Corporate and Social Responsibility

The global partnership approach that is such a key driver of our service to clients also extends into our community involvement. TNS' and UNICEF's partnership began in 2005, when the group made a donation to UNICEF in response to the tsunami disaster.  We then embarked on a ‘Imagine…’ program, in Cambodia and Malawi (see pages on our fund raising activities and successes to the left) ...

The response from TNS people to this initative has been outstanding and is a clear illustration of our organisation working as one team across the world. The UNICEF Imagine… project is given a high profile in group communications and at senior management conferences, underlining the group’s commitment to this relationship.

TNS also uses its business expertise to support UNICEF as a client. Over the past five years, TNS Opinion in Brussels has conducted three multi-country projects, the results of which have helped UNICEF raise awareness and define action plans to increase income through donations and fund raising activities. The UNICEF partnership began when the group made a donation in response to the tsunami disaster. Since then, TNS has worked closely with UNICEF to review and monitor the tsunami relief effort in Aceh and has played a key role in prioritising future activities.

UNICEF also sought advice from TNS to evaluate the social development effort behind the national avian influenza initiative in which UNICEF, the Indonesian Government and many other organisations work together to educate people about avian influenza prevention. Based on this experience, TNS is now conducting similar work for The Academy of Educational Development in the Mekong region. This work is being conducted from our Vietnam office, which is building a strong body of work with UNICEF, particularly in Cambodia to Mai Am Thien Phuoc, a charity providing for the needs of orphans and disabled children.

Employee volunteering
The group recognises the positive impact that volunteering can have on individual employee development and team building and encourages companies to facilitate this. During 2007, for example, 50 people from TNS UK split into small teams and spent a day gardening, creating a vegetable plot and painting the nursery at a primary school local to the group’s corporate office.

Employee development
The group’s commitment to community involvement is recognised through the External Development module of the Tony Cowling Academy of Excellence (our Internal Training Program).  Employees are encouraged to participate in group or individual community secondments, with the aim of combining the benefits to their personal development with the opportunity to serve their local communities.