The role of the HR leader in CSR
CSR will remain a lofty ideal with no practical impact if organisational leaders do not take responsibility for
its implementation. As with other strategic aspects of organisations, CSR planning and implementation is
often a joint effort of leaders in many roles, including the HR leader. In this week�s Collaboration, you
will continue your discussion on the nature and value of CSR, expanding your dialogue on the role of HR
professionals in CSR.
a)Search for examples of CSR online and for additional scholarly research on CSR, focusing on the role
of HR.
b)Critically analysing the CSR-related HRM practices of organisations with which you are familiar or which
you have researched online.
c)Synthesising general lessons about the HR leader�s role in, and responsibility for, promoting, planning
for and implementing CSR
d)Discussing the ability of CSR to enable HR leaders to address ethical and cultural issues within an
organisation
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The role of the HR leader in CSR
As the function of human resource department in a company continues to expand and
human resource personnel become more entrenched in the business strategy in many
organizations across the United Kingdom, CSR can have considerable implications for the HR
profession. In this paper, a discussion of the role of the human resource (HR) professionals in
corporate social responsibility (CSR) is provided. A critical analysis of the CSR-related human
resource management practices of organizations in the aviation industry is also provided.
Moreover, this paper discusses the general lessons about the role of the HR in, and responsibility
for, promoting, planning for, and implementing CSR as well as the ability of CSR to enable HR
leaders to address both cultural and ethical issues within an organization.
Cohen, Taylor & Camen (2011, p. 15) pointed out that the commitment of an
organization to CSR is a component of both customer brand and the employment brand. Human
resource professionals have embraced it and use it as a tool when retaining existing talent or
recruiting new talent to the company. HR departments play a vital role in making sure that the
organization adopts CSR programs. In addition, the human resource department can manage the
corporate social responsibility plan implementation and proactively monitor its espousal, whilst
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noting and celebrating its success in the organization (Preuss, Haunschild & Matten 2009, p.
973).
Successful corporate social responsibility calls for a clearly expressed mission statement,
vision, as well as values. The human resource leader could endorse or initiate the upgrading or
development of a values, mission, and vision foundation if one is lacking or if it exists but does
not address corporate social responsibility in an explicit manner (Cohen, Taylor & Camen 2011,
p. 16). For the foundation to foster alignment, it should include elements of CSR or
sustainability. Where a corporate social responsibility ethic is yet to take hold, the HR leader
could support the need and opportunity for a mission, vision, and a set of values for the company
and explain the way it could add return on investment to the company; that is, why this can be a
good people strategy and a good business strategy at the same time (Guerci et al. 2015, p. 328).
The HR leader can inform the organization’s board and senior executives about the opportunity
and what it means and the reason why it actually makes good business sense. In essence, these
are the initial steps to building corporate social responsibility into the DNA of the company and
into the strategic and operating framework of the company (Voegtling & Greenwood 2013, p.
66).
The moment the mission, vision, and values framework is clear, the company is now set
to take on the development of its corporate social responsibility strategy. At this stage, the HR
leader’s role is of major importance to every step. HR professionals have a significant people
perspective to contribute and they would be involved in the implementation of the main
measures (Morgeson et al. 2011, p. 287). In organizations in which corporate social
responsibility is housed within the HR department, the HR leader has a central role in the
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development of CSR strategy. The HRM manager is a strategic partner in the company; hence he
or she can assist in driving the formulation of the corporate social responsibility strategy.
Lis (2012, p. 282) stated that not every business organization has the resources –
personnel, time, and money – to funnel corporate social responsibility programs. Nonetheless,
these CSR initiatives may not be costly or may not necessitate a commitment of too much time.
Companies which are interested in corporate social responsibility can decide to begin with small
projects which demonstrate their dedication to the community and their staffs. Human resource
managers could address a challenge such as this one by considering various options and coming
up with ingenious approaches to Corporate Social Responsibility to present to their organization.
For instance, they can consider partnering with other companies such as a co-sponsor (Mankelow
2008, p. 2177). Thus, the HR leadership as the company’s ears and eyes is critical to the
corporate social responsibility equation. It is notable that through properly-managed policies,
programs, and practices, HR has the opportunity of engaging the company’s top management
and the company’s stakeholders in the value of CSR. It can do this by focusing on employee
relations, community relations, communications, safety, and health to offer their companies a
competitive advantage. Lis (2012, p. 291) stated that HR managers can influence 3 key CSR
standards – community involvement, employment practices, and ethics – which relate either in
an indirect or direct way to the local community, clients/customers, or staff members. By taking
into consideration these 3 corporate social responsibility standards, HR managers can then
recognize their company’s CSR stage prior to making decisions to develop and carry out
corporate social responsibility initiatives.
