. It’s becoming ever clearer that those businesses which reflect the communities they operate in and where others can see ‘people like them’ are better equipped to deliver more creative strategies and, ultimately, increased financial returns.

The Adecco Group’s Changemakers programme sets out to formalise the way in which the company delivers positive impact for its local communities and for the planet, with employees at its heart. The company wanted to acknowledge the discretionary work that many were undertaking in addition to their normal job activity. In the past, it had proved difficult to recognise their efforts in a way that was meaningful for their performance and future career development, or which could be placed in the context of Adecco’s broader community efforts. Formal recognition is now given to a wide range of activities including volunteering which can take the form of guest speaking or mentoring, fundraising which can include the organisation of events, donations or sponsorships and spearheading research or designing programmes and platforms.

The Adecco Group’s Karma Hub enables colleagues to match their skills with an appropriate activity and earn points as they progress in their volunteering journey, with those with the most number of points winning awards. The system allows them to align the work with their interests but also with the time they have available, meaning that everyone can contribute. They can be short-term and small-scale, lasting from ten minutes to three hours, or more long-term, lasting from five to 45 hours. Colleagues are recognised for their time, talents and commitment with three tiers of Changemaker. Bronze recognises highly active internal volunteers and fundraisers who champion an issue on an individual basis; silver recognises highly engaged influencers and organisers who take on a more active leadership role and encourage others to participate; gold recognises highly committed leaders and ambassadors who have a more external impact with activities such as setting up workshops with local organisations, hosting webinars or lobbying. There are currently over 100 employees enrolled as Changemakers, with 65 bronze members, 25 silver and 10 gold. So far, they have fundraised £150,000 and completed 5000 hours of volunteering.

Four distinct impact areas are each supported by a number of resource groups – voluntary, employee-led forums which are based on lived experience, shared characteristics and interests. Their focus is on supporting the social causes that are important to their members, using their existing skills and expertise while also developing new competencies. Diversity and Inclusion Changemakers, supported by forums on disability, mental health, gender, ethnicity and LGBTQ+, set priorities that help drive the company’s overall strategy and ensure inclusivity. Environment Changemakers aim to reduce the company’s carbon footprint and increase colleague awareness, education and participation with three focus groups looking specifically at travel, greener cars and energy use. Win 4 Youth Changemakers inspire colleagues, associates and clients to live active and healthy lives by addressing their wellbeing, with a particular impact on young lives. Community Changemakers’ focus on improving employability, empowerment and inclusion inside and outside the organisation is centred on three key initiatives –Creating Brighter Futures to address the skills gap by providing career experiences for young people, Levelling Up and a partnership with the Purpose Coalition to pave the way for a more equitable workforce and improved social mobility and a collaboration with Shelter to create sustainable work opportunities for those with lived experience of homelessness. So far that has raised £177,000 out of a total fundraising target of £195,000. That’s been achieved through 3450 hours of volunteering, 3500 fundraising events, the involvement of more than 1200 employees and the engagement of 350 clients. In return, the company rewards employees by reinvesting in them in line with their level of achievement, while also feeding the talent pipeline. They benefit from help with training and development funding, accreditation recognition or interview preparation and have the opportunity to attend events including speaking engagements or lunches, with senior leadership and with external organisations. There is also recognition of the skills they are accumulating, including the development of leadership qualities, in their annual performance reviews. Some go on to become nonexecutive directors for local or public sector organisations in their communities. Some change career completely as a result of the passion and abilities they have developed and the opportunities that journey has presented.

As an organisation in the people business, The Adecco Group reaps the rewards of its investment. Enabling its employees to enhance their professional development and build their leadership capacity provides a larger, deeper talent pool to draw on. That benefits it as a business, allowing it to develop a more strategic approach and respond in a more agile way. It sees the competencies developed by employees are not just an end in themselves but present it with an opportunity to convert them into something more purpose-led. It also makes it easier for employees and employers to align their interests and values, an approach that The Adecco Group is taking forward in its partnership with the Purpose Coalition, with a series of Opportunity Roadshows at universities across the country and its upcoming FindMyPurpose digital platform which will match employers with like-minded employees.

The positives extend further, to its high-profile clients across sectors and geographical areas with whom it can work strategically to maximise their community and social impact. It can partner with those companies to ensure that its contingent workforce has the same values, and has access to the same opportunities, as its permanent workforce. Traditionally, it has been employees in the third sector and in roles like nursing and social care which have had the most obvious opportunity to do social good. This approach gives everyone the chance, in every area of work, to have a wider impact. It’s the right thing to do but it also makes good commercial sense, boosting skills and employability that will improve the labour market.

The pandemic saw businesses take the lead in support of their communities in a much more proactive way, bridging the gaps where government policy could not or would not reach. The knowledge and expertise they possessed, and the partnerships that many had already forged, meant they could act decisively to deliver help where it was needed most. That ambition to drive positive impact continues. The Changemakers programme will nurture Adecco’s talent pipeline and allow it - and every employee who participates - to strengthen communities and change people’s lives together.