Johnathon Brookes is the Social Responsibility Manager for Lakehouse Contracts, a building contractor involved in educational works, health and regeneration.  Lakehouse won a Dragon Award for their outstanding work in education.             

“It was a real pleasure to attend the recent Dragon Awards to meet with people engaged in and leading CSR programmes which are making a real difference to communities, business and employees. 

Lakehouse were lucky enough to win an award in the Education category.  Our community involvement program is based on three key themes: Health & Safety; Environmental and Careers. These themes are important to our business and clients and the program is not just an ‘add on’ to our business as it is a core part of our processes.

In collaboration with education business partnerships we developed workshops to offer to primary and secondary schools as well as supporting existing school programs.  We have offered mentoring, work experience and jobs to young people excluded from school.  Feedback from the schools we work with is always positive and support is well received.  Many schools and educational business partnerships find it difficult to engage employers and particularly hard to place young people in work experience.

One of our recent recruits was excluded from school.  He joined us on extended work experience and is now training to become a Contracts Manager.  He has taken a lead on a number of workshops and his transformation is truly inspirational.  I am sure there are many more young people like him who need a chance. 

Additionally, our work with schools has been incorporated into best practice process on construction projects and employees are encouraged to participate via their personal development plans. 

The program has become a key part of the training and personal development of our staff.  Preparation for workshops ensures employees are aware of health & safety, communities or the environment.  Despite initial apprehension with some of our staff, all enjoy working with schools and it is clear the program benefits their confidence and motivation.

As a business, we can offer our staff and clients something different.  We gain a deeper understanding of the communities we work with and the program has been good for our profile and as a business development tool.

British companies lag behind our European counterparts with regard to educational engagement.  We have gained a lot from our work and would like to see more of our partners and competitors involved in a joint effort to support the next generation. “

I spent the majority of yesterday afternoon preparing for my mid-year appraisal review; some of the time was spent tracking the progress that I have made on my objectives, the rest trying to evidence my ‘core behaviours’ (the behaviours that it is vital I display in order to carry out my job).  

Whilst grappling with the task of how to evidence that I can effectively communicate and influence, plan and organise, work in a team etc, it struck me how useful my volunteering really is. As an employee at the City of London, my volunteering can be linked into my appraisal process. All employees are encouraged to think of volunteering as an alternative learning and development tool. I, however, hadn’t really thought about this on a personal level. 

I volunteer giving fundraising advice to a partnership for older people in Hackney. The work that I do for them is quite ad hoc, but usually last minute so as to fit the potential funders’ guidelines. This means that I do sometimes have to juggle things around - maybe take a long lunchbreak in which to do the volunteering work and then prioritise my afternoon activities differently (planning and organising). I often end up giving feedback on written applications that have been prepared by the charity’s staff (communications and influence). Giving constructive feedback to other people is something that I sometimes find hard to do at work, so this is a great way to get practise. The volunteering is also useful in terms of practicing writing in a clear and succinct way and keeping up my knowledge of the voluntary sector. 

On top of all these skills, as I work in the Corporate Responsibility team, my volunteering is actually related to my role as I get the experience of being a corporate volunteer. This means that I can talk at a personal level when trying to encourage others to volunteer.  

I know the expression is often thrown around in relation to volunteering - but it does seem to be a win, win situation!

Last night I attended Gerry Acher’s inaugural lecture at the RSA. Gerry, Chair of the RSA is involved in CSR in a number of different ways, not least as Chair of Heart of the City and a member of the Final Judging Panel for the Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards.

The lecture, entitled ‘Corporate Responsibility: thrive, die or be sidelined through the quest for profit’ could not have been better timed in terms of the current economic climate. The key points looked at how CSR started, where we are today, the effect of the current economic climate and where Gerry sees its future.

To me, the main question that the lecture raised was that of responsibility. Gerry cited three stages of Corporate Responsibility (CR) that companies worked through in their development: 1. Philanthropy - be it in cash, in-kind support or volunteers’ time. 2. Risk Management - including the management of reputation and the avoidance of ‘own goals’. 3. The whole-hearted embedding of CR into a business - operating with trust and transparency, and ultimately reaping business advantages in the process. This reminded me of another talk I had been too which discussed similar stages, except there were four - a new and much more basic stage 1, that of a business acting in a responsible way - paying taxes, making returns to shareholders etc.

