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  • CSR policies allow employers to showcase their internal values.
  • Thorough communication of CSR policies will enhance employees’ understanding of, and engagement with them.
  • CSR strategies need to be connected to the organisation as a business and an employer.

Corporate and social responsibility (CSR) policies can work wonders for organisations wanting to stand out from the crowd in terms of staff attraction, retention and engagement. So when conjoined with benefits, CSR strategies can place workplaces on the path to becoming destination employers.

Creating destination employers

Forward-thinking and conscientious employers are aligning their benefits packages with their corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy, which may involve charity partnerships or introducing benefits that enable staff to volunteer for worthy causes without losing pay.

For instance, Rob Green, head of reward, Europe, the Middle East and Asia (EMEA) at Starbucks, explains that the coffee shop chain aims to get its employees experiencing how it creates coffee for its customers at farms in Africa by allowing them witness how it is created from the source.

Not only does this type of initiative engage staff with the brand they work for, it also gives the organisation a charitable and generous edge.

Robin Farwell, business development manager at Green Rewards, added: “CSR policies can be promoted very effectively through employee benefit schemes, particularly if they are an integral aspect of a scheme and not an after-thought.

‘Our experience is that organisations that link CSR to their employee benefits find it far easier to deliver their targets because everyone is being motivated to pull in the same direction.”

Communicating CSR

The connection between CSR policies and benefits is key to the success of a CSR policy, so to form that connection, employers need to effectively communicate their offering to employees to boost understanding of what is being offered and why.

For example, real estate firm JLL upholds its CSR strategy, Building for tomorrow, by connecting it to staff recognition; any employees who opt to take part in its volunteering projects are able to utilise that experience in their case study if they are being considered for an internal promotion.

JLL’s 2,500 staff are made aware of its CSR policy through internal communications strategies such as the organisation’s weekly staff newsletter, its internal social network Yammer and via a stream of 100 employees who make up its Champions Network, who volunteer to promote its CSR policy and the benefits of taking part.

Its policy, the Sustainability Programme is made up of four pillars, the first is Clients, the second is Workplace, which focuses on the physical office space and the organisation’s environmental footprint, the third is Community, which centres on employee volunteering, and the final pillar is People, which is currently in development. This final pillar will focus on diversity and inclusion as well as staff recruitment and retention.

Gemma Piggot, UK community manager, JLL, says: “Since Building for Tomorrow was launched 18 months ago, it has become really popular with employees and lots [staff] regularly take part, particularly the volunteering aspect.”

Robust corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies pervade all aspects of a business’s operations, and in the short term, it can be more profitable to disregard ethics. But for employers that wish to inspire, motivate and engage their workforce need to connect the benefits they offer staff with their long-term ethical principles.

As Farwell explains: “If employee rewards and benefits are designed with CSR as a priority, then staff will be very aware of the policy and its targets.”

Cathy Brown, executive director, Engage for Success believes employers should place more emphasis on CSR activity itself and how it impacts an organisation and its workforce, rather than simply informing employees about it.

She says: “Employers must give staff real examples of what their CSR policy does and involve them in its output so they start to feel it’s a living, breathing part of the organisation.”

Connected to the business

Brown says: “Employers need to offer CSR policies connected to them and their values from the very start and work from the ground up.”

Without doing so, employers could be doing more harm than good to staff’s engagement by not offering a genuine policy.

Brown adds: “Employers need to have a roadmap connecting the behaviours that they want to establish from staff and what culture they’re trying to instil. They should also make sure the CSR policy is actually relevant the organisation rather than picking something off the shelf.”

An employer’s CSR strategy can include a range of social and environmental promises from the business, and when aligned with its benefits offering, the strategy can truly engage workers.

Column: Volunteering brings CSR policies to life

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policies too often sit on a website, poorly communicated, rarely visited and even more rarely understood by employees. So what can really bring them to life?

Employee volunteering is the most powerful mechanism that we come across at Business in the Community. For example, 80% of employees who take part in workplace volunteering say they are fully aware of the community investment policies put in place by their employer, this falls to 44% when employees who don’t volunteer, according to Business in the Community’s Community Mark holders research 2014-15.

Volunteering brings corporate responsibility to life for staff; it connects them directly to the issues that are being focused on and they feel part of their employer’s efforts.

Business in the Community’s Community Mark is our standard for excellence in community investment. The 36 organisations that hold the standard are reaping the rewards of engaging their staff through volunteering.

In fact, 75% of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) staff who volunteer say it’s helping them to develop faster and further in their roles. Zurich Insurance have seen volunteers report improved wellbeing and happiness (53%), increased understanding and empathy (61%) and increased awareness of social issues (68%). Manchester Airport Group see that engagement is 18% higher in employees that volunteer. Significantly, the absence rate of volunteers is 3.38% lower than that of non-volunteers.

Employee volunteering as an engagement mechanism is only going to grow as the Conservative government looks to build Britain’s volunteering culture. During the 2015 General Election they announced that employees of large firms (those with over 250 staff) will be entitled to three volunteering days a year.

Whilst details around the policy are still being worked out, it is sure to shine a much brighter light on employer supported volunteering and the value it has.

Ethel Maldonado is community investment manager at Business in the Community.

Case study: Astellas reflects CSR policy through charitable giving

Astellas promotes its corporate social and responsibility (CSR) policy through offering its 400 staff the opportunity to donate money to charity as they earn, volunteer for community projects and fundraise towards its own foundation and chosen corporate charity.

For example, the Astellas European Foundation charity is highlighted to employees to help them to “change tomorrow”, according to Robert Wigmore, senior manager, reward at Astellas.

The pharmaceutical firm also has a ‘Give as you earn’ scheme in place, which allows staff to donate to its chosen charity, the Fistula Foundation, through payroll, and therefore in a tax-efficient way.

The charity supports women who have developed the preventable condition of obstetric fitstula after childbirth, as well as training surgeons to carry out surgery. Wigmore explains: “We chose a charity that many people haven’t come across before, to make sure we were really making a difference.”

Astellas also promotes volunteering for its employees on local community projects such as building or decorating schools for children with learning difficulties.

Wigmore comments: “Charitable giving and volunteering is never a pressurised situation but it is something our employees are encouraged to do. We also lead from the top down, so our CEO [chief executive officer] always takes part.

“These type of opportunities also give staff a chance to mix with colleagues they may not already know, and socialise out of work.”

These initiatives not only emphasise Astellas’ CSR policy, but are also implemented off the back of employee feedback to ensure good staff engagement.

Wigmore says: “We want to help our staff have a better quality of life, which is why we try to offer good benefits and opportunities to allow staff to give something back. This is helping us become an employer of choice.”

Graphic:

  • Just 7% of sales professional respondents want to work for an organisation that is concerned with the environment, society and its own CSR policy.
  • 11% of all respondents want to work for an organisation that is concerned with the environment, society and its own CSR policy.
  • Just 8% of sales professional respondents believe it is important to work for an organisation that promotes diversity in the workplace.
  • 12% of all respondents believe it is important to work for an organisation that promotes diversity in the workplace.

Unnamed research from Randstad Sales, Marketing and Retail, November 2015.