Bangalore: There is no doubt that CSR is one of the most important parts of business policy. However, CSR would not have the desired outcome unless it is incorporated and personified by both the management and employees. The only branch that can make the whole organization embody CSR in an appropriate way is the "HR".
Although, HRs are always said to be a very integral part of any organization, in reality they are the most ignored ones. They are mostly perceived to be a group of "internal service providers", whose basic job is talent acquisition, maintenance, and improvement. Their views are given not that much importance in the CSR related strategic decisions. Therefore, most of the HR Professionals see CSR as an additional burden.
A major part of HRs considers that they are already performing CSR related functions as a part of "sustainability activities". But executing these activities is not enough, one have to build an environment and organization culture where CSR becomes the core element of the business. The CSR result will be always zero without the integrated effort of the employees. The only person who can involve workers in this is the "HR".
Adine Mees and Jamie Bunham from the Canadian Business for Social Responsibility quoted, "CSR minus HR equals PR". Without the effort from HR side, CSR becomes just a part of PR activity to gain media attention. Thus, the basic purpose of CSR could never be achieved.
Several leading companies have incorporated their workers with CSR initiatives in a major way. PepsiCo's "Performance With Purpose" campaign was a huge hit among workers and not only it helped to build better response from the present employees, but also acted as one of their most powerful recruitment tools.
PricewaterhouseCooper's Corporate Responsibility Leader Shannon Schuyler says, "It has become even more important to ensure that responsibility is at the forefront of not just what company leadership is saying, but also what every single employee believes". It is the HRs job is to go beyond satisfying employee and management demands and function as the true leader for CSR initiatives in the organization. Only then the CSR efforts would have real conquest.
