HR Manager Responsibilities: Does CSR Fall Under Their Role?

What is the scope of an HR manager? Does CSR come under HR activity?

Please reply.

Dear Friends,

CSR is a part of HR management, and HR managers have to provide resources and guidelines to top management to contribute to the organizational profit for the welfare of society at large. CSR stands for Corporate Social Responsibilities.

Regards,
Shailendra

Dear Shailendra,

CSR does not come under the scope of HR Management. There is no reason why someone should even think that CSR could come under HR unless people think HR is the only department that has plenty of time to take on any additional workload. HR, like any other department, is aligned with the company's business goals and has no free time to do social service. If CSR is important to the company, then they can create a CSR department. Few companies have done that. Don't be carried away by the visibility (or CEO's attention or your initial image as a social architect) you may get within the organization by taking CSR under the HR fold.

If your company still insists on pushing CSR into the HR purview, then ask for an exclusive infrastructure and executive manpower for doing that job.

CSR is a serious business. You need someone doing it as a full-time job. Otherwise, you may get a bad name for not doing it properly. Also, your other HR priorities will suffer, and you may earn a bad name in your primary area of responsibility as well.

People may say that HR should go beyond the organization and touch society, serve society, and so on. Such philosophies advocated do not compliment HR well. Such talks only mean that HR contributions are not measurable. While other departments can boast of their tangible contributions, HR should take on any non-related job thrust upon it by the CEO to compensate for the intangibility of its contributions.

If you want to take CSR into your scope, then:

1. Don't take it for the initial good image you may get inside or outside the company.

2. Check whether you are really inclined in terms of aptitude for CSR. Aptitude for HR does not automatically mean the same for CSR.

3. Ask for infrastructure for CSR and also an exclusive budget.

4. Ask for an exclusive executive subordinate for doing the job. Do not accept any volunteer from your department if he/she is expecting a promotion for doing CSR.

5. Assume that your involvement is only for start-up activities and gradually CSR should become a separate department if possible and if CSR really becomes serious in your company.

6. Also, check if your CEO wants to do CSR with a real intention of doing it for a good cause or just to show off. Your decisions and actions should depend on this main factor. But, even if your CEO wants to do it just for the sake of image, you should do it seriously once you undertake it. Your CEO would appreciate that.

7. Do not expect a promotion/mileage for doing CSR as an additional responsibility. Use that as a good experience for improving your HR competencies and internal social outlook.

8. Do not accept any additional remuneration for doing the CSR job, even if it is offered.

Jeev.

Thank you very much for the information.

Could you please tell me about the responsibilities of an HR manager apart from recruitment, training, goal setting, appraisals, and compensation? Does manpower allocation department (or resource management) come under the domain of HR? Is it a subgroup of HR???

Please reply

Hey, I had a presentation on CSR-Infosys. I am attaching my PowerPoint presentation for you.

Well.

There could be different views about the HR's role in CSR.

When I gave my opinion, my presumption was that your company does not consider the employees as a small society, part of and representing the big society they come from. Many companies are not clear about what is CSR.

Manpower allocation on day-to-day basis is not HR's role.

HR has to prepare manpower budget after analysing the manpower needs of the company with forecasts and once the budget is frozen you should stick to the budget. The budget allocation must be done by HR in consultation with other dept.heads and CEO's approval. Once that is done, you have to see the manpower adequacy is there as per the budget agreed and approved.

HR Manager's role depends on company. The role generally includes -

1.Recruitment and Selection

2.Induction of employees.

3.Manpower Planning (This, of course, precedes recruitment.)

4.HRIS - Human Resource Information Systems.

5.Compensation Management and Payroll.

6.PMS (Perfroamnce Management Systems).

7.Training and Development.

8.Career Planning and Management.

9.Employee Relations. (Industrial Relations - Management, Union Relations.)

10.Employee Welfare and Services.

11.Statutory Compliance in HR area.

The following could be part of HR Manager's job depending on the organization -

1.Facilty Management / Administrative Services (Travels, Security, Office Equipments etc.)

2. Events Management

3.Organizational Development (Here I mean special focussed efforts by engaging OD specialists.)

etc.

I am also giving hereunder few views of others about HR's role in CSR. These articles are from Management Issues News, UK.

Jeev

Article1: CSR is all talk

''The majority of employees feel betrayed by employers who talk the talk when it comes to corporate values but fail to deliver on their rhetoric, according to Business in the Community.A survey of 1,000 employees across Britain carried out in partnership with the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) and the Future Work Institute found that more than half of employees (55 per cent) complain that the recruitment spiel about values and Corporate Social Responsibility which helped attract them to their employer is never actually implemented.The findings come just days after business think tank Tomorrow's Company warned that the CSR bandwagon is in danger of becoming a compliance-led ‘box-ticking exercise' in which real conviction gets lost amid a mass of reporting frameworks, jargon and corporate structures.

