Taking a hand in education and job placement

SolidarCité seeks creative ways of improving links between the business and the society which surrounds it, with multiple initiatives and projects.

The idea of SolidarCité is to encourage PPR employees to get involved in general interest volunteer work in order to create harmonious links between the business and the society which surrounds it. In 2007, SolidarCité named its aims as "Taking a hand in education and job placement". "A choice which is right in line with PPR's corporate motto, 'An adventure of enterprise", explains SolidarCité's project head Céline Bonnaire. In the field, the network of correspondents and volunteers works hand in hand with associations, the authorities and local groups, in keeping with the image of La Redoute, which has always been based at Roubaix, in the North of France, in the heart of the poor quarter of Alma. After a period of tense confrontations and incivilities, the company decided to respond by taking into account its environment and undertaking neighborly initiatives with the area's social centre, media library, and high school…"What seemed important to us, was that La Redoute should not seem like an isolated oasis of prosperity in the middle of a deprived area", explains Alain Bernard, marketing head in charge of business forecasting and commercial investments. "We are very careful to ensure consistency over of the long haul in our actions". This point of view is shared all the way to PPR's top level. As CEO François-Henri Pinault commented on these civic challenges: "It is not a question of being politically correct, but of being a business which is in touch with reality. It involves the future of all the Group's 78,000¹ employees".

 

Projects for all

The "collaborator projects" concern any person who works in the Group. Anyone who is involved in the world of associations or who wishes to sponsor a project dear to his heart can apply for material or financial support from SolidarCité for associations working in the field of education and job placement. After going through the selection committee, the amount of aid granted varies from €5,000 to €15,000. Another completely new idea is the "social entrepreneurs" projects. 5 or 6 external social entrepreneurs with real ambitions in education or job placement are chosen and given support and financial assistance. For three years now, "overseas aid leave" allows collaborators to sign up for 15 day missions on the ground in developing countries. Finally, under a partnership with the Essec "Why not me?" program, high school students are accompanied by students of the school during the school year and are invited by the brands to come and find the job of their choice.

And last but by no means the least, we have just heard that the Gucci Group is signing up to SolidarCité.

 

¹figure for 2006