JAGUAR LAND ROVER IN THE COMMUNITY
At Jaguar Land Rover we are always striving to create and maintain excellent community relations. We want to build partnerships with all the local and regional communities in which our company designs and manufactures.
Employee involvement is the cornerstone of our business commitment to the social and economic regeneration of communities. Everyone working at Jaguar Land Rover is dedicated to this principle, from board member to shopfloor employee.
By acting as good corporate citizens we will enhance the company’s reputation as a socially responsible organisation even further. Making a positive impact on the community takes real commitment, which is why we invest considerable resources in addressing key issues which affect Jaguar Land Rover and the wider community.
Inspiring Tomorrow's Engineers
Jaguar Land Rover’s ambitious growth plans can only be supported by innovation in new products, engines and environmental technologies. We are the UK’s leading investor in automotive research and development and are successfully delivering breakthroughs in engineering, performance and sustainability. However, to sustain the business over the long term it’s essential that we encourage talented young people to become the next generation of engineers and technologists.
Our ‘Inspiring Tomorrow’s Engineers’ (ITE) programme is designed to do just that in collaboration with schools and colleges. By promoting learning and engagement on STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects we are helping inspire young people to consider careers in engineering or manufacturing.
We also operate five Education Business Partnership Centres (EBPCs) in association with local education authorities and education charities. The EBPCs run plant visits and classroom activities. In 2012, more than 22,000 young people and 2,000 teachers visited our plants.
As part of its programme to support the Government’s STEM Agenda, we have collaborated with other automotive, engineering and academic organisations to develop national challenge projects for schools. These educational challenges help to bring science and technology subjects to life — they provide pupils with hands-on projects that enable them to explore different aspects of the automotive industry in a stimulating and exciting way, as well as helping young people develop communication, teamwork, project management and ICT skills.
The Jaguar Primary Schools Challenge was launched in 2011 for school teams aged 5 to 11. The Challenge involves designing and manufacturing the fastest car possible in either 2D or 3D. Teams of children aged 5-7 take part in the 2D challenge and design a race car out of card, complete with wheels and body. The design is then printed and assembled ready to race. Older pupils aged 8-11 design and manufacture a race car in the 3D Challenge using CADCAM technology to create a balsa wood model. Students in both classes then perform tests before they race head-to-head against teams from other schools at the competition stage. The challenge teaches students about a range of science and engineering subjects such as design, manufacture and aerodynamics.
More than 1,700 pupils took part in the competition in 2012.
The Jaguar Maths in Motion Challenge is an annual competition for children aged 9+ and engages students in an exciting and motivating mathematics based project. Working together in small teams using a wide range of basic mathematical skills, they compete against each other in a Grand Prix type race to become UK Champions. In the 2012 competition, more than 150,000 students competed in the programme, with 40 teams from all over the UK winning places in the final at the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon.
Community Investment
Despite the recent economic climate we’ve maintained our investment in community programmes. We will continue to do so by investing in community relations programmes that benefit everyone they touch. We will also encourage our dealers, suppliers and other companies to work in a similar way with their communities.
We work with local, regional and national stakeholders to influence key government and regional enterprises, share best practice and to keep ourselves up to speed with any current and future activities that may affect our company.
Board, Executive and Senior Management undertake many of these roles, allowing them to gather information and make future changes in corporate strategy where appropriate.
Employee Involvement
Our people are at the heart of our success. Their skills, passion and commitment have always been key to creating exciting cars. And now they are using their skills to benefit the communities in which we work and live.
We encourage every employee to play his or her part – each can spend 16 hours of work time a year to support community programmes. It can be anything they want to get involved in: from working with disabled students to maintaining ancient woodlands or becoming school governors… and everything in between. The company aims to involve at least 6% of its workforce in individual and team volunteering activities in 2013 focusing on regeneration, education, young people, charity work and the environment. Our graduates spend two days a year supporting community activities, concentrating on education and promoting the STEM agenda, as part of their personal development.
Think Local
We constantly look at our operations and how they affect the people who live near our sites. To help us make the right, informed choices, we maintain good relationships with our local communities.
Members of the local council and representatives of residents’ groups join us to review our plans and tell us about their ideas and concerns.
External recognition
Jaguar has been a member of Business in the Community (BITC) since 1987 and its Community Relations strategy is based on the BITC framework. The company is committed to its community investment programme, and encourages dealers, suppliers and external companies to follow its lead.
Reflecting our long-term commitment to education and the community, Jaguar Land Rover became the first car manufacturer in the UK to achieve the highly regarded CommunityMark in 2010. Awarded by BITC, the CommunityMark is widely recognised as the national standard of excellence for community investment. This achievement is in recognition of Jaguar Land Rover's considerable investment in community programmes, including five Education Business Partnership Centres, employee volunteering programmes, national educational initiatives and a wide range of community partnerships.
Early in 2013 Jaguar Land Rover was awarded the top Platinum Big Tick rating in BITC's Corporate Responsibility (CR) Index. The prestigious Platinum Big Tick reflects Jaguar Land Rover’s continuing commitment to CR throughout its business operations and saw a 10% improvement on 2012. This is the fifth consecutive year that Jaguar Land Rover has achieved an improved rating since first participating in the CR Index in 2009.