Foster a Culture of Corporate Social Responsibility
Creating a culture of change and responsibility starts with HR. Getting the younger employees, who are already environmentally conscious, excited about fresh Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives is a great way to begin. A committed set of employees who infuse enthusiasm for such programs would enable friendly competition and recognition programs.
Over the past few years, major news organizatrate ions have reported on large, trusted companies that have failed employees, shareholders and the public (i.e. Enron, Lehman, WaMu). These failures created a culture of mistrust in the corporate world. All too often, employees and employers at all levels, who competed for advancement and recognition in harsh workplaces, were forced to accept corporate misconduct and waste as “business as usual.”
Employer brands are being eroded and the once sacred trust that employees had with stable pensions, defined benefits and lifelong jobs, are being replaced with pay for performance and adjustment to new learning goals. In this environment, Corporate Social Responsibility can go a long way in rehabilitating the employer brand with potential new hires and society at large. It can help defeat the image that corporate objectives are rooted in single minded profit at the expense of society and the environment.
Social and community connections that are encouraged by employers give employees permission to involve their companies in meaningful ways with the community. Employers can connect with their employees and the community through:
- Company matches to employee charitable contributions;
- Community programs and volunteer days;
- Corporate sponsorship of community events; and
- Encouraging employees to participate in walkathons, food banks, and so forth.
Celebrate Corporate Social Responsibility Successes
Celebrating success is important to sustain the momentum of any CSR program. Involving company leaders, and praising the success of these initiatives, gives the program real meaning. In the rapidly expanding global workplace, the celebration of these successes not only drives the implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, but also allows sound corporate HR practices to enable them.
Additionally the publicity about these successes creates a mutual understanding of the cultures within each region that the company serves. The local population knows that, in addition to providing jobs, the company takes an active interest in, and participates in, local issues.
Three Key Areas of Corporate Social Responsibility
Focusing on three key areas for Corporate Social Responsibility can help create a cohesive map for the present and future:
- Community Relations,
- Training and Development, and
- A Cohesive Global Corporate Social Responsibility Platform
Encouraging Community Relations through your HR team includes implementing reward programs, charitable contributions and encouraging community involvement and practices. Examples of these programs include sending emails and company newsletters to staff members that highlight employees and managers involved in community relations or creating monthly reward programs to recognize efforts by individuals within the company.
Training and Development programs that explain the connection between the company’s core products or services and the society at large, their value to the local community and ways in which employees can get involved in appropriate CSR projects would sustain and direct these initiatives.
Global Corporate Social Responsibility policy, centrally managed, is important to acknowledge successes and measurements according to accepted standards. Central to measuring and communicating these results is the use of a Web-based Human Resources Information System (HRIS) that is available globally to employees and managers with any Web browser. In order to encourage and maintain a clear and cohesive global workplace, it is critical for the entire global workforce of a company to be on a single, multi-functioning HR platform, which allows for distributing a sound corporate responsibility plan.
Having a global HR solution that offers companies flexibility, ease of use and the right mix of tools is essential to the success of both employees and employers alike, as they manage and maintain work-life balance and thrive in a changing environment that includes taking on social responsibility. The success of your Corporate Social Responsibility plan is possible with an HRIS that provides the capability to effectively plan, control and manage your goals, achieve efficiency and quality, and improve employee and manager communications.
The flexibility of your HRIS system is critical to tracking and pursuing a sound Corporate Social Responsibility plan and a Web-based system provides an unparalleled level of both scalability and accessibility to implement your Corporate Social Responsibility plan at a global level. This is an increasingly important endeavor, as companies, societies and people coexist productively and in harmony, across the planet we all inhabit.