The BUPA-sponsored BITC report, 'Responsibility: driving innovation, inspiring employees' found that an increasingly socially-aware workforce wants to see the organisation's values practised throughout the business - from corporate social responsibility through HR to products and services.Employees are convinced that a talented and diverse workforce enhances creativity and innovation and contributes to increased focus on customers, improving competitive edge.The BITC findings reflect a growing trend for employees to be much more discerning about who they work for. Earlier this year, an online poll by Select Appointment found that more than three-quarters of people would not choose to work for an organisation that was considered to have unethical products and services.

Crucially, employees identified high-quality, inspiring, visible and connected leadership as being crucial in influencing the extent to which an organisation lives its values. But the majority said that their own management did not rate highly in this regard.The BITC says that organisations seeking to translate responsible practice into improved bottom line results should listed to what employees identify as the characteristics of a responsible employer.According to staff, these include treating individuals fairly and responding to the changing needs of individual employees over time, providing good quality products or services, listening to employees and understanding the importance of values.Six out of ten identified work-life balance issues, listening and acting on employee ideas, developing potential and promoting on merit as being signs of a good employer. But only four out of ten said that their own employer met their expectations in these areas.It also emerges that attitudes to responsible business practice evolve as peoples' careers develop. The financial package is the more important aspect in deciding on an employer, particularly for younger recruits, but once in employment, sharing the employer's values becomes crucial to staying with the organisation."

Article 2:HR minus CSR = PR

HR practitioners have a crucial role to play in embedding a responsible approach to business in which employers 'live' company values rather than pay lip service to CSR. According to Corporate Social Responsibility and HR's Role, a new report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), effective implementation of HR policies on employee consultation, diversity, fair treatment and work-life balance are fundamental to projecting the image of a responsible employer.

HR departments are responsible for many of the key systems and processes, including recruitment, training and communications, on which effective delivery of CSR initiatives depends.

Mike Emmott, Head of Employee Relations and the report's author, said that CSR must start with getting the relationship with employees right. Without this, it is unlikely that the organisation will be able to discharge convincingly its obligations to the wider community.

'In our view, CSR minus HR equals PR,' he said. 'Research evidence shows that employees have relatively high levels of trust in their line manager but very low levels of trust in senior management. HR practices are heavily underpinned by ethical beliefs so good HR is the obvious basis for building trust levels across the organisation and providing a solid foundation for CSR.

'HR can give substance to company aspirations to be - and be seen to be - a good employer by championing policies on diversity, work-life balance, employee involvement and training and development,' he continued.

'Successful practices of this kind not only build credibility and trust with customers and employees but have other positive effects such as improved recruitment and retention rates.'



Article 3: CSR must be part of HR agenda

A new paper from people management experts, The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), argues that if it is to be credible, corporate social responsibility (CSR) must be positioned as a strategic issue for organisations – and human resources specialists need to be closely involved. Mike Emmott, CIPD Employee Relations adviser and the author of the latest issue of Perspectives says that HR professionals need to play a key role in supporting corporate social responsibility initiatives by developing effective people management practices.

Says Emmott, 'Despite being increasingly critical to business performance in many sectors, CSR remains of marginal interest to the HR profession. In fact the HR department is ideally placed to develop an organisation's approach to CSR, which must involve promoting trust-based relationships with employees as well as other stakeholders. CSR does not change, but it certainly broadens, the HR agenda.

The paper says that the way a company treats its employees will contribute directly to how willing it is to accept its wider responsibilities. Emmott says that the challenge of CSR for organisations goes much wider than undertaking some non-commercial activities in the hope of improving corporate image. 'CSR requires management to address strategic issues about the aims, purposes and operational methods of the organisation. It has little time for departmental boundaries and means taking a holistic view. It is not simply a matter for the public affairs department.'

Key points in the report: ·

If employees don't see the point of CSR initiatives, or understand the message, initiatives are unlikely to be effective. ·

People are increasingly hoping to align their personal values with corporate ones - they want to feel a deeper sense of motivation than has previously been understood in business. ·

The credibility of CSR is dependent on delivery - not on rhetoric. HR is responsible for many of the key systems and process (e.g. recruitment, training and communication) on which effective delivery depends. ·

HR has a role in ensuring that corporate policies are effectively implemented and applied. ·

It should also monitor the practical application of corporate culture and values and engage with issues about corporate governance, risk management and employer brand – all of which impinge heavily on CSR.

