Building a CSR strategy from an HR perspective

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has many benefits for any organisation; almost every key organisation has some form of CSR. CSR does not have to be an activity that an organisation only spends on and does not gain anything out of. A good CSR campaign can be designed to be aligned towards the Marketing or HR strategy so that apart from being a socially responsible activity, it also helps these functions and contributes to the overall organisation al strategy.

A CSR activity can help Marketing by strengthening relationships with stakeholders or informing brand perception and awareness. It can help HR objectives by engaging employees and building a sense of purpose. There can also be HR-centric CSR activities like programs to improve sustainability in the organisation. Therefore, a CSR activity must not be seen as a project with expenses only, it must be seen as projects that have the potential to contribute to the overall strategy of the organisation and must be planned with a strategic approach. Formulating a good HR strategy can be done in the following manner:

Consider CSR objectives inside and outside the organisation – Look at the objectives the projects must fulfill from a social and ethical point of view. Some considerations are that the project must save paper, wastage and energy. Other objectives would be to promote employee welfare. For external projects, the welfare of the people around the organisation must be looked at.

Consider HR objectives – Look at the goals of the HR function. Are the employees disengaged? Do you want to project a good ethical brand to attract potential candidates?

Consider ways in which your organisation s people can be involved in the project – Involvement is key to ensure that the CSR strategy is aligned to HR. It would be best if as many employees as possible could be directly involved and be a part of the project team, especially if it is an external project. Having people from different departments and external stakeholders work together in the CSR project would also help build stronger relationships. Another thing to keep in mind is to give every employee an equal opportunity to participate in CSR programs. Ideas for CSR projects can also be crowd-sourced from employees themselves. Keeping employees in the center of CSR projects will ensure that the project is truly done by the company and not something just paid for by the company.

Build internal publicity and awareness – As much as doing the project, building awareness of the project is also important. At every stage of the project, all employees should know what is going on. Make use of notice boards, intranets, newsletters and other communications material. Social media can come in handy here, where you could interact with employees and find out what they think about the project. Having a separate handbook for CSR activities and distributing them among employees is also a very good idea.

Adapt – The CSR activities and projects must be dynamic and should be able to change according to the needs of the stakeholders and employees. Adapting to the internal environment of the organisation will make sure the projects don’t fail and that they don’t negatively affect the workforce. How is your company’s CSR practices aligned with HR strategy? Share your thoughts on the discussion forums.

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  • Last modified on Tuesday, 08 December 2015 06:30
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