News

Newsletter, January 2009

Our occasional newsletter, including an observation about ‘values-led capitalism’ in the wake of recent traumatic events in the economy, some highlights of our programmes in 2008, a note on our first societal learning programmes, a short report on the half-day forum we ran in September 2008 and a warm welcome to our new Project Manager.

A very happy new year to you from Three Hands and welcome to our occasional newsletter.

If ever there was a time for 'values-led capitalism', it is now. Values-led capitalism means being driven by improving society and not just by the singular pursuit of profit; improving the lives of employees and communities, not just of shareholders; and bringing meaning and a wider sense of purpose into the workplace - all of which contributes to the long term sustainability of the organisation, something that this economic crisis has shown can be hard to come by.

By linking companies and communities, enabling learning through community engagement, we believe we can help business pursue a values-driven approach to people development. 2008 was a busy year doing just that. We devised and delivered innovative programmes for companies including Gala Coral, IBM, Danone, RBS, Sky and News International, while one of 2009's highlights will be a project for Standard Chartered Bank employees, who are being rewarded for high performance through participation in a community project in Delhi, India.

You'll find more details of some of these programmes on our case studies page.

We also ran our first societal learning programme, immersing people in themes and issues in society that are relevant to their business. Connecting with real world issues is more important than ever and we helped O2 employees get closer to the issue of child protection and young Bahraini business leaders, on a programme with The Leadership Trust, understand more about climate change.

Our half day forum, 'A New Sense of Purpose', held at south London charity YourStory, explored how community engagement is becoming more sophisticated and strategic, and how linking learning & development with issues in society can make learning 'real, meaningful and with a conscience'. While a few years ago these issues were sitting on the fringes of core business relevance, nobody at the forum could be left in any doubt that they are now at the core of business and its role in society. You can read a short report from the forum, including what speakers from Sky and Standard Chartered Bank had to say, on our news page.

Finally, we were delighted to welcome Georgina Ross to the Three Hands team. Georgina is responsible for project management support and for our relationships with charities - understanding charities' needs and matching them with projects for businesses. She's been flat out since she started!