Progress & plans

In 2009, we set out a series of plans for 2010 in the Annual Reportcovering our responsible business practice priorities. We reporthere on our progress against those plans.



Plan 2010   Progress Plan 2011
Continue to support the Pearson Foundation summit at an event in London in 2010 to include a focus on ICT in education, a key concern for educators in the classroom and for administrators hoping to improve academic systems, assessments and reporting Achieved The third International Conference on Education was held in London in June 2010 welcoming education experts from around the world. The conference theme was how to learn from UK experience in adopting and applying digital technologies in support of teaching and student learning. Continue to help local education leaders from countries around the world to explore and apply what distinguishes strong performing educational systems through our ongoing support of the OECD and programmes such as the Pearson Foundation/CCSSO International Education Summit.
Continue to provide professional development for educators and administrators in Southern Africa and to integrate this programming with educational programming that is based on the Bridgeit model first introduced in Tanzania in 2009. Achieved Pearson Southern Africa and The Pearson Foundation continued to develop and expand their innovative early-childhood professional development programme focusing on partnering local education bodies to deliver training in literacy, numeracy and childhood development for teachers in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa as well as Tanzania. Expand our use of the latest mobile and digital technologies as we provide professional development for classroom teachers and administrators in local communities around the world in partnership with The Pearson Foundation through programmes such as Bridgeit and the Mobile Learning Institute.
Continue to develop our emerging leaders through international experience and support Pearson’s needs in our developing markets. Ongoing A third of participants in our various future leader and talent management programmes came from businesses outside of the US and the UK. A focus this year was on developing talent in Asia. 2010 also saw the development and launch of a training module on ethical conduct. Our plan for 2011 is to further develop this through additional material, a train the trainers pack and an e-learning module.
Continue to show evidence of progress in retention of people with diverse backgrounds for both entry level and management positions by tracking the success of women, people from minority ethnic backgrounds and those with a disability within Pearson. Continue to develop programmes and relationships to attract talented people from the above groups into our business. Ongoing 27% of Pearson top managers are female. Pearson was awarded the Opportunity Now FTSE Executive Women Award 2010 for employing the most female executives. Pearson in the US was recognised for the 10th time as one of 100 Best Employers for Working Mothers. The Pearson Diversity Summer Internship was recognised as a finalist in the ‘Best Diversity within Work Experience Awards at the National Placement & Internship Awards 2011’. Pearson was included in the Human Rights Campaign Best Places to Work for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees. Continue to develop programmes and relationships that help attract and retain talented diverse people into our business and track our progress. Activities planned for 2011 include a contribution to the ‘It Gets Better’ video campaign launched by Penguin author Dan Savage.
Continue to develop our capacity to combine training opportunities for our staff with opportunities to partner with schools, colleges and not-for-profits. Achieved We ran a company-wide award scheme to identify and celebrate exemplary commitments made by Pearson people getting involved in their local communities. For the first time, we took steps to formally invite our people to participate in specific projects managed by the Pearson Foundation. We aim to review how we approach, recognise and support our people when they volunteer in their local communities with a particular focus on schools and colleges.
Continue to expand and consolidate our network of environmental teams across our businesses. Achieved We now have 40 green teams involving over 300 people around the world. Continue to develop and support our network of environmental teams across our businesses including launching a global award scheme to recognise the work of our environmental champions from across the business.
Maintain and extend our commitment to being a climate neutral company. Achieved Pearson extended its climate neutrality to cover existing businesses as at the end of 2009. We continue to invest in reducing our carbon footprint and to offset what we cannot eliminate by other means. To maintain our commitment to being a climate neutral company in 2011.
Further development of the Planet Pearson website by Pearson staff. Ongoing New website developed; designed and piloted with its contents shaped by a global employee survey on environmental responsibility. Launch new Planet Pearson website globally as part of a wider commitment to encouraging global collaboration.
Continuation of our programme to make our key buildings energy efficient. Achieved Our dedicated green capital funds invested in projects ranging from renewable energy generation from solar panels to lighting upgrades. Continuation of our programme to make our key buildings energy efficient with a particular focus on on-site renewable energy generation.
Completing the ISO 14001 environmental management system for our business in Australia. Ongoing Good progress made towards preparing for accreditation. Complete ISO 14001 certification in Australia and identify additional businesses to start the process in 2011.
Continue to work with industry partners to establish a methodology to assess the carbon footprint of a textbook.

Establish a total carbon footprint identification initiative for our company.		 Ongoing As part of an industry group, we are supporting the development of a web tool to assess the carbon footprint of a book. We have also assessed the emissions relating to the paper purchased from suppliers in North America. As part of an initiative to build a comprehensive global vendor relationship management system comprising a suite of online portals and data-marts, we will incorporate corporate responsibility metrics in vendor selection where appropriate.
Establish FSC chain of custody certification for our paper use in our North American businesses. Ongoing Process seeking accreditation started in 2010. Complete FSC chain of custody certification for our paper use in our North American businesses.
Increase the impact on children and adults reached through literacy campaigns, focusing Booktime funds more strategically and rolling out Jumpstart’s Read for the Record programme further internationally. Achieved Over one million free books were donated to schools and libraries under the Booktime programme, supported by materials for use by parents, teachers and in libraries. Through We Give Books – the international digital initiative launched in 2010 by the Penguin Group and The Pearson Foundation – we extended the reach of Read for the Record internationally. Increase support for exemplary early-learning and literacy organisations and for the young people they serve through community campaigns such as Booktime and Read for the Record, and via We Give Books.
Increase the number of interventions we make to facilitate constructive debate on key contemporary issues. Achieved Two examples featured in this section are the London Economics research into the impact of BTEC qualifications on earning potential and the Pearson Foundation partnership with the OECD. Continue to increase the number of interventions we make to facilitate constructive debate on key contemporary issues.
Launch the Pearson Prize in the US, identifying students currently in a two – or four-year college/university who are working on specific projects that support their institution and/or local communities, and providing a package of financial and in-kind support to help these students finish their college careers. Achieved Over 10,000 college students applied for the inaugural Pearson Prize. The 70 winners were selected based on their record of contributing to enriching college life. Extend our support of young leaders making a difference inside and outside the classroom by continuing programmes such as the Pearson Prize and the international Pearson Fellowship for Social Innovation.

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