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Is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) a shortcut to retaining stellar employees?
No! Individual, socially-responsibility themed activities are not a simple route to appease laborers. Employee respect and attraction results from meaningful actions that benefit society as well as investors. You need a coherent plan that delivers meaningful impact– and that requires effort.
The social responsibility challenge reminds me of how my five-year old, Rayden, approached me recently:
Rayden stood silently in front of me, jaw clenched. “Pay me NOW!” Rayden scolds.
I almost laugh. “Ummm. Why should I pay you?” I ask. “Did you do something for me?”
Rayden takes a half-step back as if startled by the question. “No! I did nothing for you. But I need money. You pay people who give you bills.”
Rayden missed the most important aspect of a business transaction: the exchange of value. People certainly pay invoices– but only because the payment follows delivery of a meaningful product or service.
Some companies similarly miss the meaning of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Instead of efficiently delivering meaningful social change, some businesses focus on the desired business outcomes such as engaging employees. Perhaps the company will offer a ‘picnic to support children with cancer’ rather than meaningfully impact sick children’s lives. Or the company’s Indian American Network will host a dinner for colleagues in the name of diversity, but that that dinner will be promptly forgotten.
In contrast, meaningful CSR applies business’ unique capability to efficiently change society. The result is high-impact insights, tools, and strategies that creates more value for the world. Target, for example, executes concrete, measurable plans to develop a global workforce able to deliver for the company and local communities. Target integrates those top-down plans with powerful, symbolic stories told by senior executives about reaching across-cultures, which empowers innovation in that spirit throughout the company. And the best employees reward both the sincere effort and the positive outcomes with attraction and engagement (and so do customers, investors, and others.)
There may be a role for superficial CSR efforts, just like it may make sense to install a ping pong table in an employee break room. But don’t be surprised when employee interest in your shortcut efforts are as short-lived and superficial as their interest in the game.
If you shifted more of what you do ‘tick-the-box’ into meaningful activities, do you think you’d wake up with more energy?
Please share your thoughts in the comments or by sending me an email: info@RodWallacePhD.Com.
Our society cannot just survive. For the sake of our children, it must thrive.
Rod
Dr. Rod Wallace is an economist, consultant, and speaker who helps businesses make more money by solving society’s problems. A Fulbright Fellow, he has led multi-organization billion-dollar initiatives worldwide and partnered with a Silicon Valley pioneer to explore the impact of Artificial Intelligence on society.
Rod speaks about how to integrate social responsibility into business to maximize profit and purpose. He highlights digital technology’s impact on society and the strategies and tools with which business can solve our big, systemic problems.
Contact Rod at info@RodWallacePhD.com.