Recently, while I was sucked deep into the team management activities I did miss one of my favorite pass times – speaking my mind out through blogging. Such are the occasions when some light is thrown on things like job satisfaction. Most motivation factors for a job leads to monetary benefits through various means such as salary fitment, role change, promotion, recognition and awards. But for me, it was to reach a healthy state of affairs. Health, as defined by WHO, is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Similarly in the corporate world, healthy work can be defined as one that gives physical (title change with remuneration, added responsibilities and authority) growth in the company, mental satisfaction for your daily chores and that also provides opportunities to contribute to a better cause for the society. The latter is what I would stress in this blog.
Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR in short, in these days is a very integral part of the business model and a responsibility recognized for acting in a socially responsible manner. However, the question still lies whether these responsibilities are merely window-dressing and whether it reaches the public sphere or is it an attempt to pre-empt the watch dogs over the corporate. I say this because many companies compete within their respective industries in the implementation and effectiveness of CSR policy but most often forget the objective - the impact of those policies on society and the environment, and how customers perceive, in this run. A decade ago, a global survey by Ernst & Young, revealed that 94 percent of companies believed in the development of a CSR strategy to deliver real business benefits. However, ‘m not sure how many corporates would have made significant progress in implementing the strategy since then.
Most companies define their CSR activities by linking their ethical values, legal compliance, and respect for people, community, and environment. A more common approach of CSR is philanthropy, monetary donations and aid given to local organizations and impoverished communities. I personally do not vouch for this approach since it lacks the human touch as it does not help build on the skills of the corporate. For eg: The IT industry should put its knowledge wealth to supplement the formal education and technological advancement for improving interactive teaching tools to the best use. Use of such skills along with people interaction in a community-based development generally leads to more sustainable development.
Through CSR companies can move closer towards people by treating employees fairly, operate in ethical manner in all its business dealings with customers, suppliers, lenders, and others, respect human beings and sustain the environment for future generations. It also urges its employees to be a responsible neighbor in the community and a good ‘corporate citizen’.
But is this urge heard by us? How can we be responsible corporate citizens? What is our contribution to the social cause? These are the thoughts that are currently ringing in my mind. I have decided to contribute to this cause by volunteering for a programme for the under privileged children in the age group of 10 to 12 years currently run by the company I work for. The programme is to educate kids on English through non curricular subjects that emphasize on appreciating nature, health, culture, patriotism, the well being of the community and understanding the fundamental rights while stressing the importance on their curriculum.
It is my wish that my family, friends and colleagues will stand up along with me and help me with their support as they always have. Together let us add the human touch!
