ManpowerGroup: Business Strategies Must Generate Benefits for Companies and Society

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David Arkless, ManpowerGroup President of Corporate and Government Affairs, was a discussion leader at today's World Economic Forum 2012 Annual Meeting session, "Developing Shared Values Strategies," exploring how companies can better utilize their corporate assets and entrepreneurial networks to benefit their organizations and society in consultation with social entrepreneurs.

The session explored the development of design principles and strategies to enhance corporations' existing or planned shared value strategies and how to increase understanding of critical success factors for shared value strategies to work. Jonas Prising, ManpowerGroup President of the Americas and Mara Swan, ManpowerGroup Executive Vice President, Global Strategy and Talent, also participated in the session which was moderated by Hirotaka Takeuchi, Professor of Management Practice at Harvard Business School.

In an era of increased transparency, businesses need to pay close attention to the issues that influence critical opinion in order to demonstrate commitment to satisfying in demand talent — who wield more choice than ever before — that their values are aligned in a way that is not only effective and productive, but is sensitive to the communities in which they operate.

"In the volatile and fast-changing world we find ourselves in, businesses cannot afford to be purely altruistic; for companies to be sustainable in the context of more complex social, political and environmental issues, they have a responsibility to be profitable," said Arkless. "Unleashing human potential, simultaneously driving personal and business success, translates to profitability that is therefore sustainable."

The chaos and complexity of the Human Age has created new demands for innovation, productivity and talent, and the world has been reawakened to the real power of humans, prompting companies to rethink the way they integrate societal considerations into their business models. As "Talentism" becomes the new "Capitalism," and the talent critical to organizational success proves more elusive, a humanistic approach to sourcing skilled individuals is required — tapping into under-leveraged talent pools such as women, youth, older workers and people with disabilities to create a sustainable talent pipeline.

"The key to success in the Human Age is companies' ability to solve problems and maintain growth by taking a human approach to innovation-driven economic development and social progress," added Arkless. "Being a responsible company is seen as a key driver of employee engagement, which is essential for employers to unleash potential and maintain a competitive advantage."

The nature of ManpowerGroup's work — bridging the gap between individuals and employers who need their skills — means that we make a significant positive impact in the communities which we serve by putting over 600,000 people from all walks of life to work each and every day; training over 10 million people; and interviewing 12 million people.

"The success ManpowerGroup achieves in our business allows us to help individuals, families, communities and economies by putting all kinds of people to work," added Arkless. "We unleash human potential which translates to the profitability that we provide in a sustainable way."

Last month, ManpowerGroup released its Corporate Social Responsibility Update, titled "Teaching a Man Not to Fish is Humanly Possible," a global review of the powerful ways the company is helping individuals and communities around the world succeed against the odds by bridging the gap between people and jobs in the most human of ways. The complete report is available for download at: http://manpowergroup.com/social/srreport.cfm

About ManpowerGroup
ManpowerGroup™ (NYSE: MAN), the world leader in innovative workforce solutions, creates and delivers high-impact solutions that enable our clients to achieve their business goals and enhance their competitiveness. With over 60 years of experience, our $22 billion company creates unique time to value through a comprehensive suite of innovative solutions that help clients win in the Human Age. These solutions cover an entire range of talent-driven needs from recruitment and assessment, training and development, and career management, to outsourcing and workforce consulting. ManpowerGroup maintains the world's largest and industry-leading network of nearly 3,900 offices in 80 countries and territories, generating a dynamic mix of an unmatched global footprint with valuable insight and local expertise to meet the needs of its 400,000 clients per year, across all industry sectors, small and medium-sized enterprises, local, multinational and global companies. By connecting our deep understanding of human potential to the ambitions of clients, ManpowerGroup helps the organizations and individuals we serve achieve more than they imagined – because their success leads to our success. And by creating these powerful connections, we create power that drives organizations forward, accelerates personal success and builds more sustainable communities. We help power the world of work. The ManpowerGroup suite of solutions is offered through ManpowerGroup™ Solutions, Manpower®, Experis™ and Right Management®. Learn more about how the ManpowerGroup can help you win in the Human Age at www.manpowergroup.com.

ManpowerGroup is the most trusted brand in the industry, being the only company in our industry to be named to the Ethisphere Institute's 2011 World's Most Ethical Companies list for our proven commitment to ethical business practices, including an outstanding commitment to ethical leadership, compliance practices and corporate social responsibility. In addition, ManpowerGroup has also been recognized as the industry leader by Fortune magazine, who named the company in first place on its 2011 list of the Most Admired Companies in the temporary help sector.

In January 2011, at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, ManpowerGroup announced the world has entered the Human Age, where talent has replaced capital as the key competitive differentiator. Learn more about this new age at www.manpowergroup.com/humanage

Gain access to ManpowerGroup's extensive thought leadership papers, annual Talent Shortage surveys and the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, one of the most trusted indices of employment activity in the world, via the ManpowerGroup World of Work Insight iPad application. This thought leadership app explores the challenges faced by employers navigating the changing world of work and provides in-depth commentary, analysis, insight and advice on strategies for success. 

Follow ManpowerGroup Chairman and CEO Jeff Joerres on Twitter: twitter.com/manpowergroupjj. Joerres is one of only six Fortune 500 CEOs who leverages a Twitter account to get his message out.

SOURCE ManpowerGroup