Article 4: CEO's slow to learn the CSR lesson

Only three out of ten companies have a CSR strategy, according to new research, and more than ten per cent don't even know what CSR is.Despite all the damage done the recent spate of corporate scandals, business leaders still appear not to have grasped that they are losing the confidence of their communities and customers.

A new report on corporate social responsibility (CSR) by the Work Foundation shows that, despite the advantages of CSR in generating public trust, almost six out of ten (58 per cent) of the 277 organisations surveyed have no strategy for social responsibility or corporate citizenship. Of these, a third (32 per cent) say they have never thought of a CSR strategy; just under a third (27 per cent) say it is not a business priority, and 13 per cent have never even heard of CSR.

Moreover only three out of ten of responding companies currently have a CSR strategy, with a further 11 per cent planning one in the future. Most organisations also seem to think that the value of strategic CSR mainly lies in PR.

An overwhelming 82 per cent of those with or planning a CSR strategy saying that they see it as important for creating a positive public image. This reinforces the claims of NGOs who argue that CSR is predominantly corporate spin. However CSR strategies are also seen as important to building relationships with stakeholders (76 per cent) and giving something back to the community (68 per cent). Theo Blackwell, policy specialist at The Work Foundation, says: 'The number of organisations currently lacking a strategic approach to CSR indicates that social responsibility is often, or has often been, seen as an ad hoc activity rather than a strategic priority.

A socially responsibly approach needs to be more than an 'add-on' if it is to deliver benefits to an organisation and its stakeholders.' Most respondents who did have some form of CSR policy don't know if their organisation uses or will use any recognized system or standard to manage its impact.More encouragingly, director-level commitment is an overwhelming feature of respondents whose organisations are active in CSR in some way, whether strategically or not. In 88 per cent of these CSR activity was driven at director level in some way.

Within organisations, responsibility for CSR is more often linked with corporate governance or human resources, and is largely devolved through the management line. In 27 per cent of organisations that are active in CSR, prime responsibility for its implementation lies with the HR team. Only 17 per cent have a dedicated social responsibility team.

Hi,

The PDF file attached suggests that CSR is the job of the PR - Public Relations Officer.

Jeev

The engagement of CSR

Defining engagement

To clear up the confusion let's define engagement as “a personal state of authentic involvement, contribution and ownership”.

A policy engages a person or a team when they actively support it and promote it to others. Engaged employees may sell the idea of participation in a program just by their enthusiasm for it. They take ownership of the policy and its rollout then contribute ideas readily or without prompting. They may also be quick to sign up for any policy functions or activities. A policy engages an organisation when this behaviour occurs at many levels.

Why use CSR policies as examples of engagement?

In engaging organisational power brokers, champions of a corporate social responsibility (CSR) program can face greater challenges than promoters of other people policies.

An HR initiative, while removing staff from the frontline of the business and costing some dollars, often has identifiable, if not tangible business benefits such as an enthused and better trained workforce for example. Unlike HR, the concept of a corporation's responsibility to the community is relatively new. Acceptance can be particularly difficult if the community partner has no direct connection with the corporate business at hand or the focus of an organisation is a lean bottom line. In some cases the benefits of a CSR policy may be less obvious and only apparent when the program has been in place for some time.

Introducing CSR at Cisco, Lend Lease and AGL

Cisco, Lend Lease and AGL are three very different organisations with one thing in common: they have successfully introduced CSR policies and achieved this through fully engaging the organisation.

Global IT services provider Cisco launched its program in partnership with the Smith Family. Property developer Lend Lease has a staff volunteer Community Day, now running globally. Energy provider AGL has recently introduced its ‘Energy for Life' program, which encompasses employee volunteering, matched donations to a selection of approved charities, ‘Warmth in Winter' where AGL pays the energy bills for shelters for the homeless, and ‘Energy Matters' which uses energy efficiency know-how for the benefit of employees, customers and the community.

How to engage the audience

While the best staff want to be engaged, there are some elements a program must offer its audience in order to be successful.

Both management and promoters of the program need to be knowledgeable and support it. Staff must see benefits for their performance, their career and the company's performance. A program can be engaging if it's a forum for ideas and more so if those ideas are acknowledged, if not carried through. It also needs to provide challenge and tasks outside participants'comfort level, depending on the program.

Lend Lease's Community Day offers most of these elements. Each project has a coordinator who organises staff and is given a budget to manage for the day. Community Day projects also offer employees opportunities to work in other areas and take up more challenging roles. Melissa Vieusseux explains by how the day empowers staff by example: “One time the staff were painting a cubbyhouse that they designed and built and the media came out and approached a manager for a quote. The manager directed them to the staff member who had organised the day. Speaking to the media is something this person wouldn't normally do.”

