Social Responsibility.........Politics

Politics, it seems to me, for years, or all too long, has been concerned with right or left instead of right or wrong.  ~Richard Armour

Be socially responsible and you could win the political battle! A politician claims to be the True Social Professional, isn't it? His Profession is Social Responsibility.

Politics is defined as the Science and Art of Government. But the real meaning of politics is 'Welfare of the State'. Incidentally, the fundamental of Social Responsibility is also Welfare of the State and its Resources.

Why then is Politics termed as being 'Dirty'? This dilemma evolves primarily because of the state has multiple stakeholders. As a Politician, it is his / her duty to satisfy the needs of all these stakeholders. But, we forget....there is a scarcity of Resources not of needs, wants and demands.

It is this balancing act, that the politician is challenged by! In the struggle to satisfy all the stakeholders Politics becomes dirty. Because someone,somewhere will always be unhappy.

Even CSR Professionals in the Corporate face the same challenges. How do you balance the Needs of all the Stakeholders.

Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other.  ~Oscar Ameringer

CSR without HR

We HR folks seem to have found a new opportunity to be free riders of a new concept.......CSR.
For long now the HR has always been termed to have no impact on the bottom-line. Although this perception is has seen a sea change.

But as soon as CSR was termed to be a concept targeted at the Bottom-line, we HR folks were quick to pounce on the opportunity; and term CSR as a forte of the HR! We are the specialists of CSR!

The reality is that an organization is designed to take care of each of its stakeholders.

• Marketing: Customers 
• Human Resources: Employees
• Finance: Shareholders

The list could be a huge one. But the point to be noted is, every stakeholder is taken care of; the degree may differ.Why should CSR be part of the HR Portfolio? If CSR is related to all stakeholders, why should all the functions of an organization not be equally involved?

One of the arguments may be that CSR is not a concept, it is a culture. Yes I agree, but then cultures are built together not by standalone portfolios. It is the team that wins a game not the individual or key players.

We HR folks need to realize that HR is just another facilitator of CSR, like any other function in the organization. Let every department's, every function's, every role and every individuals portfolio include CSR.

Time Dollars as Strategy for CSR

"Any amount of volunteering makes an impact in ways that we can’t even imagine." -Jake Albersheim-Carter

The concept of Time Dollars has been successfully implemented in more than 22 countries as a strategy for social change. It is a form of barter system. A member earns credits in his Time Bank for every hour of community service. The member earns it by doing something for someone in the community. In exchange for the credits earned the member can purchase any item available at the retail store.
 
The corporates can strategically use this concept to build and promote their CSR initiatives with their internal as well as external stakeholders. If True Social Impact is critical to CSR initiatives, then the stakeholder involvement, commitment and engagement is mandatory.

The imperative of ensuring the highest possible impact is particularly great when there exists an intervention linked to precious entities such as Time or Money! Once the commitment of these precious resources is ensured, the process of CSR implementation becomes much simpler.

"Community service is important to me because I believe that people have a responsibility to provide support for one another. " --Gilian Rappaport