Role of HR leadership in discharging CSR
Saturday, 23 October 2010
Rezina Sultana
"I honestly believe that the winning companies of this century will be those who prove with their actions that they can be profitable and increase social value - companies that both do well and do good. Increasingly, shareowners, customers, partners and employees are going to vote with their feet - rewarding those companies that fuel social change through business. This is simply the new reality of business - one that we should and must embrace," said Carly Fiorina, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Hewlett-Packard.
A roundtable discussion on "Corporate Social Responsibility: Taking Business Forward" was held on May 7, 2008 at the BEI Conference Room organised by CSR Centre, in partnership with Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI), Embassy of Sweden, Royal Norwegian Embassy, and Royal Danish Embassy. The objective of the roundtable discussion was to emphasise the need for incorporating CSR initiatives in every business strategy in order to achieve sustainable long-term growth in the private sector. As small businesses grow into larger ones there is a need for reaching out into the wider global markets.
In today's world CSR has become a global necessity for taking a leap forward and attaining a larger share of the market. Worldwide, companies and their HR leadership are coming to grip with what exactly CSR means in their organisations and how to strategically include CSR within business goals and objectives. There is growing evidence pointing to the validity of and the demand for CSR.
As the concept of CSR becomes more widely accepted and integrated in business, it is helpful to understand that the development of CSR in organisations is in transition. In the workshop held on 28 July on CSR Fundamentals, organised by Rapport Bangladesh, the necessity of CSR was highlighted. The speaker Dr Fernanda Duarte in an interactive discussion talked about the core values of CSR.
There are basically three "generations" of CSR in varying stages of sophistication. The first generation has demonstrated that companies can contribute to society without risking commercial success. Today, the second generation is developing more fully as CSR gradually becomes an integral part of companies' long-term business strategies. Finally, the third generation addresses significant societal issues, such as poverty and clean-up of the environment.
However, one of the critical roles of Human Resources leadership today is to spearhead the development and strategic implementation of CSR throughout the organisation and promote sound corporate citizenship. CSR doesn't mean only distributing charities or programmes; its meaning goes beyond, one of the primary business reasons for CSR is attracting and retaining competent people. While strategically including CSR in the organisation can begin from different points (e.g., product safety, the board of directors, business development), it makes good business sense for HR to head the process and partner with strategic leaders in the firm because human capital is arguably the number one intangible value driver.
HR leaders are expected to influence three primary standards of CSR - ethics, employment practices and community involvement. These relate either directly or indirectly to employees, customers and the local community. By considering these three CSR standards, HR leaders then identify the CSR stage of their organisation before making decisions to develop and implement CSR initiatives. Ethical standards and practices are developed and implemented in dealings with all company stakeholders. Commitment to ethical behaviour is widely communicated in an explicit statement and is rigorously upheld.
Human resource management practices promote personal and professional employee development, diversity at all levels and empowerment. Employees are valued partners, with the right to fair labour practices, competitive wages and benefits and a safe, harassment-free, family-friendly work environment. The company fosters an open relationship that is sensitive to community culture and needs and plays a proactive, cooperative and collaborative role to make the community a better place to live and conduct business.
Globally, CSR has a significant impact on HR management. For example, HR must be aware that effective CSR means respect for cultural and developmental differences and sensitivity to imposing values, ideas and beliefs when establishing global HR policies and programmes. Externally, global organisations are publishing mission statements, such as the one below by Shell, to publicly announce their intentions of corporate citizenship, using terms such as "respect" and "cultural differences," and focusing on CSR priorities of diversity, health, safety and equal opportunity. Internally, HR leaders have begun to take steps regarding CSR by developing and implementing incentives and appraisal systems that reflect citizenship vision and purpose as well as hiring personnel that reflect these traits.
However, globalisation has made CSR practice a significant issue for Bangladesh business. CSR concentrates on benefits of all stakeholders rather than just the stockholders. Consciousness and sense of necessity for practicing CSR is becoming more and more pronounced as the country has to adapt itself to the process of globalisation.
But the overall status of CSR in Bangladesh is still very meagre. Lack of good governance, absence of strong labour unions or consumer rights groups, and inability of the business community to perceive CSR as a survival pre-condition in export and PR investment local market constitute some of elements undermining the evolution of CSR practices. Some untoward incident like boycott from the importer has taught the local business community about the immense importance of CSR and adoption of this modern and competitive practice is gradually increasing in Bangladesh.
In the context of Bangladesh, a few multinational companies and local companies carry out CSR. Most of the business concerns in Bangladesh do not elevate in practicing CSR unless being pressured by the overseas buyers/clients in case of export-oriented business. CSR in Bangladesh can also contribute a lot to community development. The corporate division can develop the community by creating employment, providing primary education, contribution to infrastructure development like road and highways and addressing environmental concerns.
This is more relevant for a country like Bangladesh where the government interventions in these fields being augmented by corporate alliance can go a long way in developing the economy, society and environment. With the growing importance of human capital as a success factor for today's organisations, the role of HR leadership will become evermore critical in leading and educating organisations on the value of CSR and how best to strategically implement CSR policies and programmes domestically and abroad.
