CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

WHAT ROLE FOR HUMAN RESOURCE?

ALI M. DIRANI
School of Management
University of Southampton
Southampton, UK, SO17 1BJ
Email: a.el-dirany@soton.ac.uk

DIMA R. JAMALI
School of Business
American University of Beirut
Beirut, Lebanon
Email: dj00@aub.edu.lb

MELANIE ASHLEIGH
School of Management
University of Southampton
Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK.
Email: mja@soton.ac.uk

ABSTRACT
Corporations across the world are under immense pressure from different stakeholders
in home and host countries to show that their business activities and operations stand
for more than maximizing the corporate shareholders’ profits and private welfare. The
main challenge in this context is how corporations integrate the principles of
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) with their business strategies and practices and
work for the general societal welfare, with the credibility of CSR depending primarily
on actual implementation and deliverables. This paper argues that the Human
Resource (HR) function can play a critical role in embedding CSR within
corporations through employee communication and engagement, diversity
management and community relationships. The paper highlights the growing
important interfaces between HR and CSR, and captures the roles that HR can assume
in implementing CSR.

WHY HR?
The role of corporations is changing as the societal context where they operate is
becoming more complex and rapidly evolving. Corporations have to take into account
core social issues that go beyond their profit making scope and legal compliance and
therefore act in response to the growing pressures, demands and expectations of
different stakeholder groups or individuals. They are increasingly required to take
account of the impact of their activities on the society and environment, and thus
foster the notion of CSR and align its initiatives with their business objectives
(Andriof and Waddock, 2002, Dawkins and Lewis, 2003, Porter and Kramer, 2006).
This quest implies that corporations need to behave and act according to social,
environmental and ethical standards and show profound commitment and dedication
to develop and implement CSR-related strategies and programs. Nevertheless, an
important issue that corporations need to be aware of is that CSR is no more simply
an activity practiced for solely for public relation and marketing objectives, or a
peripheral commitment by corporations towards the society, environment and
stakeholders’ needs as disclosed in reports or stakeholder statements. Instead, CSR is
a change to actions and attitudes and the success of CSR depends on process, people,
coordination, communication and change management (Hopkins, 2004). The central
underlying notion is that CSR needs to be embedded in business practices and actions,
or it risks being constrained and defined by purely financial performance indicators
and communication purposes.

Parallel to the development in the field of CSR, HR is already involved in

communicating organizational objectives, implementing managerial policies and
managing changes and stakeholder relations. HR is increasingly being responsible for
many of the key management systems, approaches and processes in departmental and
stakeholder context (change management, health and safety, recruitment, training and
development, communications) upon which the effective delivery of organizational
strategies and objectives depends (Ulrich, 1997, Redington, 2005). Also, mandatory
HR attention is given to social, environmental and ethical concerns and
responsibilities (Paauwe, 2004, Schoemaker, Nijhof, and Jonker, 2006). Under this
umbrella, HR is expected to show strong commitment to individual and organizational
development and high concern with ethics, sustainability and environmental concerns
(soft model) (Fenwick and Bierema, 2008, Legge, 2005, Ehnert, 2009). HR as a
function is dedicated to implement the vision and mission of the organization, and HR
people have the relevant knowledge and skills in relation to organisational learning,
communication and engagement knowledge and culture change.

Drawing on this overview, we feel that CSR and HR are strongly connected, and that
previous literature has fallen short in capturing the nature and essence of this
relationship. HR’s expertise and knowledge in executing organizational strategies,
managing the change, maintaining the business efficiency and engaging stakeholders
complete the action and operational dimensions of CSR. For instance, the HR
function as a strategic partner helps in designing a systematic and practical guidance
for implementing CSR strategies. While previous literature fails to capture the
valuable roles and contributions of HR to CSR, this paper takes an integrated view of
both concepts in an attempt to explore how HR contributes to a successful CSR
strategy through employee communication and engagement, diversity management
and community relationships (Petrova, 2007).

