4. CONTENTSJUNE 2015 VOLUME 19 ISSUE 1
28 Inculcating the CSR ethos
To ensure the credibility of corporate social responsibility
programs, it is important to embed the CSR culture within
a company's and employees' mindset.
32 CSR: In letter & spirit
An organization which has its vision and strategy hinging
on philanthropic and CSS agenda exudes much more
positive imagery in terms of internal and external employer
branding and able to attract and retain more number of
employees besides securing the long-term commitment of
existing employees.
36 Aligning the millennials in the CSR
movement
Millennials feel strongly about the society that they live in
and will not shy away from working to make it better. The
key is to engage them, understand their perspective and
design high impact CSR programs on a sustained basis.
38 Building synergies: C-suite to CSR
CSR as an agenda can prove to be truly transformational
for the companies and the community in the country.
Strong leadership from the CEO and the Board can ensure
that good intentions are translated into action and results
and result in societal transformation.
10 The people dimension
When a company has a diverse, ethically-grounded and
socially-conscious workforce, CSR gets coded into its
DNA. Building such a workforce is the best and the most
sustainable contribution an HR team can make towards
realizing the CSR vision of a company.
14 Weaving CSR into your talent strategy
Integrating CSR within the HCM strategy makes an
organization's career offerings that much richer. It is a
much richer view of career as one that seamlessly spans
the organization and the world beyond. That would be
truly enriching.
18 Building the strategic connection
What makes a CSR platform truly effective and sustainable,
is when employees themselves drive the philanthropy,
volunteering their time, talent and treasure to contribute.
And, HR plays a critical role in driving employees towards
this noble cause.
22 Building sustainable sensitivity an HR
agenda
HR can play a significant role in CSR by contributing in
subtle but crucial ways by providing key insights into the
congruence of all aspects of management and facilitating
collaboration with a broad range of stakeholders.
26 Revisiting the role of HR in CSR
In CSR, the Human Resources function should contribute
in building a socially conscious organization. However, it
also has a crucial role to play in creating the right
environment within the organization to make CSR efforts
flourish.
50 Championing CSR initiatives
The benefits of an effective CSR approach to an organization
are multidimensional. Realizing this, companies have started
proactively investing in CSR so as to build an engaging
work culture and instill a sense of contributing to a cause
much larger than the individual.
54 Developing a CSR strategy
An effective CSR strategy creates employee engagement,
innovation, and collaboration. Therefore, it is critical that
organizations focus on how to build an effective CSR
strategy that focuses on truly co-creating value for the
business and society.
I ROLE OF HR IN CSR
II THE SHIFTING FOCUS TOWARDS CSR
www.humancapitalonline.com ■4 N June 2015
5. 58 Beautiful beginnings at L'Oreal
Human Capital in conversation with Mohit James, Director-
HR, L'Oréal India on Corporate Social Responsibility and
how it's a way of life making it a thrilling adventure at
L'Oreal. He delves into how companies should take up
CSR as a method of giving back to the people.
60 Lighting lives with Schneider Electric
Human Capital in conversation with Rachna Mukherjee,
Chief HR, Schneider Electric India on what CSR really
means for Schneider Electric, its commitment to help
people change their lives by providing access to energy
and support when it is most needed and what are some
of the key challenges that CSR is facing in the Indian
business context.
64 Aligning Gen-Y with CSR
Gen-Y are considered to be the most socially conscious of
the generations who believe in being part of a workforce
where they can make a larger impact. They believe an
organization is more than an organization and are excited
in knowing that their employer is taking an active role in
improving the communities and society as a whole.
66 Sustainability through employee
engagement
Corporations globally have realised that sustainability must
now be a part of core business strategy. While the attitude
towards social spends has been well accepted, the
challenges are around approach. This is where HSBC
differentiates itself with a focus on 'sustainability'.
70 Value creation for the community
The principal focus and areas of expertise of HR
professionals include organizational process, cultural
stewardship and change management. The HR function
should take a leading role in developing and implementing
CSR and sustainability strategy.
74 JK Paper - Caring for the society and
environment
JK Paper is committed to take forward its CSR initiatives
through building on what has been achieved so far and
taking up new initiatives. Focussed on five key areas such
as education, health care, skill development, livelihood
interventions and environment, JK Paper is playing the
right note.
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78 Tata Motors: Setting examples in
exemplary work
The underlining philosophy of Tata Motor's CSR program
is 'More from Less for More', which implies striving to
achieve greater outputs, outcomes and impacts of the
programs by judicious utilization resources and by forging
synergetic partnerships for benefiting more lives.
