Win4Youth programme sees over 10,000 participants swim, cycle and run to raise funds for young people across the world

Zurich, Switzerland, October 17 2016: Fostering an engaged workforce is a growing priority for business leaders across the world. The Adecco Group, the world’s leading provider of HR solutions, believes that activities combining purpose and sport can contribute positively to employee engagement. Through its Win4Youth programme, Adecco Group employees ensure a Group donation through sport for young people from disadvantaged communities. Since its inception, the programme has raised close to €2 million. Every year, Win4Youth culminates in a major sporting event. This year, 70 Adecco Group colleagues took part in the Lanzarote Triathlon, completed yesterday.

Employee engagement - the culture, behaviours and activities that generate the conditions for people to feel driven and committed at work - is one of the foremost challenges of organisations across the world. 78% of employees deem ‘culture and engagement’ to be ‘very important’, making it the jointhighest internal priority, along with leadership.1 The business benefits of an engaged workforce are clear, driving greater productivity and retention, enhancing employer brand and attracting talent.

While no single activity can create engagement on its own - company culture, leadership and inpidual managers are crucial - the Adecco Group is a strong believer in the ability of purpose and sport to drive workforce engagement. These in turn improve the ability to attract and retain talent, as well as increasing productivity.

The Win4Youth initiative is a sport programme involving employees, associates and clients in more than 60 countries, in which participants swim, cycle and run. For every kilometre covered, the Adecco Group makes a donation to selected youth development projects. Now in its 7th year, the programme culminated this year with the Lanzarote triathlon, in which each member of the global Win4Youth team swam 1.5 km, cycled 40 km, and ran 10 km along with the Win4Youth ‘godfather’, professional triathlete and World Champion Ironman (2013) Frederik Van Lierde.

Win4Youth is a successful contributor to workforce engagement. It relates to purpose, given that beneficiaries are young people and their families in need, which aligns with Adecco Group’s
commitment to helping young people get the best start in life. It utilises sport, a more powerful motivator and driver of collaboration than traditional ‘forced fun’ activities. Moreover, the competitive element, the sheer difficulty of the challenges, and the involvement of athlete-godparents, makes it an inspiring programme that participants are eager to join.

Shanthi Flynn, Chief HR Officer at the Adecco Group, said: “More than ever, creating an engaged workforce is essential to a healthy business. Happy committed people who are connected to the purpose of the Company, work hard to ensure their colleagues and teams are successful. This in turn, drives business success. Win4Youth is an amazing programme that continues to motivate and inspire through the power of sport. Every year over 10,000 of our people volunteer to take part. We have donated almost €2 million for charities across the world, and thank our fantastic volunteers. They make us proud.”

To find out more about Adecco Win4Youth visit:
www.adecco.com/csr/win4youth.asp

About Win4Youth
Adecco’s Win4Youth initiative is a sports and skill development programme involving our employees, associates and clients worldwide. The main purpose of Win4Youth is to ensure a Group donation for disadvantaged children and their families to improve their future chances of success and a normal life. At the same time, it allows Adecco employees to live the company’s values and keep fit. For every kilometre covered by an employee, associate or client, Adecco Group donates money to selected foundations around the world.

About the Adecco Group
The Adecco Group, based in Zurich, Switzerland, is the world’s leading provider of HR solutions. With more than 33,000 FTE employees and around 5,100 branches in 60 countries and territories around the world, the Adecco Group offers a wide variety of services, connecting approximately 700,000 associates with our clients every day. The services offered fall into the broad categories of temporary staffing, permanent placement, career transition and talent development, as well as outsourcing and consulting. The Adecco Group is a Fortune Global 500 company. Adecco Group AG is registered in Switzerland (ISIN: CH0012138605) and listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ADEN).