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Hands UP/Hands DOWN - Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) includes mentoring local high schools.
Fort Worth, TX
Friday, April 25, 2008
Engagement for tomorrow's workforce begins with today's youth.
Video Clip: Click to Watch
Hands UP/Hands DOWN - Who do you mentor and with what? Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) includes mentoring local high schools.
CSR) isn't just a PR move for businesses, states a new survey conducted for IBM.
FORT WORTH, TX - April 24, 2008, StrengthBank Inc. - Hands UP/Hands Community Awareness/High School Mentor Recruiting Event, April 26, 2008, Garland, Texas is the quintessential grass roots effort to bring corporate social responsibility (CSR) to the people who keep companies in business. "Corporate social responsibility (CSR) isn't just a PR move for businesses, states a new survey conducted for IBM entitled, 'Attaining Sustainable Growth Through Corporate Social Responsibility.'
.
CSR is a way for businesses to be more competitive and create more opportunities, leading to growth. Sixty-eight percent of businesses surveyed said that focusing on CSR issues generates revenue, while 54% of businesses said that CSR helps give them a competitive edge.
"Social responsibility for any organization is to mentor up the next generation," explained StrengthBank Inc. CEO Sandra Shelton as she talked with Noon Exchange Club of Garland, Tx, April 16, 2008. I was going to start this session by heralding the fact that no high school shooting or workplace violence was in the headlines for the D/FW area. All that changed during my drive here when WBAP radio announced a student at Tarrant County College has found scrawled on a library restroom door the words, 'There will be a bombing on the TCC campus April 19, 2008.' Three things are clear:
Our kids are sensitized to what we in our youth "blew off" as stupid or ridiculous to consider as sane people.
We have lost a generation to the opposite of learning to contribute to the greater good"
One hope for better is to model "contributing to the greater good" through StrengthBank® Talk Groups in high school advisory periods.
Hands UP/Hands DOWN Depends on the Hands
Shelton went on to explain the purpose of the April 26, 2008 community awareness and mentor recruiting event in light of bridging the gap between CSR and its necessary contribution to tomorrow's workforce today. "International terrorist organizations and Hitler's 'brown shirts' are two horrific examples of what can happen when business decides its only function in society is to transform consumers pocketbooks into corporate bottom lines and with a little do-gooderism in the mix rather than allow or encourage employees to use their talents to raise up the talents of our young, the ones just about to hit the streets. Shortsighted priorities are throwing money at a problem instead of mentoring; promising customers anything to get them to spend more dollars with us than the competition; focusing on how to write contracts so that the company has no liability; and spinning an error into a non-happening.
Companies today say they want better people engagement but are slow in seeing their part in creating it. From a recent study by PeopleMetrics, 'pay, benefits and resources to do one's job are necessary for a certain level of employee engagement, but these are not sufficient to drive the highest levels of employee engagement and performance…. We found that creating emotional connections to employees is what truly matters because this is where organizations can dramatically boost employee productivity and business outcomes.'
What greater emotional connection employees than being a part of allowing them to mentor youth and on company time," Shelton exhorted. "'Consumers, armed with the information found on the Internet, are the driving force behind companies increased attention to CSR activities the study suggests. However, it reports that 76% of responding businesses said that they "don't truly understand their customers' CSR concerns.'"'Attaining Sustainable Growth Through Corporate Social Responsibility.'
.
Mentoring puts the SOCIAL into CSR
"If we don't mentor our kids in a curriculum-based, specific way, we are leaving them flapping in the breeze to be picked up by the first angry gang, person, idea, or destructive devotion," Shelton warned. "When we, those not in the classroom, leave this critical issue, i.e, mentoring our youth unaddressed, we open the door for the "government to help" - always a frightening thought. Hitler mentored to discipline youth to protect the motherland; al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations mentor to suicidal battle for martyrdom.
They get it! What are we doing? We buy a kid lunch, take him to a ball game now and then and call it mentoring? Worse, we decide mentoring is a time to program young people to our political persuasion rather than understand the power of 'let freedom ring.'"