80 Spinning the invisible web of 'goodness'
Tata Power believes that 'goodness' is a powerful thing.
For over a hundred years, Tata Power has been an intricate
part of India's growth story, aiming beyond its own growth
and development to promote and sustain the communities
at large, spreading infinite invisible goodness through a
number of outreach and green initiatives.
84 Beyond just cheque- signing philanthropy
CSR is an on-going journey that requires people to be put
before profits. The need to engage in sustainable practices
is no longer a choice but an imperative. What is good for
society is good for business.
8. www.humancapitalonline.com ■8 N June 2015
F
CSR - More questions
than answers
BY DILEEP RANJEKAR
rom Chamba (in
Uttarakhand) to Dehradun
- I was discussing the issue
of Corporate Social
Responsibility regulations and the
reasons for the inertness of most
corporate organizations in spending
it for the right purpose - with my
colleague who is very knowledgeable
on this subject.
There seems to be significant
reluctance / resistance / inertia on
the part of the corporate
organizations to spend this money
which raises several questions in my
mind.
1. Why this reluctance?
2. Don't the organizations see
enormous opportunity to build
their genuine brand around such
huge funds that are just two per
cent of their profit after tax?
3. Why aren't the business
organizations not realizing their
social responsibility?
4. Why don't they invest in building
talent around Corporate Social
Responsibility?
5. Why is it that most of them feel
like doing Corporate Social
Responsibility through their
family members - whereas they
are busy choosing some of the
top talent for their other business
lines? I must clarify that I have
nothing against the family
members running Corporate
Social Responsibility - provided
they are competent to do so
meaningfully and approach it in
a professional manner.
6. Why do the organizations choose
to make disproportionate noise -
as compared to the actual on the
ground work
7. Why do most organizations find
it difficult to choose the area of
work as well as the geography in
which they should operate?
8. Why are the organizations
thinking more about "how to
escape the Corporate Social
Responsibility related provisions
without breaking the law"?
I can continue.
In a nation that is so dearth on large
scale philanthropy (as compared to
several countries like the US, Japan,
Netherland, Sweden, Switzerland,
etc.), the Indian Government bringing
in such a legislation could be a real
boon for India.
Other than the legendary work
done by the Tatas over the past two
centuries and the more recent
example of Azim Premji personally
allocating (irrevocably) over Rs 30,000
crore of his wealth towards
philanthropy, we have very few
genuine examples of large scale
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
philanthropy in India. Of course, I
am excluding those cases where
organizations and individuals have
contributed to temples except where
such temples are performing socially
committed work.
If the Corporate Social
Responsibility rule has to be taken
seriously, the top 100 corporates will
be required to spend approximately
Rs 3000 crores per annum. If you
expand this list to top 500
corporates, the amount would be a
whopping Rs 9000 crore per annum.
And if all business organizations
decided to spend the required
amount - it would probably cross
some Rs 20000 crore per annum.
Considering that these amounts are
available on annual basis, this would
be a significant addition to the
development of economy each year.
Consider this - the total budget
of the Government of India towards
mid-day meal program (for about
12 crore children) is approximately
Rs 2700 crore per annum. Or, if one
additional toilet has to be constructed
(at the cost of Rs 50,000 per school)
in all 14 lakh schools, the one-time
budget needed is Rs 7000 crore.
You can therefore imagine the
huge amounts that are available at
just 2 per cent of the total profit
after tax.
9. www.humancapitalonline.com■ June 2015 N 9
While the corporates have no
hesitation in splurging money on the
travel, salaries and benefits or their
employees or on hefty dividend for
their shareholders, it is not clear to
me as to why there is so much
reluctance in allocating just two per
cent of the profits for the cause of
general society.
Needless to say that there are
many organizations that are seriously
thinking about launching Corporate
Social Responsibility initiatives but
need directions on how best to do
this. A good beginning would be to
choose a few talented individuals
who could be assigned dedicated
responsibility for this subject. They
need to understand the deeper issues
that plague the society and also
educate their top management on
the same.
I have a strong feeling that the
employees in general would be very
excited to participate in the efforts
of the organization to do something
socially relevant. The Government
has identified specific areas in which
the funds could be utilized and it
covers a wide range of issues.
The corporate employees
constitute almost 20 per cent of our
population that has
disproportionately benefitted as a
result of economic liberalization and
globalization. They have the
responsibility to think about the part
of the society that has been left out.
The drive must begin at individual
level. What it means is - a senior
manager earning a compensation of
Rs 1 crore per annum must spend
Rs 2 lacs per annum in supporting a
socially relevant cause - that can even
include taking care of the education
and health of the family of the driver
or the domestic help at their home.