An example of the critical role of the HR leader in CSR in the aviation industry is as
regards Air Greenland. Air Greenland takes CSR very seriously. This airline is committed to
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creating a common value for the company and the society in everything it does. As such, Air
Greenland chose to call its Corporate Social Responsibility approach We bring Greenland
forward (Air Greenland 2013). With viability, reputation, and at times survival of the
organization at stake, the HR leadership at Air Greenland undertook the critical role of
spearheading the development as well as strategic execution of corporate social responsibility
throughout the company and promoting sound corporate citizenship. Air Greenland understands
that a fundamental barrier to Greenland’s development is the lack of skills and competencies (Air
Greenland 2013). For that reason, this airline is actually committed to developing competence
throughout the organization as well as to supporting education more generally outside the
organization. Moreover, this airline is committed to skills and competence development of its
staffs in a balance between the staffs own wishes and the needs of the airline (Air Greenland
2013). In this regard, the HR department at Air Greenland manages the corporate social
responsibility plan execution and the HR leader proactively monitors its adoption, whilst noting
and celebrating its success organization wide.
CSR initiatives and programs are able to enable HR leaders to address ethical and cultural
issues within an organization. As part of HR initiatives related to ensuring the inclusion of
employees from diverse cultures, HR managers would recruit and employ individuals of
different cultural backgrounds. HR leaders are also vital in the development and implementation
of ethical practices and standards in dealings with every stakeholder of the organization. HR
leaders explicitly communicate the organization’s commitment to ethical conduct and ensure that
all employees strictly uphold ethical conduct in the organization (Preuss, Haunschild & Matten
2009, p. 962).
Conclusion
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To sum up, HR departments in many organizations play an imperative role in making
sure that their organizations adopt corporate social responsibility initiatives. The HR manager is
a strategic partner in the business organization and can be of assistance in driving the
development of the corporate social responsibility strategy. Through properly-managed policies,
programs, and practices, the HR leader can engage the company executives and stakeholders in
the value of Corporate Social Responsibility for instance focusing on worker relations,
community relations, communications, safety, and even health so as to offer their firms a
competitive advantage in the marketplace.
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References
Air Greenland 2013, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Policy for Air Greenland. Retrieved
from https://www.airgreenland.com/media/522581/corporate-social-responsibility-
policy-air-greenland-signatures.pdf
Cohen, E., Taylor, S., & Camen, MM 2011, HR’s Role in Corporate Social Responsibility and
Sustainability. Coventry, England: Cengage Learning.
Guerci, M, Radaelli, G, Siletti, E, Cirella, S, & Rami Shani, A 2015, ‘The Impact of Human
Resource Management Practices and Corporate Sustainability on Organizational
Ethical Climates: An Employee Perspective’, Journal Of Business Ethics, 126, 2, pp.
325-342, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 6 February 2015.
Lis, B 2012, ‘The Relevance of Corporate Social Responsibility for a Sustainable Human
Resource Management: An Analysis of Organizational Attractiveness as a Determinant
in Employees’ Selection of a (Potential) Employer’, Management Revue, 23, 3, pp. 279-
295, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 6 February 2015.
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Mankelow, G 2008, ‘Social responsibility paradox of small business human resource
management practices’, International Journal Of Human Resource Management, 19,
12, pp. 2171-2181, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 6 February 2015.
Morgeson, F, Aguinis, H, Waldman, D, Siegel, D, Kraimer, M, Takeuchi, R, & Frese, M 2011,
‘Special Issue Call for Papers: Corporate Social Responsibility and Human Resource
Management/Organizational Behavior’, Personnel Psychology, 64, 1, pp. 283-288,
Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 6 February 2015.
Preuss, L, Haunschild, A, & Matten, D 2009, ‘The rise of CSR: implications for HRM and
employee representation’, International Journal Of Human Resource Management, 20,
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Voegtling, C., & Greenwood, M 2013, CSR AND HRM: A Review and Conceptual Analysis.
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