HR must innovate to ensure success of CSR

Corporate
social responsibility (CSR) projects need to be innovative and driven by HR if
they are to succeed, according to a report by leading independent think-tank
Demos.

The
report, Getting down to business, finds that CSR programmes should link with
core business objectives and involve key employees.

The
report’s author Rachel Judd said: "Project champions need to be identified
among the senior hierarchy of companies, with responsibility for ensuring that
CSR is not left out on a limb or confined only to the public affairs
department."

"[HR
departments can] produce effective, innovative responses to social problems in
ways which allow the solutions to be taken up more widely."

Judd
called on companies to experiment and develop new approaches to embracing CSR.

"The
real corporate social responsibility is to innovate. This approach to
innovation should draw on the experience of senior employees, but also has the
potential to feed back into the business itself," she added.

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The
report finds that successful CSR projects are used as a chance for staff
development and need significant investment in terms of money and expertise
drawn from the core business.

www.demos.co.uk