CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
June 2018
Organizations of all sizes engage in corporate social responsibility not only to improve the company's image, but can you confidently say that your organization's corporate social responsibility strategy furthers the diversity and inclusion strategy?
Corporate Social Responsibility can best be described as an organization's investment in initiatives that improve the environment, people, and the community. The shoe company, Toms, was a trailblazer in corporate social responsibility by donating a pair of shoes for every pair sold. Since Toms entered the market, companies are leveraging the power of corporate social responsibility to further their mission and potentially reach a new and loyal audience. The best part is that the shoes are donated to an underserved population and perfectly compliment the company's commitment to diversity and inclusion.
McKinsey & Company released a report outlining ways to make the most of corporate social responsibility. Most interesting is the different ways companies spend their time, talent, and treasures in the name of the ‘greater good’. Leaders choose projects that fall into one of three categories: their personal passions, the perceived benefit to the organization, or the mutual benefit of the organization and the community. Most projects focus on ways to reduce the organization’s environmental footprint, increase the safety of their employees and products, and do no harm to the communities in which they operate. In most cases, the goal is to lessen the negative impact.
As the workforce continues to expect more and more from billion-dollar corporations, leaders have a unique opportunity to stand out from the crowd by investing their time, talent, and treasures into underserved communities and populations. It’s no longer acceptable for companies to just ‘do no harm’, the expectation is that companies lift up. Some are better at “lifting up” than others. For example, McDonalds does an awesome job of lifting up Hispanic students with their scholarship program; provides free care, resources, and overnight stays for families of sick children; and celebrates black history and people through 365 Black. Kroger is another company that lifts up the communities they serve. Kroger has a program called ‘Honoring Our Heroes’ where they hire veterans and donate money to the United Service Organization; donate 3 million meals a week to local food banks; and donate through their Giving Hope a Hand campaign to find a cure for breast cancer. AT&T was recently recognized because of their citizenship. One of AT&T’s major goals is to decrease the high school dropout rate through a program called AT&T Aspire that ‘creates connections that drive innovation in education.” They bring mobile learning to the classroom, creating mentoring opportunities, and employ strategies that help students graduate.
These organizations are doing corporate social responsibility right! They are serving underserved communities to uplift. They may not consider it under the umbrella of diversity and inclusion, but these initiatives further the strategic mission that diversity and inclusion reminds us of daily. The bar has been set: do no harm and uplift the community. Ask yourself these questions to determine how intertwined your corporate social responsibility initiatives and diversity and inclusion initiatives are.
1. Who decides what projects or initiatives your organization undertakes? As with all business strategies, who is at the table is important! Because corporate social responsibility involves the community, representatives from the community need to be at the table. Many leaders enter a community, from which they have no ties, and try to enact change without understanding what the community needs. This results in community resentment. Instead, leaders need to meet with community representatives to understand what they feel is needed to make their community better. This is a great way to build relationships with communities that may need your services or choose your organization for employment.
2. What communities of people does the project or initiative impact? Localized efforts provide a community with a resource that immediately makes a positive impact. Building a playground, cleaning up a stretch of highway, or planting a community garden are examples of projects that are localized to a community and the turnaround is short. Global efforts break down the systemic barriers that prevent people from living a fruitful life. Providing scholarships, supporting research, and donating to causes are examples of initiatives that may take longer, but positively impact more people. A mixture of both is best. Many organizations adopt global efforts at the corporate level and support associate involvement with localized efforts. Victoria’s Secret supports cancer research from a global perspective through the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center, named after Victoria’s Secret CEO, Leslie Wexner. There are also multiple opportunities for stores to get involved at a local level by partnering with domestic violence shelters on Mother’s Day and Christmas.
3. How often does your organization engage in CSR? One of my previous employers engaged in CSR daily by donating perishable food items to food banks. Other organizations make CSR an annual event. Decide Diversity engages in CSR twice monthly through the local Urban League.
No matter how big or small your organization, corporate social responsibility and diversity and inclusion need to be an intertwined strategy. There’s immense power in joining forces and multiplying impact.What other areas of diversity and inclusion could use a jump start? Complete this short quiz to learn other areas of opportunity!
