Penshaw View show support for The Purpose Coalition and Teleperformance

Our Directors, Philippa and Chris Breckon recently visited Parliament to support The Purpose Coalition and Teleperformance in their recent collaboration.

The two organisations published Teleperformance in the UK’s Social Impact Report, which detailed the company’s extensive efforts and ground-breaking initiatives aimed at improving social mobility and fostering social impact across the UK.

The Social Impact Report shines a spotlight on Teleperformance’s commitment to providing high-quality services while maintaining a positive and supportive work environment for employees. It maps its activities against the Purpose Coalition’s Goals, highlighting initiatives ranging from improving employee well-being and career advancement to promoting diversity and inclusion.

The report demonstrates how strategic partnerships, innovative programmes, and a commitment to equality can all help to remove barriers to social mobility.

Who is Teleperformance?

Founded in 1978, Teleperformance is a global digital business services company dedicated to providing cutting-edge digital support to some of the world’s most recognised brands. The company operates across 95 countries and 170 markets, employing over 500,000 dedicated and multilingual employees from diverse backgrounds.

The organisation assists businesses in meeting their social responsibility and sustainability goals by developing tailored customer experience strategies for them across various social channels, utilising advanced solutions, analytics, and strict processes.

It offers a wide range of services to businesses, including but not limited to, omnichannel customer support, social media engagement, customer relationship management, biometric data collection, customer acquisition, multilingual support and technical assistance.

Teleperformance is committed to excellence and innovation, and it continues to position itself as a trusted partner for businesses looking to optimise their operations, provide exceptional customer experiences, and drive sustainable growth in an ever-changing digital landscape.

The company’s commitment to its mission, social impact agenda, and drive for social mobility in the UK has received widespread recognition, with the company receiving several prestigious awards over the last three years.

What is the Purpose Coalition?

The Purpose Coalition, chaired by former Secretary of State Justine Greening, is made up of several organisations, including Teleperformance, that are working to remove barriers to opportunity in the UK.

These organisations collaborate to assist businesses in improving their operations, sharing best practices, and developing solutions to enhance the role of their customers, colleagues, and local communities.

They evaluate businesses using a set of sector-specific social impact criteria, which outlines 15 interconnected impact goals aimed at addressing some of the UK’s unique challenges. These are called the ‘Purpose Goals’.

The 15 Purpose Goals

The Purpose Goals identify the 15 key barriers to opportunity in the UK. They cover a wide range of societal and economic issues, from early childhood development to workplace inclusivity, emphasising the complexities of inequality.

They focus on key life stages and highlight the major issues that must be addressed in order to break down barriers to opportunity in the UK. They are intended to guide ambition, provoke action, and measure progress.

For businesses and organisations, the goals provide a structured framework for assessing and improving their positive role in society by working to overcome each of the 15 barriers to opportunity. We have further detailed each purpose goal below.

1. Strong foundation for early years

One of the most significant barriers to opportunity is a lack of solid foundations in early childhood. According to research, 40% of the development gap between disadvantaged 16-year-olds and their peers exists by the age of five. A lack of language and literacy skills is the main cause of this, preventing children from making the most of their early education.

2. Successful school years

Successful school years are critical to a young person’s academic and overall personal development. The attainment gap between the most and least privileged remains stubbornly high, with research indicating that by the time disadvantaged young people finish secondary school, the difference in learning between them and their peers is equivalent to 19 months.

3. Positive destinations post 16+

Everyone should be given a positive destination route after completing their GCSEs. Whether it is the academic A-level route, the apprenticeship route, or the T-level route, young people must be allowed to explore all of their opportunities, with no paths blocked, and an understanding of the different career paths that can be followed through each route.

4. Right advice and experiences

Receiving good quality career advice can significantly impact a young person’s future. It’s crucial, especially for those set on a specific career path, to have a professional who can listen, inform you of available opportunities, and guide you through the steps to pursue them at a young age.

5. Open recruitment

Open opportunities and open recruitment are necessary for our nation’s talent to reach their full potential. The opportunity to continue developing and progressing in a career is important not only for increasing your earnings but also for feeling challenged and learning even after you’ve left school.

6. Fair career progression

Employees who lack opportunities for growth, learning, and advancement may feel stuck in their careers and unable to pursue new opportunities. Providing career and self-development opportunities empowers individuals to feel confident, develop their skill sets and reach their full potential.