"StrengthBank Inc.'s mission is to get ethical, encouraging values through curriculum-based mentoring from business volunteers into regular advisory periods, twice a month for 45 minutes each time for a teen's entire high school experience"
She illustrated the power of the methodology with her signature cow story. "A rancher noticed cattle becoming ill and dying in increasing numbers. He could not discern the cause. Finally, he called in the local veterinarian to check out his herd. After a couple of hours with the herd, the veterinarian realized the cattle had a particular disease. She inoculated them and told the rancher they were no longer infected but to watch for any signs of reoccurrence. The rancher was perplexed and a bit frustrated. How would he know? He could not tell what was wrong this time so how would he know the next? The vet turned on her heel walked back and told him, "Oh, I forgot to tell you. You have to be looking in their eyes to know they are hurting"
As the meeting came to an end, Shelton left the group with this thought: "The problem is that we are not regularly looking our kids in the eyes. StrengthBank® Talk Groups are about a solution to that disconnect. Government, the Department of Education, nor high school teachers can stop high school violence that grows up to be workforce violence.
Who can stop the violent trend and disregard for life? You and I. We can be in that classroom mentoring each student toStrengthBank® - the plan for each life that will not harm, that will prosper, and give hope and a futures.
Come, send your work associates and learn to mentor with StrengthBank®. Hands DOWN to the young is your real job and your legacy from having benefited from someone else's Hands UP. Bring CSR to the home front as the best Homeland Security measure possible, that is, that we are known to each other.
"The experience [volunteering as a part of work] is doubly beneficial for volunteers and the groups they assist... Volunteers not only feel they've provided a valuable service, but sometimes learn workplace skills ... that make them more valuable professionally…. "We're trying to reshape how people think about donating their skills," said Mary Roben, executive director of SmartVolunteer, a New York organization that runs a national online clearinghouse for skills-based volunteer [ongoing curriculum-based] projects. "We're tapping into a different type of volunteer - individuals at Fortune 500 companies who are looking to volunteer their time but can't necessarily take a full day off from work.…" Boston Globe April 12, 2008
###
CSR) isn't just a PR move for businesses, states a new survey conducted for IBM.
FORT WORTH, TX - April 24, 2008, StrengthBank Inc. - Hands UP/Hands Community Awareness/High School Mentor Recruiting Event, April 26, 2008, Garland, Texas is the quintessential grass roots effort to bring corporate social responsibility (CSR) to the people who keep companies in business. "Corporate social responsibility (CSR) isn't just a PR move for businesses, states a new survey conducted for IBM entitled, 'Attaining Sustainable Growth Through Corporate Social Responsibility.'
.
CSR is a way for businesses to be more competitive and create more opportunities, leading to growth. Sixty-eight percent of businesses surveyed said that focusing on CSR issues generates revenue, while 54% of businesses said that CSR helps give them a competitive edge.
"Social responsibility for any organization is to mentor up the next generation," explained StrengthBank Inc. CEO Sandra Shelton as she talked with Noon Exchange Club of Garland, Tx, April 16, 2008. I was going to start this session by heralding the fact that no high school shooting or workplace violence was in the headlines for the D/FW area. All that changed during my drive here when WBAP radio announced a student at Tarrant County College has found scrawled on a library restroom door the words, 'There will be a bombing on the TCC campus April 19, 2008.' Three things are clear:
Our kids are sensitized to what we in our youth "blew off" as stupid or ridiculous to consider as sane people.
We have lost a generation to the opposite of learning to contribute to the greater good"
One hope for better is to model "contributing to the greater good" through StrengthBank® Talk Groups in high school advisory periods.
Hands UP/Hands DOWN Depends on the Hands
Shelton went on to explain the purpose of the April 26, 2008 community awareness and mentor recruiting event in light of bridging the gap between CSR and its necessary contribution to tomorrow's workforce today. "International terrorist organizations and Hitler's 'brown shirts' are two horrific examples of what can happen when business decides its only function in society is to transform consumers pocketbooks into corporate bottom lines and with a little do-gooderism in the mix rather than allow or encourage employees to use their talents to raise up the talents of our young, the ones just about to hit the streets. Shortsighted priorities are throwing money at a problem instead of mentoring; promising customers anything to get them to spend more dollars with us than the competition; focusing on how to write contracts so that the company has no liability; and spinning an error into a non-happening.