Or a person earning Rs 25 lacs
spending Rs 50,000 per annum on
similar causes.
If the mindset of individual
employees undergoes a dramatic
change, they are bound to influence
the organizational decisions for more
effective Corporate Social
Responsibility.
Dileep Ranjekar, Chief Executive Officer
of Azim Premji Foundation, is also a
passionate student of human
behaviour. He can be contacted at
dkr@azimpremjifoundation.org.
DileepRanjekar
Chief Executive Officer
Azim Premji Foundation
10. www.humancapitalonline.com ■10 N June 2015
T
When a company has a diverse, ethically-grounded and
socially-conscious workforce, CSR gets coded into its
DNA. Building such a workforce is the best and the most
sustainable contribution an HR team can make towards
realizing the CSR vision of a company.
he concept of Corporate
Social Responsibility (CSR)
goes back a long way in
history both in the Indian
and global context. In ancient times,
traders and businessmen carried the
burden of the welfare of the people
on their shoulders to some extent,
the real onus of course resting on
the royalty. The concept of CSR was
largely synonymous with
philanthropy those days and it
continued to be so for a very long
time. Only in the modern times did
the thinking undergo a fundamental
shift and a more rational approach
to CSR began to emerge. Our
current understanding of CSR is best
captured by the United Nations
Industrial Development Organization
(UNIDO) definition of it: "Corporate
social responsibility is a management
concept whereby companies
integrate social and environmental
concerns in their business operations
and interactions with their
stakeholders. CSR is generally
understood as being the way through
which a company achieves a balance
ROLE OF HR IN CSRI
The people
dimension
of economic, environmental and
social imperatives (Triple-Bottom-
Line Approach), while at the same
time addressing the expectations of
shareholders and stakeholders."
It is interesting to note that all
along the various phases of evolution
of CSR it has remained a voluntary
activity quite distinct from legally
mandated corporate governance. In
India, this was sought to change with
the introduction of the Companies
Act 2013. While one may debate the
efficacy of CSR through legislation,
there is no doubt that the Act has
made companies to look at their CSR
activities with greater strategic focus
and clarity of vision. CSR now is an
end-to-end process starting with
vision and strategy, passing through
resource allocation and
implementation, and seeing closure
in assessment and reporting. It is not
difficult to see the need for the right
people with the right set of skills at
each stage of this process, in order
to build a credible and effective CSR
focus in the organization.
It is worthwhile to look at the
BY SUDHEESH VENKATESH & VISHNUPRIYA BOSE
11. www.humancapitalonline.com■ June 2015 N 11
conventional CSR umbrella, we are
an organization of relatively
significant scale working in the social
sector. Sharing some learning from
our journey so far may help in
contextualizing the above examples
with some specificity.
The need to live by example
While working in the education
domain, the Azim Premji
Foundation is committed to a vision
of a just, equitable, humane and
sustainable society. A society as
envisioned in the Preamble to the
Constitution of India. Our values,
beliefs and culture resonate strongly
with these ideals, and we do realize,
that to see any change in people and
different ways in which HR
involvement can add value to a
company's CSR initiatives. At the
first level there is the need to ensure
all the people recruited are aligned
to the company's CSR vision and
purpose. They need to be adequately
aware of the issues related to
environment, sustainability and the
attributes of good corporate
citizenship. In addition to this, all
enabling people processes within the
company too, should promote and
adequately recognize the effective
behaviours. These can be very
effectively done through the various
talent management & talent
engagement processes of the
organization as well as any relevant
reward & recognition programs.
These would go a long way in
motivating and encouraging
individuals to be environmentally
conscious and socially responsible
citizens. Finally, it is when the whole
organization together with its
leaders, line managers and
employees, work in tandem to
achieve its purpose that we can
expect any real change, and the HR
function can play a strong
influencing role in enabling that.
People dimension - The
experience of Azim Premji
Foundation
While we are not a corporate, and
so cannot be considered under the
12. www.humancapitalonline.com ■12 N June 2015
society outside, we must first live
the change as people within; Like
many other social sector
organisations we too try to 'be the
change we want to see in the world'.
To that end, our organizational
processes resonate strongly with the
ideals of responsible citizenship, and
rest in mutual accountability and faith
in the goodness of people. In the
decisions we take, there are many
which get resolved unanimously,
some which require deeper
deliberation, and some dilemmas we
continue to grapple with.
Clear priorities for us
We put people before process and
believe good things happen when we
bring good people together. 'How'
something is done is as important as
'what' is done and in this we value
and rely on the good sense and
judgment of our people. A
substantial amount of attention and
effort is invested on recruitment and
selection of people for this reason.
