What Hong Kong companies should know about CSR and charities?

My latest post on Hong Kong Magazine. What a coincidence that it was published amid the recent container port workers strike, although I have it wrote and submitted to the publisher a month or two ago.

Company after company, executives in Hong Kong is happily promoting their company’s good citizenship. May it be giving to charities, mobilizing of staff to do voluntary service, partnership with nonprofits in cause marketing campaigns and alike.

But after browsing their websites, reviewing of their press releases and other corporate communications materials that are publicly available, it is not difficult to come to a conclusion that quite a number of such good citizens do mostly or even solely on giving to charities or working with them on something.

So my underlying question is: Has CSR anything to do with charity?

The Economist has recently held an online debate on “CSR has nothing to do with charity”. The debate has now closed. The motion is upheld, with 75% of voters in agreement and 25% against.

Although it may sound a bit unfair and incomplete, the reality is that there are still a portion of executives in town who believe CSR is equivalent to supporting charitable organizations.

For sure, I am not excluding the importance and positive contribution of supporting charities; it is in fact full force CSR programmes go far beyond than just that. Corporate Social Responsibility should be a strategic thing rather than an operational consideration or even facelifting exercise.

In addtion to giving to charities, regardless of money, manpower, material, time, expertise and etc., companies have to review their whole business model and operation to see how and where they can make a positive impact to the society as a whole.

In the highest level of CSR, it is about creating lasting positive impacts on teh society, for example empowering youths through policy reform advocacy, supporting underprivileged families by job creation (in a meaningful way) or investing in developing of renewable and sustainable energy.

However, to achieve so requires huge amount of resources and determination. Since the majority of business entitles in town are SME which might not able to invest so much, they can then consider taking another avenue by working to minimize or eliminate negative impact from their operations, such as reducing pollution output or consumingless of the nature resources.

Alternatively, there are always one easy opportunity by looking inwards in reviewing of their staffs’ well being.

From my observations and discussions with executives over the years, I was convinced that while some companies claim to be responsible companies by making regular donations, they are indeed not paying much attention to its internal community.

A very common scene is that companies pay almost no consideration to their staffs’ health and physical well being.

How many companies have taking into account of the whether the physical environment of the workplace are safe and do no harm to their colleagues, this is particular the case for office workers.

I had once worked for an organization which have regular audit on the lighting, seat, workstation setting and alike of each staff and have them adjusted in case it is likely to hurt their eyesight, backbone and etc.

How many companies, profit making and nonprofit alike; have considered and respected of their staff’s role outside of the office, i.e. being a husband or wife, father and mother of their offspring, being sons and daughters of their parents.

Have companies allow them to perform such role in a meaningful and respectful way?

I am not rallying on legislating of maximum working hour, I am fully aware that there are situations that require long working hours but I’m afraid it shouldn’t become a norm, a must for every single working day.

Give staff some room for breathing will in turn help boosting their productivity.

Another interesting observation is company’s volunteer team or should I label it voluntold (being told to volunteer).

I am not saying all of these teams are no good and I am aware that many companies have their volunteer teams very well organized and structured with very clear strategic directions.

Yet, there are still many employees at other companies participating in their company’s volunteer service just because they were being told (or even instructed) to do so as part of the company’s drive to project a good corporate citizen image.

If staff were being told to do volunteer work on weekends that was against their will, is this something back to the prior argument that their employers are occupying of their family time unnecessarily?

Even with these simple, unadorned examples, one can easily tell that CSR can be nothing to do with charities. Companies can still be good citizens even if they make no donation to charity at all provided they have contribution in other ways.

Of course, being working in the nonprofit sector, I am more than welcome of financial support from companies.

But it worth executives to rethink how they could contribute positively in a boarder and strategic way in social advancement while being a good corporate citizen.