Educating the new fleet of CSR responsibles

CSR is here to stay.

It can look different depending on your company

Having someone who knows all about CSR and can help follow through on the promises the organisation makes shouldn’t be underestimated

So, the question is: Who wears the CSR hat in your company?

We have gathered four scenarios for what CSR responsibility could look like.

#1 CSR as an add-on

This scenario is the most common right now.

One employee (perhaps without any existing knowledge or prior experience) takes on the CSR responsibility while keeping his or her other tasks and responsibilities.

A dual role so to speak.

The strength of this is, first and foremost, that CSR is given attention, and that someone is at least trying to keep tabs on what’s going on.

That said, a dual role can be very time-consuming and stressful, and no matter how skilled an employee is, no one can know everything about a company and CSR.

#2 CSR as a full-time job

In the second scenario, one person works full-time with CSR alone.

We see this more and more in the industry.

It’s great that it is acknowledged that CSR is important and time consuming enough for a full-time role.

Now, one person can give all their attention to CSR.

Cooperation with other employees is inevitable, though, since CSR includes all aspects of a company – and as we mentioned above, who knows about everything in a company?

But, if no one else knows anything about CSR, cooperating with other employees can be very difficult.

#3 CSR as a joint effort

The third scenario includes multiple, if not all, employees.

Here, CSR is a part of everyone’s job.

This means everyone would have to think about CSR when doing their work, and everyone knows what role their position plays in reaching the company’s goals.

The good thing is that CSR will be put high on the agenda.

But it requires a lot of resources – for example training everyone of the areas and issues within their given field (yes, everyone).

Furthermore, who makes sure to keep everyone organised and working towards the same goals?

 

#4 CSR as cooperation

The last scenario is a mix of #2 and #3.

Here, one employee is responsible for CSR but cooperates with employees from other departments by giving them different CSR tasks to do.

CSR will get a lot of attention and be put high on the agenda – and that is very good.

As an add-on for the other employees, it can be very time-consuming, though.

Hopefully, someday, everyone will learn the most responsible practices within their field, and make sure their actions support a sustainable development.

#5 CSR as hired help

Of course, we cannot NOT mention a solution such as our own.

As CSR experts, we see ourselves as the secret fifth solution.

Reaching out to CSR experts and consultants can help get things started and implemented.

Not to mention that we can help train employees in managing CSR, so they can handle it themselves in the future.

If you need more specific help, we also offer subscription-based consulting services.

Don’t hesitate to reach out!