Companies today say they want better people engagement but are slow in seeing their part in creating it. From a recent study by PeopleMetrics, 'pay, benefits and resources to do one's job are necessary for a certain level of employee engagement, but these are not sufficient to drive the highest levels of employee engagement and performance…. We found that creating emotional connections to employees is what truly matters because this is where organizations can dramatically boost employee productivity and business outcomes.'
What greater emotional connection employees than being a part of allowing them to mentor youth and on company time," Shelton exhorted. "'Consumers, armed with the information found on the Internet, are the driving force behind companies increased attention to CSR activities the study suggests. However, it reports that 76% of responding businesses said that they "don't truly understand their customers' CSR concerns.'"'Attaining Sustainable Growth Through Corporate Social Responsibility.'
.
Mentoring puts the SOCIAL into CSR
"If we don't mentor our kids in a curriculum-based, specific way, we are leaving them flapping in the breeze to be picked up by the first angry gang, person, idea, or destructive devotion," Shelton warned. "When we, those not in the classroom, leave this critical issue, i.e, mentoring our youth unaddressed, we open the door for the "government to help" - always a frightening thought. Hitler mentored to discipline youth to protect the motherland; al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations mentor to suicidal battle for martyrdom.
They get it! What are we doing? We buy a kid lunch, take him to a ball game now and then and call it mentoring? Worse, we decide mentoring is a time to program young people to our political persuasion rather than understand the power of 'let freedom ring.'"
"StrengthBank Inc.'s mission is to get ethical, encouraging values through curriculum-based mentoring from business volunteers into regular advisory periods, twice a month for 45 minutes each time for a teen's entire high school experience"
She illustrated the power of the methodology with her signature cow story. "A rancher noticed cattle becoming ill and dying in increasing numbers. He could not discern the cause. Finally, he called in the local veterinarian to check out his herd. After a couple of hours with the herd, the veterinarian realized the cattle had a particular disease. She inoculated them and told the rancher they were no longer infected but to watch for any signs of reoccurrence. The rancher was perplexed and a bit frustrated. How would he know? He could not tell what was wrong this time so how would he know the next? The vet turned on her heel walked back and told him, "Oh, I forgot to tell you. You have to be looking in their eyes to know they are hurting"
As the meeting came to an end, Shelton left the group with this thought: "The problem is that we are not regularly looking our kids in the eyes. StrengthBank® Talk Groups are about a solution to that disconnect. Government, the Department of Education, nor high school teachers can stop high school violence that grows up to be workforce violence.
Who can stop the violent trend and disregard for life? You and I. We can be in that classroom mentoring each student toStrengthBank® - the plan for each life that will not harm, that will prosper, and give hope and a futures.
Come, send your work associates and learn to mentor with StrengthBank®. Hands DOWN to the young is your real job and your legacy from having benefited from someone else's Hands UP. Bring CSR to the home front as the best Homeland Security measure possible, that is, that we are known to each other.
"The experience [volunteering as a part of work] is doubly beneficial for volunteers and the groups they assist... Volunteers not only feel they've provided a valuable service, but sometimes learn workplace skills ... that make them more valuable professionally…. "We're trying to reshape how people think about donating their skills," said Mary Roben, executive director of SmartVolunteer, a New York organization that runs a national online clearinghouse for skills-based volunteer [ongoing curriculum-based] projects. "We're tapping into a different type of volunteer - individuals at Fortune 500 companies who are looking to volunteer their time but can't necessarily take a full day off from work.…" Boston Globe April 12, 2008
###
Sandra Shelton
President/CEO
StrengthBank Companies
Fort Worth, Texas, TX
827 230 4523
817 423 0394