CSR-HR INTERFACES
The framework presented in Figure 1 summarizes example of three CSR-HR
interfaces: employee communication and engagement, diversity management and
community relationships. What is clear in Figure 1 is that HR can play a crucial
mediating role in bridging the gap between CSR objectives and plans, and actual
implementation and outcomes at the level of employee engagement, diversity
management and community development. The quicker HR gets involved and
accepts responsibility the easier it will be to achieve aspired goals set out for CSR,
which also should in theory complement HR priorities as outlined above. There is
little doubt that the involvement of HR is both timely and needed and can make a real
difference in terms of enhancing the success of CSR plans and aspirations. It is a real
challenge for HR to deal with complexities related to employee management,
diversity management and community relationship. However, HR’s leadership and
contribution to CSR can help address these complexities and develop creative
potential interventions and approaches.
 Figure 1- HR-CSR Interfaces
Employee
Engagement

Community
Relationships
Corporate Social Human
Responsibility Diversity
Resource
Management

The CSR framework and mediating HR role outlined above correspond closely in turn
to the recent characterization of HR as an agent of change within changing HR
priorities and agendas (Ulrich, 1997). As an agent of change, HR must go beyond
designing and delivering HR processes efficiently, to focus on managing employee
contribution, fostering employee commitment, managing culture, and increasing
strategic fit and integration. These new roles of HR are increasingly advocated in the
Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) literature (Schuler and Jackson,
2006, Wright and McMahan, 1999). HR managers must therefore show genuine
leadership, and gain credibility, through creativeness, sensitivity, trustworthiness and
equal attention to the needs of internal and external stakeholders in the framework of
a holistic approach that is concerned with the total interest of the business (Boxall and
Purcell, 2000). The three interfaces discussed above become most relevant therefore
in the context of a more organic and strategic HR orientation. In the process, HR
needs to define what it actually means to be strategic.

A recent pilot study conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management
(SHRM) in 2007 on the role of HR in CSR in the United States, Australia, India,
China, Canada, Mexico and Brazil concludes that HR should be more involved in
implementing CSR strategies than in creating them (SHRM, 2007). HR managers are
able to align CSR strategies with organizational business practices and management
systems by communicating the organization’s CSR strategy. HR can engage
employees in CSR through enhancing their contributions to socially responsible
programs and initiatives inside and outside the organization (employee volunteering
programs). As they become more of a strategic partner in organizational business
plans, HR managers will play a larger role in CSR from strategy and conception
formulation to execution and application.

HR is gaining worldwide value as a business tool and social effort. It is becoming

more and more an important part of the corporate brand. Thus, HR managers are
invited to become more involved in CSR initiatives (Ehnert, 2006, Ehnert, 2009,
Fenwick and Bierema, 2008, Schramm, 2006, Zappala, 2004). Accordingly, the
growing role for HR managers in promoting social behaviour may lead to the
expansion of the HR role in promoting at the same CSR. Therefore, HR managers
should determine the limits, responsibility or otherwise, of CSR core values and
beliefs. They should especially consider how these limits will affect employees, the
organization and the wider community. We believe however as presented above that
these limits are gradually expanding, and that accordingly HR will have a more
prominent role to assume in different aspects of the o but also importantly in relation
to CSR and the three critical areas of 1) employee contribution, 2) diversity
management and 3) community relationships.

CONCLUSION
Based on the review presented in this paper, it is clear therefore that there are
important synergies between CSR principles / initiatives and HR. HR is concerned
with elaborating, promoting and strengthening the CSR philosophy within the
workplace and aligning those in turn with community needs and aspirations. The role,
voice and expertise of HR are important in setting the tone for the CSR agenda and
putting it in the spotlight. The real challenge for many organizations going forward is
to further embed the role of HR in CSR. Findings in this paper suggest that good HR
practices facilitate and lubricate effective CSR initiatives. CSR is knocking on the
door and it is for HR to answer the call or miss the opportunity.

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