Professional Documents
Culture Documents
What
Financial companies operate very much in the public eye, bringing great opportunities but equally lots of responsibilities. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is nothing new for this sector, but recent events, environmental and economic, have thrust financial companies into the spotlight. More than ever, employers need to be open in their activities and be seen to be operating and behaving ethically and fostering links within communities. The feeling among companies in todays fragile world is that commercial success and responsibility can live side by side. This culture of behaving responsibly has resulted in companies investing heavily in financial education, community and environmental projects.
Similar careers
Human resources Learning and development Marketing and communications
Salary
Administrative and support roles start at approximately 15,000 per annum. With the right experience, qualifications and skills you could progress to management roles and earn in excess of 60,000 per annum. This does not include potential bonuses or additional benefits. Salaries will vary considerably based on location and employer.
Tasks
Working in partnership with community groups Co-ordinating volunteer activities and events, drumming up support and persuading employee participation Presenting to CSR stakeholders, selling the business case of a CSR programme Negotiating and overseeing sponsorship deals and other educational or environmental partnerships Organising educational workshops to coach CSR champions across the business Promoting activities undertaken, both to the media and to other stakeholders Setting up forums where employees can share ideas Measuring the uptake and outcomes of CSR campaigns Looking at investments making sure they are socially and ethically responsible
Skills
Excellent interpersonal skills Creative marketers Business insight and commercial awareness Adaptability and empathy Strong leaders and team players but also self-starters able to work with minimal supervision Integrity and open minded Persuasive and self-confident presenters, able to sell in business cases Understanding of different educational, human rights and sustainability issues Well-developed communication skills, both verbally and in writing Influential, with political and environmental awareness
Entry qualifications
People move into CSR work from all sorts of professions. Many also combine it with other day-to-day duties. Any marketing, PR, internal communication or HR experience can be helpful. Most CSR teams are quite small and recruit candidates with relevant experience. Some come into the role after working in marketing, communications or HR. However, as a relatively new job role, teams do require a rich mix of people and skills and in the larger firms CSR teams may have administration and support jobs. When looking for jobs, its also essential to note that many CSR roles may not be titled as this. However, a wide variety of jobs reflect key aspects of CSR activities undertaken. A degree that is relevant to CSR might be useful but you also need to have the business knowledge to back it up, which will allow you to see the whole picture. Because the CSR field is new, there are no set academic entry requirements. Communication and budgeting are often big features of the job. In order to gain an entry level position, employers will look for people who have: A Levels, Scottish Highers or equivalent qualifications such as Business, Administration and Finance (BAF) Diploma, BTEC National Diploma, Welsh Baccalaureate (BAC), SVQ Level 3 and Higher National Certificate (SCQF Level 7) Experience of environmental management, ethical finance, marketing and HR hold much value with employers. However, qualifications in CSR are becoming available at Masters degree level, which may prove useful.