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News
David Woods, 28 Apr 2011
If productivity of the UK workforce went up by just 1%, the economy would save approximately £17 billion, research shows.
A survey of 1,007 UK employees released today by LeapCR, the UK provider of employee engagement software found 57% of employees want their companies to do more towards CSR (corporate social responsibility) and charitable giving. And a significant 63% of UK employees believe that having paid time off during working hours to commit to charitable initiatives would significantly improve employee engagement.
Engaged employees are more likely to perform better, take 3.5 fewer sick days and stay in their company longer than their disengaged colleagues, meaning that there are clear steps companies can take to improve productivity and spend less on replacing staff.
Malcolm Scovil, CEO of LeapCR , said: "This correlation between employee engagement and CSR initiatives can't be ignored by UK employers wanting to increase the productivity of their company. If employers don't get to grips with the expectations of employees then they face punitive recruitment costs and unsatisfactory levels of productivity from a workforce that feels its motivations are being ignored."
The survey also found 49% of UK employees said they were more likely to stay with an employer that encourages its workforce to donate time or raise money for charity within working hours. Three quarters of UK workforce want their employer to balance commercial success with good CSR strategies, including supporting charities (75%).
More than half (52%) of UK employees believe that their employer should do more to encourage charitable giving during working hours and 51% felt companies have a duty to commit to charitable acts and CSR. Μore than one in 10 (15%) of employees would take a significant pay cut to work for a company that has the right attitude towards charities/CSR.
But it was also evident from the survey that UK employers are either not taking CSR seriously or failing to effectively communicate what they are doing to their employees. Just 58% of all employees know if their company has a commitment to CSR and a similar percentage (57%) felt their employer could do more in that area. A lack of communication could mean a high proportion of the workforce is unnecessarily disengaged.
Scovil said: "The reality is that the UK workforce passionately cares about CSR and expects their employer to share that commitment. If employers fail to meet these expectations, either through a lack of CSR initiatives or a failure to communicate what they are doing to their staff, then they will find themselves struggling to remain competitive. "I predict that by the end of this decade, the UK employers that are deemed successful will be those who have faced up to this pressing issue."
5 comments on this article |
Anne-Marie Collins 28 Apr 2011
Great article on the positive impact of company CSR initatives on engagement and it makes absoulte sense for companies to 'give something' back as often many employees in a company have been personally affected or are keen to support the particular charities that mean alot to them. However, my question is how do employers go about choosing which charities and CSR initatives to support? There are so many worthy charities that all mean alot to different people, put as a company how is best to select which ones will be supported? Also, the idea of paid time off for colleagues to volunteer is a great but are companies offering this to specific company charities supported or is it an open offering where by employees can choose which charity they want to volunteer to? CSR has clearly generated interest in recent years but how does your Company operate this policy and choose which CSR strategies to follow?
Felicity McLean 28 Apr 2011
Good afternoon Anne, and good question! On an individual level, LeapCR partners with over 600 charities, so there is enough choice for an employee to find a charity that speaks to them personally. On a companywide level, we have found the following to be 'best practice': 1. Charities are often democratically elected by employees - this ensures employees are emotionally responsive and engaged with the causes they'll be supporting. 2. For 'Charity of the Year' partnerships, LeapCR matches corporate values to a cause, charity or volunteering activity. For example, a company may be especially 'green', or have a global reach but a local conscience. We will brand and value match a company's philanthropic vision and CSR goals to a shortlist of charity partners. Regarding what to 'spend' your volunteering allowance on - the site is loaded with diverse charity generated content - from river clean ups, to mentoring, to reading in schools, to probono support for small charities. Employees can search by activity, by cause, by charity or by the type of skill they wish to develop. A bottom up approach to selecting the 'right' CSR strategy for you company will invariably win. As with employee-selected causes or charities, engaging employees to then act on it is a 'service' we offer alongside the platform's technical features. Thanks for your thoughts Anne.
Bethany Cox 28 Apr 2011
Thanks for this insightful research Leap CR. I would be interested to know how the survey participants were selected. Are they employees who already volunteer through the Leap CR platform and work for companies with an active CSR programme or was there a split with professionals who have not already been engaged in CSR by their employers? I agree with Felicity that an organisation must align its CSR strategy with its values. CSR has to make sense to an organisation and its wider business strategy. It is all well and good for companies to “give something back” (and I thoroughly encourage it) but that “something” should be logical to the business and beneficial to the community. In response to Anne-Marie’s questions, engaging employees in CSR activities can be a challenge when they do not feel involved in the choice of that charity or volunteering activity. However like you say there are so many charities which resonate with different people for different reasons. In my experience companies choose to handle this in various ways. Some organisations support employees who already volunteer by allowing them to use paid leave to take part in these activities. That way each employee can spend the time they are given working for a community group or charity they are passionate about. This is fine for employees who have a passion and drive to volunteer on their own. However, as Leap’s survey shows, others want more support from their employer. In addition volunteering with others can be a fantastic team bonding experience. Some of our clients arrange volunteering days or programmes within the local community for their employees to take part in. In these situations we advise organisations to ensure they understand what motivates their employees (perhaps through an employee survey or focus group) to ensure it is of interest to them. But it is also important to investigate what the need is within the local community and consider the services, skills and value the organisation and its employees could bring. For example if your company supplies IT equipment is there a local community group that could benefit from your company donating a PC or could your employees run IT training classes? Could your employees from your HR department mentor local children who may have left school and are struggling to find a job? Is there a local hospice that is raising money for a new therapy room or to provide more respite care for local families – could you host a fundraising day for them? There is nothing to say which way is right or wrong, it just has to work for your organisation as a whole.
Francois Knuchel 02 May 2011
I realise I'm a layman, but I had always thought CSR was what it says on the label, i.e. the responsibility of a company to society. To me that means that everything a company does should be done in a socially responsible way, i.e. CSR is at the core of everything it does. Yet here CSR is being portrayed as a separate activity of charitability, an tick the box activity on the side. No doubt employees would feel a bit more engaged if they had a say in what charities the company supports, but surely engagement is more than that. It should be about participating in the running of the company, being engaged in the core activities, in the governance in one form or another, or even, at a basic level, just being consulted and listened to. Philanthropy is fine, but it sort of misses the point here.
Diane Hampton 05 May 2011
I think it's a shame that the research only narrowly defined CSR in terms of charitable giving or volunteerism. A broader view of CSR is often taken to mean the extent to which a company is responsible to the stakeholders that it impacts - employees, suppliers, communities where it operates, consumers and the environment. I would be curious to see if there is a relationship between employee engagement, productivity, and the extent to which companies practiced this type of CSR.
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