This is a summary of the research report Making CSR happen: the contribution of people management which was based on work carried out by Ian Redington of The Virtuous Circle on behalf of CIPD. The full report is available to purchase online – please visit our bookstore for more details and to find out how to order.
Companies are under increasing pressure to report on the intangible, non-financial factors influencing their performance. Many companies already publish separate reports on their performance in managing both employees and wider CSR objectives. The CIPD has been working with DTI and other partners to promote the CSR Competency Framework to support the development of CSR skills across business and to help organisations integrate CSR into their decision-making processes. Our research was undertaken as part of this collaboration.
The Virtuous Circle undertook case studies of 12 companies known to be active in CSR. The case studies were selected to show the links between CSR and people management. The companies studied included British Gas, BT, HBOS, Prudential and Accenture.
A key conclusion from all the case studies is that both CSR and HR activities can make a major contribution to creating long-term success in organisations and this reinforces the conclusions of other research that the Institute has undertaken in recent years. In an increasingly knowledge- and service-based economy, employees are key stakeholders, and many of the CSR activities reported are aimed at sustaining and improving the employment relationship.
Some people interpret CSR as a cynical and defensive reaction to increased external pressure and scrutiny. But the case studies show that HR practices such as competency development can help embed CSR in an organisation and benefit its bottom line.
In the end, companies need to engage with CSR because it offers a better way of doing business. High and sustainable levels of business performance have to be based on effective community, customer and employee management. The case studies offer practical examples of how HR practitioners can contribute to this process by helping organisations behave responsibly and both protect and enhance their reputation and long-term success. The report suggests that more companies could use the CSR Competency Framework as a means of embedding their CSR agenda across the organisation and helping to ensure its credibility and effectiveness.
Increasingly, CSR is recognised as being about having good business practices and its impacts are seen as contributing to a business’s reputation and performance. The latter is becoming increasingly important as the value of businesses becomes more and more reliant on intangible elements. Qualitative information about a company (such as the risks and opportunities relating to the impacts of its activities on key stakeholders) is becoming recognised as a key determinant of share price and, therefore, an important commercial issue for any quoted business.
These case studies demonstrate how people management practices are contributing value to businesses in support of a CSR agenda. Having a good CSR reputation implies that a company’s behaviour – and that of its people – is consistent and is of a particular standard. So CSR values must be embedded throughout the business, and good HR practices make this happen. The case studies will stimulate HR practitioners to look for opportunities where their skills and actions can yield new, positive and measurable benefits to the organisations that employ them.
This is a summary of:
REDINGTON, I. (2005) Making CSR happen: the contribution of people management. Research report. London:CIPD.