CSR and Human Resources

I had the pleasure of listening to a lecture by Graeme Martin and Martin Reddington from the University of Glasgow’s Centre for Reputation Management through People, hosted by The Times and Forum3’s Responsible Business Forum.

While they talked specifically about human resource management, their message paralleled the changes going on in the CSR environment. The HR market is shifting from the idea of ‘employer of choice’ to ‘employee of choice.’ Martin and Reddington argue that the idea of a uniform set of ‘best practices’ is a corporate illusion since all companies ultimately must adjust their offerings according to the context in which they work. This means that suitablly trained, talented employees drive high performance, and this in turn makes them satisfied and happy at work (not, as is often heard, happy work environments driving high performance).

Their HR message relates to the concept that our client and partner AccountAbility has been suggesting in its Materiality Report and its Responsible Competitiveness Report. These reports suggest that organisations need to understand the material concerns which affect their long-term sustainability socially, environmentally, and economically.

Both groups’ work signal that CSR initiatives will continue to become more embedded in organisations’ core offerings and more closely related to the material issues which affect their future performance and value, instead of as clumsy appendages tacked on to their other products and services.