As teams span different departments and levels, the result is often better communication and teamwork. Vieusseux sees the benefits of the program as relationship building and a great leveller. On any one project “you can find a senior manager asking an IT staff member, ‘What do I do now?'”

She quotes an email from a participant as being typical of staff feedback: “I've been with the company for six years and remember every single project. I've met new people and the day after Community Day, there's always a bit of a buzz – a sense of what we can do when people pull together.”

Engaging at multiple points

Cisco, Lend Lease and AGL have adopted a multi-contact approach as an effective way of communicating their activities.

Cisco's Scope believed it was possible to organise 150 hamper packers with one email, as many employees have worked on Smith Family tasks. “It's a matrix of relationships. The head of sales has links with The Smith Family in Victoria. The CEO of Cisco has a strong relationship with the CEO of The Smith Family and different business units have interconnecting relationships.”

AGL uses multiple contact points for its volunteering and donating program. “We have a champions' network,” Bentley says. “There are 80 champions in the program scattered across the country, who provide updates, information and opportunities to staff.”

Lend Lease also used a coordinator's approach. “Initially there was confusion about the meaning of the program,” Vieusseux found. “We then selected teams of coordinators who explained what our intention was and that we wanted people to pick projects. Now the day is part of the culture and there is no need to explain.”

This article is copied from the URL: http://www.humanresourcesmagazine.co...0&Category=903

Try this YRL to get full article.

Regards,

Prachi.

Scope of HR Manager:

Human Resources encompasses five areas: benefits, compensation, employment and employee relations, human resources information systems, and training and development.

The scope of human resources management background spans 15+ years and the entire HR function from talent acquisition and retention, corporate merger integration, staffing, benefits, employee relations, training and development, succession planning, performance management, and productivity improvement within diverse global corporate environments. I am adept at achieving strategic results in complex, changing work environments and offer proven abilities in high-pressure or crisis situations (e.g., 9/11, 8/03 utility blackout, terminating senior executives, etc.). I have developed and implemented global job descriptions and performance management systems, improved tiers of communications across domestic and international conglomerates, and developed severance, retention and termination plans upon major M&A initiatives.

Human Resources Director Requirements

Broad knowledge and experience in employment law, compensation, organizational planning, organization development, employee relations, safety, and training and development.

Above-average oral and written communication skills.

Excellent interpersonal and coaching skills.

Demonstrated ability to lead and develop Human Resources staff members.

Demonstrated ability to serve as a successful participant on the executive management team that provides company leadership and direction.

Demonstrated ability to interact effectively with the company Board of Directors.

Excellent computer skills in a Microsoft Windows environment. Must include Excel and skills in database management and record-keeping.

General knowledge of various employment laws and practices.

Experience in the administration of benefits and compensation programs and other Human Resources programs.

Evidence of the practice of a high level of confidentiality.

Excellent organizational skills.

Education and Experience

Minimum of a Bachelor's degree or equivalent in Human Resources, Business, Organization Development.

Ten plus years of progressive leadership experience in Human Resources positions.

Specialized training in employment law, compensation, organizational planning, organization development, employee relations, safety, training, preventive labor relations, preferred.

Active affiliation with appropriate Human Resources networks and organizations and ongoing community involvement, preferred.

Possess ongoing affiliations with leaders in successful companies and organizations that practice effective Human Resources Management.

Work Environment

While performing the responsibilities of the Human Resources Director's job, these work environment characteristics are representative of the environment the Human Resources Director will encounter. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable people with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the Human Resources Director's job.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally exposed to moving mechanical parts and vehicles. The noise level in the work environment is usually quiet to moderate.

Conclusion

This job description is intended to convey information essential to understanding the scope of the Human Resources Director's position and it is not intended to be an exhaustive list of skills, efforts, duties, responsibilities, or working conditions associated with the position.

Hope it will help you.

Chalo Bye

Take care

Prachi

Dear Axmohan,

I have gone through an article and am posting the same below. I hope it will be useful for you.

The future of the HRD manager, in my view, should be:

Business-driven:

Being business-driven does not necessarily mean working only in profit-oriented organizations. The distinction between profit and non-profit organizations is becoming thinner over time. Non-profit organizations are becoming profit-oriented, and profit-oriented organizations are becoming philanthropic. Regardless of the organization one works for, the HRD manager should be driven by the business, purpose, or activities for which the organization was set up. When I say business-driven, I mean being single-mindedly concerned with the goals and missions of the organization. The HRD manager should become a partner in the business or a shareholder of the dreams of the founders and others who have set up the organization. Without a single-minded devotion to the goals and mission of the organization, HRD managers cannot do perfect justice to their role.

