Study Finds Global Spread of CSR

A landmark international study shows more than four out of five organisations in seven countries including Australia are participating in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices.

The CSR practices range from donating to local charities to monitoring global fair labour standards.

The study published this month by the US Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) titled 2007 Corporate Social Responsibility: A Pilot Study, surveyed human resource (HR) professionals in the United States, China, India, Mexico, Brazil Australia and Canada.
Among the findings, HR professionals in Brazil, India, Mexico and Australia were more likely than those from the United States to report that their organisations had formal CSR policies.

Brazilian organizations reported the highest participation rate in CSR practices at 95 percent, compared with the United States at 91 percent.

In the United States, HR professionals cited contributions to society, public relations strategies and employee activism as top drivers. CSR practices are also seen as important to employee loyalty, morale, retention, recruitment and productivity, all of which are key responsibilities of HR professionals.

Other findings include:

– With the exception of respondents from Brazil, the majority of organisations that currently do not have CSR policies have no plans to
create them. Organisations in Brazil are significantly more likely to create CSR policies than those in the United States, Australia, China and Canada.

– Employees in Brazil and India are encouraged to spearhead volunteer programs, with the United States and Australia lagging in this
category.

– China has the lowest percentage for encouraging employees to spearhead CSR programs and Chinese respondents reported the lowest rate of participation in CSR practices and in engaging employees in CSR
programs.

– Over half of the organisations surveyed recognise employee participation in volunteer programs, with the United States leading at 72 percent.

In the United States, Brazil, Australia and Canada, the main obstacles to CSR programs were reported to be cost, unproven benefits and lack of support from senior management.

While the types of CSR practices varied among countries, they did not vary by organisational sector. For-profit public and private companies, Not for Profit organisations and government agencies reported participating in the same types and range of practices.

The 2007 Corporate Social Responsibility: A Pilot Study was conducted by SHRM throughout 2006 with partner organisations in Australia, India, China, Canada, Brazil and Mexico.

The complete study can be found on the organization’s Web site at: www.shrm.org/surveys

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) represents more than 210,000 individual members. It was set up in 1948 to serve human resource management professionals and to advance the profession. SHRM currently has more than 550 affiliated chapters within the United States and members in more than 100 countries.