Given the choice of hunting for a job or giving up coffee for a year, I think sacrificing coffee would win by a small margin.
There are enjoyable pieces of job hunting, don’t get me wrong, but much of it is time-consuming and stressful. For that reason, good human resources (HR) personnel are lifesavers: people who know their job and do it oh so well. This post is for you, quality humans.
While corporate social responsibility (CSR) doesn’t always (or even often) fall to HR to direct, it can be a powerful tool when used well. Here are four ways to leverage and evaluate your company’s social responsibility programme as an HR tool.
1. Building Recruitment Pipeline
One way to shorten increasingly longer hiring processes is by building out a recruitment pipeline. Your CSR programme can be a way to deepen the pipeline of prospective candidates by attracting positive attention for your company. CSR platforms can also be a resource for data around employee engagement and satisfaction. Given the right tools, it can even empower your employees to share stories of impact themselves.
Checkpoint: Does your current CSR programme add to the tools you use to recruit great hires?
2. Navigating Changing Demographics
With millennials as the largest generation in the workforce and Gen Z following closely behind, employers continue to wrestle with how to best hire and retain them. There are a lot of floating opinions, but one consistent suggestion is to demonstrate authenticity and offer employees a chance to make a difference for good. A robust CSR programme, including giving and volunteering opportunities, is one way to attract and retain younger employees.
Checkpoint: Do your CSR efforts appeal to the types of candidates you are trying to recruit and retain? If not, what’s missing?
3. Setting Culture from the Top and Bottom
A CSR programme that lets individuals choose how they want to make an impact provides a simple way to get employee buy-in at all levels of your company. You see what your employees care about, your employees feel heard while seeing your top-level executives committed to doing good, and you can adjust your recruiting and engagement tactics accordingly.
Checkpoint: Does your CSR programme enable all employees to participate and feel empowered?
4. Unify Scattered Teams
With many companies adopting increasingly flexible work environments including remote employees, changing project teams, and variable hours, CSR can help your team feel unified. Choose a common focus on causes, nonprofits, and giving or volunteering goals. Celebrate one another’s achievements and humanize employees who may not be physically together while highlighting individual interests at the same time. A good CSR programme can achieve common purpose while also allowing choice as needed.
Checkpoint: Is your CSR programme a blend of common purpose and individual choice?
This is an exciting time for HR to take a leadership role in corporate social responsibility. Don’t waste any time: add to your tool belt for finding and keeping the best employees by maximizing your CSR programme today.
By Elizabeth Smith. This article appeared on flexible work environments.