Organizations of all sizes engage in corporate social responsibility not only to improve the company's image, but can you confidently say that your organization's corporate social responsibility strategy furthers the diversity and inclusion strategy?
Corporate Social Responsibility can best be described as an organization's investment in initiatives that improve the environment, people, and the community. The shoe company, Toms, was a trailblazer in corporate social responsibility by donating a pair of shoes for every pair sold. Since Toms entered the market, companies are leveraging the power of corporate social responsibility to further their mission and potentially reach a new and loyal audience. The best part is that the shoes are donated to an underserved population and perfectly compliment the company's commitment to diversity and inclusion.
McKinsey & Company released a report outlining ways to make the most of corporate social responsibility. Most interesting is the different ways companies spend their time, talent, and treasures in the name of the ‘greater good’. Leaders choose projects that fall into one of three categories: their personal passions, the perceived benefit to the organization, or the mutual benefit of the organization and the community. Most projects focus on ways to reduce the organization’s environmental footprint, increase the safety of their employees and products, and do no harm to the communities in which they operate. In most cases, the goal is to lessen the negative impact.
As the workforce continues to expect more and more from billion-dollar corporations, leaders have a unique opportunity to stand out from the crowd by investing their time, talent, and treasures into underserved communities and populations. It’s no longer acceptable for companies to just ‘do no harm’, the expectation is that companies lift up. Some are better at “lifting up” than others. For example, McDonalds does an awesome job of lifting up Hispanic students with their scholarship program; provides free care, resources, and overnight stays for families of sick children; and celebrates black history and people through 365 Black. Kroger is another company that lifts up the communities they serve. Kroger has a program called ‘Honoring Our Heroes’ where they hire veterans and donate money to the United Service Organization; donate 3 million meals a week to local food banks; and donate through their Giving Hope a Hand campaign to find a cure for breast cancer. AT&T was recently recognized because of their citizenship. One of AT&T’s major goals is to decrease the high school dropout rate through a program called AT&T Aspire that ‘creates connections that drive innovation in education.” They bring mobile learning to the classroom, creating mentoring opportunities, and employ strategies that help students graduate.
These organizations are doing corporate social responsibility right! They are serving underserved communities to uplift. They may not consider it under the umbrella of diversity and inclusion, but these initiatives further the strategic mission that diversity and inclusion reminds us of daily. The bar has been set: do no harm and uplift the community. Ask yourself these questions to determine how intertwined your corporate social responsibility initiatives and diversity and inclusion initiatives are.
1. Who decides what projects or initiatives your organization undertakes? As with all business strategies, who is at the table is important! Because corporate social responsibility involves the community, representatives from the community need to be at the table. Many leaders enter a community, from which they have no ties, and try to enact change without understanding what the community needs. This results in community resentment. Instead, leaders need to meet with community representatives to understand what they feel is needed to make their community better. This is a great way to build relationships with communities that may need your services or choose your organization for employment.
2. What communities of people does the project or initiative impact? Localized efforts provide a community with a resource that immediately makes a positive impact. Building a playground, cleaning up a stretch of highway, or planting a community garden are examples of projects that are localized to a community and the turnaround is short. Global efforts break down the systemic barriers that prevent people from living a fruitful life. Providing scholarships, supporting research, and donating to causes are examples of initiatives that may take longer, but positively impact more people. A mixture of both is best. Many organizations adopt global efforts at the corporate level and support associate involvement with localized efforts. Victoria’s Secret supports cancer research from a global perspective through the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center, named after Victoria’s Secret CEO, Leslie Wexner. There are also multiple opportunities for stores to get involved at a local level by partnering with domestic violence shelters on Mother’s Day and Christmas.
3. How often does your organization engage in CSR? One of my previous employers engaged in CSR daily by donating perishable food items to food banks. Other organizations make CSR an annual event. Decide Diversity engages in CSR twice monthly through the local Urban League.
No matter how big or small your organization, corporate social responsibility and diversity and inclusion need to be an intertwined strategy. There’s immense power in joining forces and multiplying impact.What other areas of diversity and inclusion could use a jump start? Complete this short quiz to learn other areas of opportunity!
Continue the conversation at the Network of Intersectional Leaders!
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