Corporate Social Responsibility – hot or not?

Text | Natalia Jaskólska

It became evident, especially with current perturbations related to COVID-19 situation, that the situation on the recruitment market has changed and companies outdo one another to obtain the attention of the candidate – especially those who represent so called niche profiles.

The task to attract experts in their fields is currently even more challenging as with globally changing situation, some of us took a step back and reflected on what are the values they’d like to see implemented by the employer. Variety of reports have shown that candidates currently put on the first place not only their remuneration expectations but also work-life balance… and company’s social responsibility. What is CSR, what impact it has on the employer branding and how to make sure it is implemented in proper way within the organization? Is it essential or perhaps it’s yet another trend that will fade over time?

By Corporate Social Responsibility we understand a concept according to which company focuses not only on its own interests and the growth, but also on the problems of society. Some organizations perceive CSR as a tool for PR strategy which aims to warm up the company's image. However, for this concept to be meaningful and appreciated in the eyes of the current or potential employees, it should be conscientiously implemented according to a specific strategy.

Apart from building positive perception on the market, social responsibility actions, incorporated into the employer branding communication, have positive impact upon recruitment and talent management. Looking at some data provided by IBD Business School report, not only it reduces turnover up to 28%, but also the overall cost of hire and speeds up the time to hire due to the fact that candidates prefer to join companies with sustainable principles.

As person responsible for recruitment and employer branding, I always believe that theory is one aspect but it’s always worth confronting it with the reality, hence I decided to conduct my own analysis. During the recruitment and interviewing process, I asked 10 candidates how essential for them are company’s CSR principles. 9 out of 10 candidates have replied that they are more attracted to organizations where social responsibility is actively communicated. 50% of my respondents declared that they wouldn’t work for a company with a poor sustainability reputation – even for a pay increase. I think it’s not a coincidence! Social responsibility is definitely an additional value in terms of employer branding, but it also translates well into other aspects of the organization – the frequency of using company’s services, drawing the attention of potential investors, clients’ loyalty – the list of advantages is long, one only needs to ensure that the proposed strategy is not generating the reverse effect that is greenwashing. How to do so? In my view, the most important pillar relates to communicating the social responsibility promises that can be realistically achieved. Even if the company is not able to start with great initiatives, local market is packed with companies that started circulation, or turning off the power after work). Thanks to such activities, the company not only minimizes its negative impact on the environment, but also saves funds. The above also proves that social responsibility is not only reserved for international, large companies – small businesses could also work on it.

By Corporate Social Responsibility we understand a concept according to which company focuses not only on its own interests and the growth, but also ontheproblems of society.

simple and have successfully attracted the audience. Looking at the recent FOB Report "Responsible Business in Poland. Good practices” one can observe some good practices in the field of social in volvement, social campaigns or educational campaigns. Many companies run employee volunteering programs, often letting employees choose the initiative and selection of topics in which they would like to engage. There is also a cyclical increase in pro-ecological activities through the implementation of simple actions like eco-office (i.e. waste segregation in the office, double-sided printing on ecological paper, minimizing printouts and relying on virtual document

Last but not least, it is also worth mentioning that CSR can be also a part of fun! I would like to bring here some example from my working experience. As a part of our company’s employer branding strategy, we have decided to set up habitats for insects to help them find the shelter for winter season as well as a place to lay eggs. As a part of the action we engaged our workers in the decision making process and finally, we ran a competition which task was to guess the locations of the insect houses and make photos of them. Simple, but how effective and engaging! What I’m also really proud of it that it’s not the one-time action in this field organized by our organization. Nature clean-up action, ecological workshops, counting steps challenge to reduce CO2 emission are some of numerous actions arranged by our Forever Chocolate team responsible for raising the spirit of ecology in our company.

CSR is still a fresh topic within Polish companies, however more and more of them are convinced that overall the concept is valuable and worth implementing. I hope the above text will convince more of us to bring it to the action!

Author

Natalia Jaskólska | Talent Acquisition andEmployer Branding Specialist, Barry Callebaut