HR Corner Playing for a good cause by Charles Mak Multinational sports equipments giant gets a kick out of charity Enthusiastic corporate citizens understand meeting their social responsibilities means more than simply forking out a fat lump of cash. Whatever the initiatives, they must involve and benefit all stakeholders, including also company employees. "Our employees are the advocates whose continuous support helps us live up to our corporate identity. Without their contribution, none of our initiatives, no matter how fabulous, would have been possible," says Anne Tsui, human resources & administration director, adidas Hong Kong Limited. Over the years, adidas has built up a well-deserved reputation for its active role in global charity events. In particular, the company has established the Adi Dassler Fund to focus and structure all its charitable endeavours on a global level and to facilitate better employee participation. Under the Adi Dassler Fund's specific guidelines, adidas' Hong Kong office has been granted the autonomy to formulate its own annual plans and budget for charitable activities, Ms Tsui explains. "Employees are encouraged to take part and make suggestions via our intranet or a range of other communication channels," she adds. In line with adidas global's major focus on helping underprivileged children grow through sport, a number of events have been held in cooperation with local charity groups in Hong Kong. "For example, in celebration of adidas' 20 years of business success in Hong Kong two years ago, we held a charity football day with a local press group, arranging for 50 underprivileged children to visit South China Athletic Association and learn the skills of the sport from the football team players," Ms Tsui says. A generous donation was also made to help the needy meet their everyday needs. "We all have a role to play" Other meaningful activities mobilising an army of adidas employees include donation and volunteering services. Past activities included a visit to a youth centre in Tin Shui Wai during the Chinese New Year holiday period and an outing to the Caring for Children Foundation across the border. "Apart from making donations, our employees volunteered to come along, offered their services and played games with the children," Ms Tsui notes. "These kinds of events can only be arranged for weekends and require employees to travel long distances, so we are grateful for their passion and enthusiasm." Be a sport Earlier this month, 40 adidas stores in the Asia Pacific region joined the global Red Ball campaign co-organised by adidas global and Right To Play, a non-profit international humanitarian organisation that works towards enhancing the lives of disadvantaged children through sport and play. Apart from designing and donating revenues generated from the sales of mini footballs, adidas also aims to promote the operation and charity works of Right To Play and the Adi Dassler Fund via the Red Ball campaign. As one of the key drivers of the Adi Dassler Fund in the Hong Kong office, Ms Tsui mobilised her team to form an internal committee for this particular initiative. "After a few meetings, we came up with action plans for all outlets, as well as marketing, PR and communications. We all have a role to play," she says. "As for the HR department, our job is to engage staff to make their contribution." Two weeks prior to the launch of the campaign, the staff training team developed a range of training programmes for the Right To Play "ambassadors" at the adidas Sport Performance Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui and the adidas shop in Sogo department store. The aim was to educate the ambassadors about the symbolism behind the campaign and, most importantly, on how to convey its key messages to customers while making sales. The campaign runs through the entire September and the most outstanding ambassador will have a chance to represent the Hong Kong office in joining international football star Zinedine Zidane at a Right to Play field programme next year. "Outstanding ambassadors must possess excellent customer service skills and enthusiasm and be able to explain the Red Ball campaign and the Adi Dassler Fund to customers," Ms Tsui says. "Comments from customers, supervisors and shop managers will help us find Hong Kong's best Red Ball ambassador, who will then compete with others from the Asia Pacific region." In an additional effort to extend goodwill to local charities, competitive games involving the Red Ball concept have been designed for adidas employees. Winners will be able to name their favourite charities, which will receive HK$1,000 on the employees' behalf. "What makes the initiative meaningful at the end of the day is that we can donate the proceeds, raise awareness of sport and its importance for child development, and at the same time engage our employees," Ms Tsui concludes. Salient points Employee support helps accentuate corporate identity Focus and structure in charitable endeavours lead to better results Employee engagement a success factor Local initiatives in line with global directions Taken from Career Times 28 September 2007, p. A16 Your comments are welcome at [email protected]