Hold that thought, while I introduce you to another interesting insight of Gerry’s. He talked about how many companies currently look at CR in a ‘pick ‘n’ mix’ fashion. In other words, that from some angles they will look very passionate about CR and in others shy away from it completely. One example he used was Starbucks, who have done fantastic work in championing transparency and openness in their supply chains, a good example of a strong CR policy. On the other hand, they continue to open stores in small towns and villages, what is often too detrimental effect to local business.

Thinking about the pick ‘n’ mix attitude, and the various stage of CR, it occurred to me that recently we have seen this in striking terms in the banking sector. Many (if not all) the large banks, it can be claimed have acted in a way that is completely irresponsible. They could not claim to even pass the first stage in CR. However, a number of them have exceptional corporate community involvement schemes that are leading the way in this field. This to me, seems like the ultimate pick ‘n’ mix.

Dwelling on this further, I also realised that as a CR professional it can be hard. Although many banks employ a Head of CR or CR Manager, none of these roles cover the responsible commercial actions of a business. I am sure no CR manager would have dreamed it within their remit to suggest, for example, an end to short selling of shares by their employer. Yet, without this sort of responsibility, surely we are all failing at the first stage?

I know that there is always a lot of debate about the language of CR. Pretty much every talk I have ever been to on the subject starts by looking at the many different terms that can be used. Maybe the time has come for businesses to look at the term ‘responsibility’ seriously.

Last week, Goldman Sachs (GS) announced their new partners for their 10,000 Women scheme.  Some news sources viewed this as ill-timed.  But why should current economic conditions affect their Corporate Responsibility (CR) announcements? Would they delay the announcement of new contracts, investment decisions or any other business as usual? 

The GS announcement is only insensitive if we believe other institutions will be significantly scaling back their CR activity.  Let’s be honest.  There will need to be efficiency savings in CR budgets - and possible resource cuts, but this will also be true across other departments.  Let’s not forget there is a strong business case for CR activities.  Consequently, CR activities should not experience any more pressure than other departments.  If we don’t stick by that business case when it matters, what is the point of promoting it in the first place?

Those who aren’t convinced by the business case for CR will be looking to make substantial cost savings from cutting CR budgets (if not teams) during this economic decline.  This is a mistake.  We are now operating in a climate of accountability and responsibility.  Severely cutting back on CR programmes now will not only expose all businesses to a threat of future regulation, it will also continue to damage your reputation even once we are through these difficult times.

Take for example Bank of America and HSBC, who have stuck by their business case.  Both are retail banks (and therefore consumer-facing) and recognise the importance of maintaining a global brand value by developing strong CR identities.  And they continue to weather this economic storm quite well.  Let’s hope their colleagues and competitors follow suit.

For more assistance on developing the business case for Corporate Responsibility, please visit:

http://www.city-action.org/resources/index.html

http://www.volunteering.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/2A38DB92-7B74-4CA5-9C79-46364B7FC2FA/0/business_case_SMEfinal1.pdf

http://www.responsiblepractice.com/english/issues/wbcsd-business/

http://www.bitc.org.uk/resources/publications/cr_business_case.html

Jerry Daykin is the Marketing Manager for City Gateway and has provided the below posting on the effect of the Lehman Brothers collapse on their organisation:

‘Following the collapse of Lehman Brothers, who were due to co-run a course with my charity, the Sunday papers conjured up a quote saying: “My job is to get support from companies and it’s difficult enough at the best of times. This week has been awful.”

Thankfully, as I’ve been assuring friends and family, you can’t believe everything you read and I actually had quite a nice week. It was remarkable to see the way in which individuals, firms and other agencies have tried to step in to fill the gaps left in the project and even the guys at Lehman’s have made the effort to keep in contact during a week which must have been awful for them.

The enthusiasm and passion with which they picked up City Gateway’s new Women’s Project had made my job easy: we identified the needs of our project, they identified what they hoped to get out of a partnership and when this clicked away we went. In the few short weeks that we did work together, a number of their staff had already volunteered at the centre and dozens more were queuing up to get involved.

Unfortunately it wasn’t to be, and yes our course has been caught rather short of volunteers, office visits and placements, but if building this partnership has taught me anything it’s that more City firms than ever are ready to embrace the third sector.  We need to tie into this in a way which can benefit both parties and will lead to lasting engagement.

