Employee demand for responsible business driving CSR, Robert Half study finds

A new report released today by specialist finance and accounting recruitment firm Robert Half and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) reveals that employee power is the real driving force behind the corporate responsibility agenda in the UK today.

The study of UK senior executives, titled ëCorporate Responsibility and the Modern Business Leaderí, found that:

Employees expect the business that they work for to adopt a like-minded approach to the environment, community welfare, sustainability, employee diversity and work/life balance.

Younger employees are more concerned with their employerís corporate responsibility activities than ever before.

Senior managers agreed that staff often drive the corporate social responsibility programme ëfrom the ground upí, particularly within SMEs.

Organisations have responded to corporate social responsibility demands as a way to retain good people and foster a positive culture.

Phil Sheridan, UK Managing Director of Robert Half, said: ìTodayís employees want to work for socially responsible organisations and will hold their organisations to account if they do not deliver on this. Companies that implement effective corporate responsibility practices enjoy very real and tangible business benefits in terms of employee morale, motivation and ultimately retention.î

The report was compiled following a series of executive roundtable discussions earlier this year on the role of corporate responsibility in UK business. Over 60 senior level executives from large international organisations and small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) attended the roundtables which were hosted by Robert Half and the ICAEW, and held in Cambridge, Bristol, Edinburgh and Oxford.

Creating value through corporate responsibility
The report also found that corporate responsibility and good citizenship are increasingly important to a successful business, and can be directly linked to shareholder value. Senior managers who participated in the roundtables were in agreement that investments in environmentally friendly products and business technologies create shareholder value. In fact, a growing philanthropic mindset amongst business leaders, customers and suppliers is prompting organisations to adopt formal corporate social responsibility programmes.

Robin Fieth, Executive Director for Finance and Operations at the ICAEW said, ìCompanies create value for their owners and are not there to act as charities or quasi-government organisations. However, leading businesses have long recognised that social and corporate responsibility delivers real commercial benefits. As society increasingly recognises the need for a world that is sustainable, consumers and shareholders will, in my view, attach a premium to those groups with the best corporate responsibility records.î

Environment
Executives agreed that the environment plays an important role for business leaders wanting to engage in meaningful corporate responsibility policies. Climate change and sustainability were cited as the main factors influencing environmental considerations, but the type of industry and geography in which a company operates also impacts the remit of corporate responsibility undertaken.

Senior managers from manufacturing, building and utilities companies reported having a much more formal corporate responsibility approach around areas of health and safety and environmental issues. Professional services firms, on the other hand, whilst acknowledging the same areas for concern, were more likely to formulate corporate responsibility policy around employee welfare, work-life balance, charitable contributions, reductions in carbon emissions and recycling.

Role of government in CSR
The majority of business leaders felt that the government should lead by example, and not through legislation which could be potentially damaging to business. Executives were of the overwhelming opinion that governments should provide the tools and guidance for corporations and industry to manage their corporate responsibility initiatives effectively, but allow businesses to manage their programmes with little or no interference from government. The prospect of over legislation in the area was seen as potentially damaging, particularly in relation to small business where the burden of regulation could seriously impede business operations.

Other key findings:
Investment or cost - most executives felt that corporate responsibility was not high enough on the agenda for shareholders in publicly listed companies, and would drop off if shareholders felt it negatively effected the share price. However, short-term investments could lead to medium and long-term cuts in operating costs which made sense, but some charitable activities, although important, were still seen as being a cost.

Measurement ñ participants felt that there was a strong demand for a standardised approach to measuring and reporting corporate responsibility activities to facilitate benchmarking.

Effective communication ñ effective communication of the companyís corporate responsibilities was found to be important in order to have the required cultural impact on employees, customers and suppliers.