The writer is a corporate trainer. She is working as Manager, General Training at Bangla Trac Limited (Bangla CAT), and can be reached at: peea_66@yahoo.com
"I honestly believe that the winning companies of this century will be those who prove with their actions that they can be profitable and increase social value - companies that both do well and do good. Increasingly, shareowners, customers, partners and employees are going to vote with their feet - rewarding those companies that fuel social change through business. This is simply the new reality of business - one that we should and must embrace," said Carly Fiorina, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Hewlett-Packard.
A roundtable discussion on "Corporate Social Responsibility: Taking Business Forward" was held on May 7, 2008 at the BEI Conference Room organised by CSR Centre, in partnership with Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI), Embassy of Sweden, Royal Norwegian Embassy, and Royal Danish Embassy. The objective of the roundtable discussion was to emphasise the need for incorporating CSR initiatives in every business strategy in order to achieve sustainable long-term growth in the private sector. As small businesses grow into larger ones there is a need for reaching out into the wider global markets.
In today's world CSR has become a global necessity for taking a leap forward and attaining a larger share of the market. Worldwide, companies and their HR leadership are coming to grip with what exactly CSR means in their organisations and how to strategically include CSR within business goals and objectives. There is growing evidence pointing to the validity of and the demand for CSR.
As the concept of CSR becomes more widely accepted and integrated in business, it is helpful to understand that the development of CSR in organisations is in transition. In the workshop held on 28 July on CSR Fundamentals, organised by Rapport Bangladesh, the necessity of CSR was highlighted. The speaker Dr Fernanda Duarte in an interactive discussion talked about the core values of CSR.
There are basically three "generations" of CSR in varying stages of sophistication. The first generation has demonstrated that companies can contribute to society without risking commercial success. Today, the second generation is developing more fully as CSR gradually becomes an integral part of companies' long-term business strategies. Finally, the third generation addresses significant societal issues, such as poverty and clean-up of the environment.
However, one of the critical roles of Human Resources leadership today is to spearhead the development and strategic implementation of CSR throughout the organisation and promote sound corporate citizenship. CSR doesn't mean only distributing charities or programmes; its meaning goes beyond, one of the primary business reasons for CSR is attracting and retaining competent people. While strategically including CSR in the organisation can begin from different points (e.g., product safety, the board of directors, business development), it makes good business sense for HR to head the process and partner with strategic leaders in the firm because human capital is arguably the number one intangible value driver.
HR leaders are expected to influence three primary standards of CSR - ethics, employment practices and community involvement. These relate either directly or indirectly to employees, customers and the local community. By considering these three CSR standards, HR leaders then identify the CSR stage of their organisation before making decisions to develop and implement CSR initiatives. Ethical standards and practices are developed and implemented in dealings with all company stakeholders. Commitment to ethical behaviour is widely communicated in an explicit statement and is rigorously upheld.
Human resource management practices promote personal and professional employee development, diversity at all levels and empowerment. Employees are valued partners, with the right to fair labour practices, competitive wages and benefits and a safe, harassment-free, family-friendly work environment. The company fosters an open relationship that is sensitive to community culture and needs and plays a proactive, cooperative and collaborative role to make the community a better place to live and conduct business.
Globally, CSR has a significant impact on HR management. For example, HR must be aware that effective CSR means respect for cultural and developmental differences and sensitivity to imposing values, ideas and beliefs when establishing global HR policies and programmes. Externally, global organisations are publishing mission statements, such as the one below by Shell, to publicly announce their intentions of corporate citizenship, using terms such as "respect" and "cultural differences," and focusing on CSR priorities of diversity, health, safety and equal opportunity. Internally, HR leaders have begun to take steps regarding CSR by developing and implementing incentives and appraisal systems that reflect citizenship vision and purpose as well as hiring personnel that reflect these traits.
However, globalisation has made CSR practice a significant issue for Bangladesh business. CSR concentrates on benefits of all stakeholders rather than just the stockholders. Consciousness and sense of necessity for practicing CSR is becoming more and more pronounced as the country has to adapt itself to the process of globalisation.
But the overall status of CSR in Bangladesh is still very meagre. Lack of good governance, absence of strong labour unions or consumer rights groups, and inability of the business community to perceive CSR as a survival pre-condition in export and PR investment local market constitute some of elements undermining the evolution of CSR practices. Some untoward incident like boycott from the importer has taught the local business community about the immense importance of CSR and adoption of this modern and competitive practice is gradually increasing in Bangladesh.
In the context of Bangladesh, a few multinational companies and local companies carry out CSR. Most of the business concerns in Bangladesh do not elevate in practicing CSR unless being pressured by the overseas buyers/clients in case of export-oriented business. CSR in Bangladesh can also contribute a lot to community development. The corporate division can develop the community by creating employment, providing primary education, contribution to infrastructure development like road and highways and addressing environmental concerns.
This is more relevant for a country like Bangladesh where the government interventions in these fields being augmented by corporate alliance can go a long way in developing the economy, society and environment. With the growing importance of human capital as a success factor for today's organisations, the role of HR leadership will become evermore critical in leading and educating organisations on the value of CSR and how best to strategically implement CSR policies and programmes domestically and abroad.
The writer is a corporate trainer. She is working as Manager, General Training at Bangla Trac Limited (Bangla CAT), and can be reached at: peea_66@yahoo.com