City Gateway was set up 10 years ago in Tower Hamlets, a Borough defined by dramatic inequality between big business and the surrounding community. We work with some of the hardest to reach NEET young people and low skilled women across the Borough and seek to engage them, train them and ultimately progress them.

Partnering with large firms has never been an option or an added extra for us.  Corporate engagement through volunteering, hosting tours and placements are a core focus of our work - only then can the real barriers be broken down and individuals given the chances they deserve to succeed.

The crunch has tightened belts and cut CSR spending but perhaps it will unlock some of the other skills and resources firms have to offer.’

What with the great strain that the economy is currently under, it is understandable that community investment, and employee volunteering more specifically, may not be a top priority for many City businesses. It appears to me however, that it is more important than ever that City businesses and community organisations in neighbouring boroughs join forces and develop even stronger ties. Both sectors will feel the impact of economic decline to some extent, and many City workers are also residents of these boroughs.

Despite the negative press attention that is currently surrounding the City, employee volunteering has gained some very positive press.  City Action gained a feature in last week’s Sunday Times which showcased a 40% increase in individual volunteering activity compared to last year and a 50% increase in new businesses recruited. This article along with another that recently featured in the Mail on Sunday (31st August 2008), also shed light on the incredibly positive impact that voluntering can have on City employees during this uncertain period.

The Sunday Times article was supported by four City-based advocates that were interviewed for the feature, with Rachael Hewson, associate director at Mason Blake, a financial recruitment firm, making the point that ‘CSR is here to stay…It’s not something that companies can just dip out of once they have dipped in. They are often in long-term partnerships with the local community.’

We at City Action of course understand the worries and constraints that many City-based companies are facing, and are able to provide varied volunteering opportunities that can suit all levels of involvement.  Let’s ensure that current economic circumstances don’t hinder the fantastic difference that employee volunteers make to our neighbouring communities.   

I wanted to highlight this new funding opportunity for grassroots community groups that are heavily reliant on volunteers.  It is not often that very small, local groups are specifically targeted in order to provide them with financial support, despite the vital and innovative work that can take place within them.

If you are a volunteer for a local organisation, an individual who benefits from attending one or a member of their staff team please read on - this information may be of great interest to you!

The Office of the Third Sector is calling on small local voluntary and community groups to come forward and get their hands on essential funding.  The programme offers grants of between £250 and £5,000 to support activities that lie right at the heart of our local communities.

The types of group or organisation that are eligible to apply are:   

- A not-for-profit, third sector voluntary or community group, active in their local community for not less than 12 months prior to 31 December 2007. You do not need to be a registered charity.

- Have an evidenced income of less than £20,000 per annum, taken as an average turnover for the last three financial years (or over the life of the group if it is less than three years old), and net of any grants received through the Grassroots Grants programme

- Be volunteer led (i.e. with largely volunteer based input)

- Be connected with and/or meeting the needs of the local community

- Have a governing document that has as a minimum the name, aim/purpose, objects, a dissolution clause for the organisation, a list of Trustees/Committee members, the Trustees /Committee member signatures.

To apply for funding, each group must contact their local organisation which is responsible for distributing the grants. You can see a full list of the organisations on the Community Development Foundation website. 

If you are from within the City or a fringe borough please see below for a link to your organisation: Camden, City of London, Hackney, Islington, Lambeth, Southwark, and Westminster. 

I hope that this information is useful and would love to hear from any group that is successful in their application!

There is a saying which goes ‘no experience without a job, no job without experience.’  The City of London Business Traineeship (CBT) Programme addresses this paradox by helping high achieving students from the City fringe boroughs to obtain worthwhile paid work placements in City businesses. This year, I was one of over fifty trainees to secure a CBT placement for two months over the Summer and it has been an experience I will never forget.

I was introduced to the programme in early Spring and was immediately keen to take part.  After submitting my CV, I was invited for an interview and then offered an internship at the City of London’s Economic Development Office.  Having an ardent interest in politics and economic regeneration, the placement appealed to me and I began on 7th July.

The first few weeks of my placement were spent with City Action and the Corporate Responsibility Team. Having never worked in the world of ‘CSR’ I was quite apprehensive.  I was immediately thrown in at the deep end creating questionnaires for the charities that City Action helps as well as assisting Corinne with her projects. I even had the opportunity to co-edit the City Action Summer newsletter which I enjoyed thoroughly. 

