In 2008, Hudson increased its focus on Corporate Social Responsibility, reflecting global recognition that business activities have a wider impact on the societies in which we operate.

Our CSR strategy is fundamentally linked to our strategic pillars, particularly contributing to Employee Experience and Discovering Potential, and across Hudson Europe, we are already actively involved with projects that support our local communities, our environment and our own employees. Examples include: partnering with learning institutions; providing mentoring services to school projects; and supporting initiatives to return individuals from disadvantaged communities back into the work place.

The key to taking this even further in 2009 will be our work with an organisation called Challenges Worldwide (CWW), which will enable us to offer our Candidates, our Clients’ employees, and our own staff, business based, short-term assignments with organisations in some of the most exciting and challenging places on Earth.

CWW is a social enterprise that works with Non-Governmental Organisations in Asia, Africa, South America and Eastern Europe by placing Candidates on short-term assignments where they can use their skills in HR, Law, IT, Marketing, and Accountancy (our areas of Deep Specialisation) as business consultants. This consultancy is free for the NGO, while the volunteers, or their employers, pay CWW a fee to cover the cost of the placement.

CWW has been working with Hudson in Scotland for 18 months and the partnership has resulted in a number of successes. The collaboration has received coverage in specialist and national press, hosted 6 specific Candidate events, hosted an event at The Scottish Parliament and placed 5 highly skilled professionals in Sri Lanka. The organisations in which volunteers are placed range in size from SMEs to large NGOs.

Ian Pilbeam, HR Director for Edinburgh-based Jewell & Esk College was recently quoted in HR Network magazine speaking about his experiences with CWW: “When the opportunity came along to use my HR skills and experience helping the poor and disadvantaged in Sri Lanka, a country that is dear to my heart having travelled here post-tsunami, I grabbed it with both hands. It is of course essential that what I do is sustainable — that is why I am here, not as free labour… so I am trying to share my skills and experience on a consultancy and coaching basis so that there is a legacy when I have gone.”

The roll out of Hudson’s collaboration with CWW will enable Hudson to deliver business support in some of the most under-developed areas in the world in a way that harnesses the potential of our Consultants, Clients and Candidates together.

If you would like to learn more about CWW's current available assignments and assessment processes, please visit:
http://www.challengesworldwide.com.