The report into how CSR investment can help tackle the UK’s unemployment crisis was launched on Tuesday at the House of Lords by Working Links and ex-Morrisons HRD Norman Pickavance (pictured).
“Employers are trying to fix tarnished reputations and toxic cultures,” Pickavance told HR magazine. “They need to reconnect with the communities that they work in.”
The Responsible Employer report, which surveyed 200 HR and CSR managers in businesses of all sizes, found that UK businesses overwhelmingly consider it their duty to help the UK address economic (90%) and societal (81%) challenges. But while 76% of employers say that environment and sustainability is their top CSR priority, only 12% say that recruiting from disadvantaged groups is high on the CSR agenda.
The biggest barrier to actively recruiting from disadvantaged groups is that employers fear they will have difficulty finding people with the right skills (70%). And 35% of employers say they find it difficult to make vacancy appeals targeting people from disadvantaged groups.
With 84% of companies already engaged in green CSR activities, Working Links is calling on companies to consider turning their CSR agendas away from green initiatives and towards employability programmes.
“Helping the most disadvantaged needs to move from the bottom of the CSR agenda to the top,” Pickavance told HR. “It needs to be core to the business and HR talent agenda and not just window dressing.”
Working Links chairman Millie Banerjee said: “Customers expect companies to be ‘green’ but employability as a component of their CSR agenda has the ability to make an immediate difference in the communities in which businesses operate and differentiate competitors.
“Businesses must not underestimate the power of initiatives that help people into work. The pleasure people get from helping someone change their life is enormous and this translates into building a motivated, loyal workforce.”