The following is a checklist of indicators of the extent to which an individual is business-driven:

- Short-term and long-term awareness of the goals of the organization.
- Feeling an integral part of the mission and vision of the organization.
- Awareness of all products and services of the organization.
- Understanding the financial details of the organization, including where the income or money is coming from and where it is going. Being able to read the balance sheet of the organization.
- Awareness of the technology used by the organization, its various functions, departments, SBUs, etc. If it is an NGO, the pedagogy used, methods of intervention used, philosophy, etc. If it is an educational institution, various methods of learning forms, including online learning, distance education, etc., and its location in world trends.
- Understanding the costs of technology and finance.
- Knowledge of sources of technology and costs.
- Awareness of the future potential for business and the organization's market share or contributions to society.
- Awareness of the future market potential of the organization.

Research-driven:

Even if HRD managers do not undertake research themselves, they should be willing to base their judgments and strategies on scientific inquiry and research findings. Research can make a significant difference.

- Knowing research and its potential in providing the right kind of answers.
- Using research as a strategic tool to enhance the output of human resources.
- Using research to motivate and develop competencies of people.
- Using research to identify human capacity enablers, change management tools, and the efficiency and effectiveness of individuals, roles, teams, and the organization.

Process-sensitive:

An HRD manager should be aware of internal processes and mechanisms. Internal processes may include work organization, organizational structure, functionalities, dysfunctional ties, etc. Being sensitive to the processes and their costs as well as benefits is crucial.

- Awareness of how tasks are allocated.
- Understanding people processes and their strengths and weaknesses.
- Understanding the character of the organization.
- Awareness of the internal structure.
- Awareness of how similar organizations are structured.
- Understanding the process and process dynamics.
- Knowledge of organizational structures and their positive and negative consequences.
- Sensitivity to process dynamics.
- Awareness of conflicts and their sources.
- Understanding how structures interact with people and produce dynamics.
- Understanding the meaning of synergies and how synergies can be built.
- Understanding how the organization conducts its business and the culture of the organization.
- Awareness of norm values and other internal processes.
- Understanding how the organization functions.

Systems-driven:

Being highly systematic and believing in systems as strengths is essential. Understanding the limitations of systems, especially people systems, and appreciating their utility is important. Viewing systems as enhancing predictability and controllers of costs and overheads is crucial for organizational effectiveness.

- Promoting all systems.
- Appreciating the need for HRD systems and understanding a variety of systems dealing with other functions and their advantages: TQM, ISO, MIS, SAP, ERP, HRIS, Financial Information Systems, etc.
- Thinking positively about systems and their use.

Strategic thinker:

Being aware of company strategies, participating in strategy formulation, thinking long-term for the company, and understanding best practices in different functions and in different companies globally in related businesses are key aspects of being a strategic thinker.

HRD Managers as CEOs:

Good HRD managers are potential future CEOs for various reasons outlined below.

1. Competent people and thereby HRD being the driver of future organizations in all sectors.
2. In any corporation, HRD and Finance and Accounts are two functions that flow through every part of the organization.
3. Past experiences of HR people successfully managing corporations have indicated this.

If HRD managers aspiring to be CEOs belong to category 1, they should be business partners, change managers, system-driven people, and above all, people with leadership qualities (trustworthy, vision-driven, value-driven, transparent, etc.).

CEOs as HRD Managers:

A corollary to the above is that all CEOs need to become HRD managers to be successful. Several Indian CEOs have demonstrated this.

Evolution of HR Role:

| Mid-1990's | Mid-2000's | Evolution of Thinking |
| -- | -- | -- |
| Employee champion | Employee advocate (EA), human capital (HC) developer | Employees are increasingly critical to the success of organizations. EA focuses on today's employee; HC developer focuses on how employees prepare for the future. |
| Administrative expert | Functional expert | HR practices are central to HR value. Some HR practices are delivered through administrative efficiency (such as technology), and others through policies, menus, and interventions, expanding the "functional expert" role. |
| Change agent | Strategic partner | Being a strategic partner has multiple dimensions: business expert, change agent, knowledge manager, and consultant. Being a change agent represents only part of the strategic partner role. |
| Strategic Partner | Strategic Partner | As above. |
| Leader | Leader | The sum of the first four roles equals leadership, but being an HR leader also has implications for leading the HR function, collaborating with other functions, ensuring corporate governance, and monitoring the HR community. |

I hope this information proves beneficial to you.

Best regards