7. Widening access to savings and credit

Being trapped in debt and unable to access savings and credit can be a significant barrier to opportunity. Getting good, professional financial advice on money management can make a huge difference in people’s lives, and mitigate feelings of stress and anxiety that could be affecting their workplace abilities.

8. Good health and well-being

Maintaining good health and well-being can help individuals optimise their talents and advance in their careers. Individuals with poor physical or mental health who lack access to support may face challenges in advancing and making the most of opportunities. Businesses must ensure that they can support employees with these issues to the best of their abilities so that they can feel confident in taking on new challenges.

9. Extending enterprise

A lack of private enterprise is another significant barrier to opportunity in the UK. Promoting the idea that communities can create their own jobs is perhaps the most effective way of bringing opportunity to the doorstep. Creating a social norm of entrepreneurship across our country would be a powerful tool for helping talent and ideas thrive wherever they are.

10. Closing the digital divide

Internet inaccessibility is a common issue across the UK for several reasons, ranging from affordability issues to living in areas with poor broadband connections, limited skill sets, and lack of confidence. To ensure equal opportunities, accessibility to the internet must be improved so that the digital skills gap can be closed.

11. Infrastructure for opportunity

For communities with limited opportunities, having access to potential jobs is critical. This is why investments in roads and railways are important. They connect people with opportunities and allow them to pursue positions that aren’t on their doorstep.

12. Building homes and sustainable communities

Individuals from communities with high crime rates genuinely struggle the most when it comes to finding a stable career. Building affordable homes in sustainable communities will improve an individual’s quality of life and provide business opportunities in the long run.

13. Harness the energy transition

The transition to a net zero version of the UK is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see new careers and roles in places where they can make the most difference, so it is critical that the transition is equitable for people and communities all over.

14. Achieve equality through diversity and inclusion

Research shows that more diverse companies make better decisions because they have a broader perspective, but leadership positions in business, the judiciary, government, and politics continue to favour those from privileged backgrounds. We must work to improve opportunities for those from diverse backgrounds, allowing people from all walks of life to thrive and demonstrate their talent in senior roles.

15. Working in partnership

Organisations can harness diverse talent and perspectives by forming strategic alliances with unions and citizen assemblies, ensuring that initiatives are grounded in the requirements of real-world communities.

The positive impact of the Purpose Coalition Initiative on the UK

Several large organisations, including Amazon, BP, and the BBC, have adopted the Purpose Coalition initiative and are measuring their organisational performance against the Purpose Goals. The Goals architecture is setting the standard for the social aspect of the government’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) guidelines.

By setting these goals as their standard, these companies are increasing equality of opportunity for people across the UK. Amazon is an excellent example of this, demonstrating its commitment to ‘Goal 3: Positive Destinations Post 16+’ through its Levelling Up Goals programme. Working with the Purpose Coalition, Amazon has collaborated with businesses in a variety of sectors to create apprenticeship opportunities in healthcare, education, and government, ensuring that every young person and adult has the option of pursuing a high-quality route in education, employment, or training.

Teleperformance has demonstrated its commitment to the initiative, including Goal 3. In the coming months, the company is poised to introduce Level 3 and Level 5 Operational Management apprenticeships, as well as Level 3 and Level 5 Leaning and Development Specialist programmes. The Penshaw View team have partnered with Teleperformance to deliver these apprenticeships, providing training and valuable insights to their internal candidates. By the end of 2024, the company intends to open the programme to external candidates.

The company has also shown a strong commitment to ‘Goal 14: Achieving Equality through Diversity and Inclusion’. By hiring employees across 95 different countries, the company have fostered a truly inclusive global environment, with a diverse talent pool proficient in over 300 languages. They have also proven their commitment to ‘Goal 6: Fair Career Progression’, filling an incredible 63% of all non-agent positions through internal promotions.

By benchmarking their businesses against the Purpose Goals, these organisations are increasing job market freedom and removing barriers to individuals achieving success on their own terms, rather than being restricted by external factors such as their place of birth at the start of their life.

As more businesses adopt these goals as a standard, more equal opportunities emerge throughout the UK, helping to level the playing field and allowing individuals who would otherwise be limited in their abilities to reach their full potential.

If you want to learn more about The Purpose Coalition and its Purpose Goals initiative, visit their website here.