Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • Maternity & Paternity
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • Maternity & Paternity
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

ESGHR strategyOpinion

Is CSR the new GDP?

by Personnel Today 9 Aug 2005
by Personnel Today 9 Aug 2005

What an excellent summer. I know the economic conditions are tough in many sectors. Yet there are butterflies in my garden, my kids won the borough swimming championship, and our local church fete raised lots for charity. We all know our happiness depends on factors outside of the workplace and its productivity. Sociologists find that once we reach a comfortable standard of living, greater output has no effect on happiness.

Economists are questioning whether their output-based measures of national performance, such as Gross Domestic Product, make sense. Do we really need more than 15 varieties of dental floss?

In a service-based economy, measuring performance is more complex than counting the cars off the currently-defunct production line at Rover. For a physiotherapist or advertising executive, the number of consultations or ads gives no indication of performance, which depends on the quality of the service provided.

Business leaders are recognising that a sole focus on short-term outputs is dangerous. CIPD research found the most successful organisations have a ‘big idea’ that attracts staff and customers. Profits are the outcome rather than sole focus of their efforts, with many employing a balanced scorecard of performance.

Companies such as Marks & Spencer and John Lewis have always attempted to manage their people well and serve their community, as well as rewarding shareholders. A new CIPD report, Making CSR Happen, illustrates how closely intertwined HR and corporate social responsibility have become with the business performance agenda.

Accenture Development Partnerships supplies the consultancy’s expertise in developing countries at low prices. Internal volunteers, who take a pay cut, staff the unit. The venture attracts good PR in the current Live 8 climate. But staff from the venture are less likely to leave and more likely to be high-performing consultants.

Another example in the report is BT, which has reduced the number of UK call centres, and set up two new facilities in India. The way it managed this potentially controversial restructuring won praise from consultancy Sustainability, and trade unions. There was extensive consultation, no compulsory redundancies, and extensive retraining. The move had no negative impact on staff satisfaction.

Even financial analysts now take notice of the FTSE4Good index of corporate performance, and chief executives are keen to topple Nationwide from top spot in the Sunday Times’ Best Large Company to Work For.

In 1919, investors sued Ford for suspending its dividend. Henry Ford argued the money was better spent lowering prices, “to do as much good as we can, everywhere, for everybody”. He lost the case.

Today more than ever, ‘good’ companies really are just that. Our measures of national, corporate and individual performance need to recognise this.

Duncan Brown
Assistant director-general
CIPD


Avatar
Personnel Today

previous post
Top civil servant in Scotland invites critics to work on shopfloor
next post
Lost in translation: communicating pensions information to employees

You may also like

Adapt culture to hybrid work: do not force...

20 May 2022

Women in FTSE 350 leadership: ‘A lot of...

20 May 2022

Squishy, flabby, foggy HR? Andrew Bartlow talks to...

20 May 2022

Bald move: Tribunal was right in sex-related harassment...

17 May 2022

Maya Forstater: What is a woman?

10 May 2022

Robin Moira White: What is a woman?

10 May 2022

Youth collective to inform Body Shop strategy

6 May 2022

BrewDog boss offers staff a fifth of his...

4 May 2022

Employees drive ESG goals for HR, study claims

4 May 2022

Modern slavery: 10% of companies fail to publish...

26 Apr 2022
  • The Search for Talent: Six Major Employer Pitfalls PROMOTED | The Great Resignation continues unabated...Read more
  • Navigating the widening “Skills Confidence Gap” in 2022, and beyond PROMOTED | Cornerstone OnDemand conducted a global study...Read more
  • Apprenticeships are the solution to your recruitment problems PROMOTED | Apprenticeships have the pulling power...Read more
  • What it really means to be mentally fit PROMOTED | What is mental fitness...Read more
  • How music can help to ease anxiety at work PROMOTED | A lot has happened since March 2020, hasn’t it?...Read more
  • Why now is the time to plug the unhealthy gap PROMOTED | We’ve all heard the term ‘health is wealth’...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2022

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2022 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • Maternity & Paternity
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+