Over the past year, we have made our employees’ wellbeing a priority and made the decision to give back to the community. Through our corporate social responsibility (CSR) program, we partnered with the African Science Academy (ASA) in Ghana to enable girls to pursue an education and a career in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). This follows our other initiative whereby we raised $2 million globally to support SOS Children Villages’ mission and equip children to get the best start in life. Working on CSR initiatives together has brought our team closer as we raise funds together to bring better living conditions and education to children in need.
This year, Progressive Recruitment has made much progress in terms of its CSR activities. Earlier in the year, our SThree Foundation* donated funds totalling $5,000 to Tech Girls Movement– an Australian organisation that provides girls with access to technology and present real life female role models to inspire them to pursue a career within STEM fields. Our contribution to Tech Girls Movement has supported 10 girls from underprivileged backgrounds to enter the Tech Girls are Superheroes Competition this year.
In addition, we have also launched the following CSR initiatives:
Take 50 Challenge
In April, we also took part in the global Take 50 Challenge with the aim to be the most entrepreneurial team in the organisation globally. Anyone in Progressive Recruitment could participate and win the competition by generating the most funds for charity with their business idea. Within a month, our Australian office used their entrepreneurial spark to turn £50 into thousands. We organised a bake sale and set up a raffle booth in the office and foyer to include neighbouring businesses in the building. All of these proceeds were donated to the ASA. The winning team was also rewarded with a trip to Ghana to visit the students at ASA and be part of their journey.
ASA Initiative
We are currently looking to welcome a new cohort of students in August 2019. Joining the school from across Africa are 28 girls aged between 15 to 19 years old who will be spending their first year away from home as they begin their studies and prepare to be the next female leaders in STEM. Our Australian business is proud to be supporting Edlawit Loulseged from Ethiopia in various ways such as putting together a welcome pack, mentoring and raising $1,000 for a laptop.
Charity Partner Sales Training day
In September 2019, we will be running a Charity Partners Sales Training day facilitated by our Learning and Development Specialist Danny Batts. The training will give back to our charity partners by helping them to develop skills necessary to build lasting relationships with corporate partners. Over the course of this workshop, we will also create a space for our Charity Partners to:
- Create a business development market research framework
- Personalise contact based on information from multiple sources
- Ask great sales questions to draw out needs and motivations
- Commit and move the relationship forward
Volunteering days
We constantly look at volunteering opportunities for our staff to take part in. As part of our company policy, we encourage our employees to take two days of paid leave to share their skills through volunteering. To generate interest and raise awareness about ASA, 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. In October 2019, our Australia team will also participate in the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge with proceeds going to the ASA.
About SThree Foundation
We have set up the SThree Foundation to support young, underprivileged and diverse people who are interested in a career within STEM. Being a recruitment specialist in STEM, this program is 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.
About African Science Academy
The African Science Academy is a girls-only Advanced Level school for maths and science, opened by the African Gifted Foundation in 2016. The African Gifted Foundation is a charity determined to provide an opportunity for Africa’s gifted children to develop to their full potential.
If you would like to contribute to our cause, please contact us on 02 9285 1020 for a confidential discussion. To learn more about what we do here at Progressive Recruitment, you can watch our video to get a glimpse of what we do.