Networking events I attended such as the City Comm. event and the City Action Community Tour of Islington were fantastic as I got to meet people from both charities and businesses - that are entirely different ends of the spectrum.  The Community Tour was particularly impressive as we were shown the inspirational work of the charities in Islington - which is in fact one of the most deprived boroughs in the country - and how a little help can go to great lengths.   

Throughout my time at City Action I recognised the importance of CSR not only to the charities that are always in need of volunteers but also to the businesses.  The benefits that a CSR programme can bring to a business are remarkable - such as improving staff morale, raising brand profile and increasing staff recruitment and retention. 

My three weeks with City Action taught me a number of things, one of them being the importance of community involvement. As well as valuable experience, this placement has provided me with friends and colleagues who are very supportive and encouraging. 

As I go to university to study Politics and East European Studies in September, I will always remember my time as a CBT and how fascinating working in CSR is.  Thank you to everyone at City Action for making my placement so enjoyable.

…..the City Action blog story pt II

Last week I explored the benefits of RSS readers and explained how this was the start of the City Action blog creation process, so I will start from where I left off!

After exploring and adding to our CSR/Volunteering/Ethical blogs RSS reader page for a few weeks and crowing to anyone who would listen about how great it all was, I came to some conclusions about the information that is currently available:

Firstly, there is a good bank of knowledge about CSR, volunteering, the third sector and current ethical news out there, which is of great benefit to anyone who works within or is interested in these fields.  However, despite being a wealth of information, it can sometimes be challenging to search through all the news items/articles that are relevant to your area of interest or expertise, particularly as many have an international focus.

Lastly and perhaps most importantly for this blog posting, I recognised that many of the blogs out there do not provide an opportunity for members of their sector, whether it be business or charity, to provide a contribution to a blog other than a brief comment. 

Also, save for a few exemplary blogs including Addleshaw Goddards’s CSR blog, NESTA’s Innovation Exchange and YouthNet, I noticed the lack of real voices and honest commentary being featured.

This is where I hope City Action’s blog can help fill a gap - by encouraging you, the reader to provide a blog posting about your opinions and experiences from the world of volunteering and community involvement - we will be able to gain a greater understanding of the real stories and people behind the news headlines and the statistics.

I hope that next week’s posting will prove this point, as we hear straight from the horse’s mouth from a work placement student. Ayesha Malik, our talented City Business Trainee who has spent the Summer with City Action and our colleagues within the Economic Development team at the City of London, will be sharing her experiences with us.  Watch this space!

..the City Action blog story part I:

The idea for this blog came into being about six months ago when I was using the internet on my other half’s computer and I noticed that his default homepage was looking a bit strange - with small boxes of headline information from websites such as the BBC, the Guardian and West Ham United FC.

This page also had tabs across the top with different headings such as ‘news n sport’ and ‘non-profit blogs’.  Having had a little look around I was intrigued, particularly after he explained that I too could create my very own page, complete with all the websites that I like, by using a new technology called RSS.  Even more exciting, my page would be updated every day with each websites’ most up to date news headlines/blog postings/commentary etc. 

Inspired by this new level of what I called ‘internet geek’ knowledge, I set about creating my very own news reader page for City Action and our Corporate Responsibility team at the City of London Corporation with the help of netvibes.

Our team can access the private page via a password and then add their comments and more website ‘feeds’ as they wish.  However, our public page can be viewed by any of you, which we hope provides a useful round up of the volunteering, CSR, third sector and blog feeds that are available.

Despite my initial ‘internet geek’ thoughts, I soon became a news reader convert and here are 5 reasons why your organisation should think about setting one up:

1. It saves you time - by viewing the headlines of all your favourite websites at a glance every day.

2. It will expand your knowledge of the sector/s you work within.

3. It is free! Many news readers such as netvibes, my yahoo, google reader and feed reader are totally free to set up and use.

4. It can give your organisation a public ‘face’, which you can link into your current website.

5. It is accessible and most well established websites now have an RSS facility.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on news reader technology. Does anyone else out there have a public page we can see or some top tips on how to manage your reader? Please do add a comment or contact us with your examples.

Have a great Bank Holiday weekend everyone - next week I will post the next instalment of the City Action blog story part 2…..