Finding our CSR purpose with SOS Children’s Villages

Our long term partnership with SOS Children’s Villages

In 2008, we found a charity that resonated deeply with our principles and values at SThree – to “build trust; care then act; be clear and aim high”. For 10 years now, 2,870 SThree employees across 40 offices in 16 countries, have worked together in a CSR partnership with multiple SOS Children’s Villages around the world to raise funds to help children with educational materials, supplies, food and travel. In December 2017, we have collectively raised close to AUD $2 million, hitting our target ahead of time.

We have selected to partner with SOS Children’s Villages as it is a charity that is aligned with our CSR vision in ‘Transforming Lives through Skills and Work’. At SThree, we enjoy creating long-term value for individuals and the wider economy through the effective use of our relationships and intellectual capital. Our CSR initiative has brought our team closer as we work together to bring better living conditions and education to children in need.

Awarded a certificate of appreciation for going over and beyond

In 2017, SThree’s Asia-Pacific (APAC) and Middle-east offices announced their partnership with SOS Children’s Villages in the Philippines. Regional CSR champions were supported by their local CSR committee and selected the Philippines based on high social needs and strong corporate liaison with the charity. Our initial target was to fund 12 students to attend school for a year. However, our dedicated and hard-working team reached this target ahead of the due date and by the end of 2017, we were supporting 32 children to go to school. Our target for 2018 is to increase our support to 35 children. Earlier this month, we were awarded a certificate of appreciation from SOS Children’s Villages for our efforts, commitment and initiatives in generating funds for children’s educational assistance.

At SThree, we recognise the importance of training and development and the direct impact this has on the career progression of our employees. We have seen our consultants with no prior recruitment background rise through the ranks and reach management-level positions after taking part in our training programs. Thus, we see the true value of education and training which this is why we chose to support SOS Children’s Villages. Our mission with SOS Children’s Villages is to support children to get a better start in life. Education comprises a substantial part of the SOS budget and through the SOS Children’s Villages program, we ensure that every child receives formal education from pre-school up to higher education. Our contributions have made a significant impact to SOS Children’s Villages as per the testimonial below:

"I would like to take this time to extend my heartfelt gratitude for giving me the opportunity to have worked with you through your partnership with SOS. It was indeed a great privilege to be part of a noble cause. It was incredibly great working with you" - Noemi Encinares, Former Corporate Relations Head, SOS Children’s Villages Philippines.

Why we support SOS Children’s Villages

We encourage our employees to take two days of paid time to share their skills through volunteering. To generate interest and raise awareness about SOS Children’s Villages, we have formed a CSR committee for the APAC region and together organised a number of events for our clients, candidates and their close families. Twice a year we organise family movie events whereby a short clip of SOS Children’s Villages is played before the movie to demonstrate how every person’s donation can make a life-changing difference to a child in need. We set up a donation booth at each of our fundraising activities including sporting events, community workshops, bake sales and international food day to continually raise funds for SOS Children’s Villages. Every year, we also participate in the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge with proceeds going to SOS Children’s Villages.

Introducing SThree Foundation

In addition to our CSR initiative with SOS Children’s Villages, we have set up SThree Foundation which has been created to support young, underprivileged and diverse people who are interested in a career within STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). SThree is a medium-sized STEM specialist in Australia and we are currently ranked 5th largest Pure Play Stem global company and 29th largest recruitment firm globally. This program is therefore highly relevant to us as we are able to mentor and share our entrepreneurial mindset for success with individuals and together strengthen community organisations through skills-based support. We have also introduced a university scholarship scheme to encourage female students to pursue a career in IT and Engineering.

SOS Children's Villages builds loving, stable families for orphaned, abandoned and other vulnerable children in 135 countries. SOS Children’s Villages is a non-governmental organisation dedicated to the care of orphaned and abandoned children and offering long-term care for children in need and empowering young people with the resources to reach their full potential.

If you would like to contribute to our cause, please contact us on 02 9285 1000 for a confidential discussion. To learn more about what we do at SThree, please feel free to watch this video.

Progressive Recruitment is part of the larger SThree Group.