Corporate Social Responsibility is a philosophy that asks businesses to realign their values and processes to take account of the need of all their stakeholders – from shareholders, customers and employees to suppliers, the local community and the environment.
Whether it’s advising clients on how best to develop their commitment to society; providing ‘in-kind’ professional support to non-profit organisations; or encouraging staff to volunteer for social care, Pleon is committed to being a strong advocate for Corporate Social Responsibility.
Pleon advocates CSR in three ways. Firstly, it works with clients to help them to develop and execute their own CSR programmes. Secondly, it supports local voluntary and community sector organisations by providing professional consultancy free of charge and third, it links its staff up with social care projects that are looking for volunteers. Not only does this help local good causes, but the staff who volunteer learn new skills and insights, and highly value the experience.
An outstanding example of how Pleon helps companies with their own CSR is in the trail-blazing CSR Germany website – www.csrgermany.de – which is the national portal for sharing corporate CSR good-practice. Pleon developed this site, which exemplifies how CSR is not only improving local neighbourhoods and communities but is also good for business. This is because socially responsible companies are well-regarded and trusted, and consequently are more competitive and resilient.
In the UK, Pleon has been advocating CSR through providing ‘in-kind’ consultancy to good causes, including a national non-profit organisation dedicated to helping locate missing people and supporting their families as they await news. When the charity wanted raise its profile, Pleon UK provided consultancy on how to improve its coverage in the national and regional press, including support with its sponsored walk and articles about the organisation and its founders.
In Germany, Pleon Kohtes Klewes has supported a children’s aid charity for several years. Pleon’s board wanted to help this non-profit through professional PR support and co-ordinated a huge publicity drive that involved placards, press-releases, newsletters and a higher-profile website. Because of its wide-reaching networks, Pleon has been in an ideal position to encourage well-known personalities to sponsor the project. In addition to free consultancy the company has also provided very practical solutions, such as a new vehicle for the doctor at the clinic that helps the charity. In Amsterdam, Pleon has provided a national housing non-profit with housing facilities, and in April 2005 Pleon Netherlands will be helping a governmental environment agency with their PR for an event on sustainable development.
It is the practical responses that often motivate Pleon’s staff to get involved with a particular cause and giving their time as volunteers. For example, a number of staff in Dresden have given considerable amounts of their time to help the national children’s charity, and as Dirk Popp, Managing Partner of Pleon Kohtes Klewes says, “we support this children’s charity because we believe it is right to do so.” This sentiment encapsulates what is so often the overriding motivation for getting involved in CSR. Whilst commercial advantage may be a welcome spin-off, it is responsibility to local people and places that is the driving force behind Pleon’s CSR work.
With CSR, there is always more to do, and the excellent examples of Pleon’s work so far have already provided inspiration and motivation to the rest of its global network. “Pleon is totally committed to building on these success stories”, says Andreas Steinert, Head of the Pleon CSR practice in Bonn. “We will continue to be determined advocates of CSR because we believe it’s essential in making businesses healthier and society stronger.”
About Pleon
Pleon (www.pleon.com) is an international consulting firm with European roots, which creates and implements strategies for private and public sector organisations around the world. With deep understanding of business, politics and communications, Pleon is uniquely placed to devise compelling solutions that deliver measurable and tangible results. Pleon is part of the Brodeur/Pleon Worldwide network and has a presence throughout the US, Asia Pacific and Latin America. Pleon represents the merger of Brodeur agencies in France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and UK with the ECC Group, including market leaders ECC KohtesKlewes in Germany and Belgium, and ECC Publico in Austria. Pleon and Brodeur (www.brodeur.com) are part of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) (www.omnicomgroup.com), a leading global marketing and corporate communications company.
For more information, please contact:
Dr. Stephanie Altemoeller
Tel: +49-211-9541-2124
Fax: +49-211-9541-2200
E-Mail: Stephanie.Altemoeller@pleon.com
Pleon GmbH
Bahnstrasse 2
40212 Duesseldorf
Deutschland / Germany
Tel: +49-211-9541-0
Fax: +49-211-9541-2200
Web: www.pleon.com