Hard decisions often need to be
taken, but humaneness, consideration
and respect are non-negotiable. Even
in instances of seemingly obvious
transgression, we take extra caution
to ensure we don't jump to
conclusion, revalidate the facts at
hand, check with care to identify only
those actually implicated, factor the
extenuating circumstances in our
communication while our decision
may remain unchanged, and
consider counselling options where
required. Prevention of Sexual
Harassment (POSH) committee's
decisions or violations of our code
of conduct have been firmly acted
upon irrespective of criticality of the
role the person is in.
Another area we feel strongly
about is having a culture of open
dialogue and access to information -
as long as it doesn't impinge on
another individual's right to privacy
(eg information on health or
compensation) there is free and open
sharing of information and
knowledge to help us do our work
better.
How do we assess our people?
One of the more sensitive issues we
face is the assessment of our people.
Due to the subjective nature of the
decisions, we take efforts to
triangulate these discussions with
multiple points of view and invest
the required amount of time and
seriousness for every member in the
organization.We realize this will take
up a significant amount of
organizational time as we scale but
that is an investment we feel we must
make, to continue to understand our
people better and remove subjective
bias in people decisions.
Policies and processes to
enable our people
While we have policies and
procedures in place, they are
deliberately kept light as we want to
be governed by a shared 'good
sense' in everything we do. Good
sense to us means being accountable
to the cause, to our colleagues and
to our own conscience, to go by the
spirit of the policy and not by the
book. This implies that we are
expected to apply our discretion
wherever needed, and that the
organisation backs those decisions.
It entrusts us with both a sense of
freedom as well as of responsibility
to act thoughtfully after due
consideration.
Attrition & retention
The people who come to work at
the Foundation are more evolved in
their aspirations and come with a
longer term approach to their jobs.
In terms of career growth within the
organization, people are not typically
concerned about their next
promotion. Setting the right
aspirations and establishing a non-
competitive and more collaborative
culture is key to retaining talent and
scaling up in this sector.The HR team
at the Foundation recognizes this as
one of its prime tasks.
Matters of compensation
The market with all its asymmetry,
determines the range of
compensation for various jobs. As
an organization we may or may not
agree with which jobs are considered
more important than the other and
why, but we still have to negotiate
within the market forces. For e.g. we
ROLE OF HR IN CSRI
Vishnupriya Bose is with the Azim
Premji Foundation in Bangalore
working in the areas of organizational
development & talent management.
She has over 14 years of experience in
the corporate & social sectors, having
worked primarily with ICICI Prudential
Life Insurance and CRY (Child Rights &
You); and for a brief period with Bank
of America Merrill Lynch.
Vishnupriya Bose
Member at Azim Premji Foundation
Sudheesh is the Chief People Officer at
Azim Premji Foundation. Prior to this,
he was Head of Human Resources at
Tesco, India and later the Shared
Services Lead for Tesco’s UK - People
programme. He holds a Post Graduate
degree in Management from the Indian
Institute of Management, Kolkata.
SudheeshVenkatesh
Chief People Officer
Azim Premji Foundation
13. www.humancapitalonline.com■ June 2015 N 13
HC
know that teaching is a hugely
important role, yet it is least
rewarded monetarily compared to
most corporate sector jobs. No
amount of skillful maneuvering on
our part will rectify this inequity in
the short term, and it will continue
to lure the brightest young minds
away from academia and teaching.
In paying for 'capability' we are
conscious that we are attracting
primarily those who have had
'access' to the opportunities that
have made them capable. We strive
to be mindful of the trap in this
relentless cycle and focus instead on
learnability and intent rather than
ready skills. It is our attempt to level
the playing field, and we compensate
for that by strengthening the learning
and development processes within
the organization.
Summing up
It is time we go beyond the
Companies Act 2013 and look at the
holistic essence of CSR.
Internationally, CSR has a strong
human rights dimension and globally
reputed companies are emphasizing
the importance of good corporate
citizenship beyond philanthropy. The
United Nations' Global Compact
addresses 10 principles covering
inter alia human rights, abolition of
child labour, anti-corruption, non-
discrimination and protection of the
environment with the goal to have
the private sector help realize United
Nations' vision of a more sustainable
and inclusive global economy. The
role of HR departments in companies
in realizing this vision cannot be
overstated.
When a company has a diverse,
ethically-grounded and socially-
conscious workforce, CSR gets
coded into its DNA. Building such a
workforce is the best and the most
sustainable contribution an HR team
can make towards realizing the CSR
vision of a company. The authors
thank their colleague Utkal Mohanty
for his valuable input.
14. www.humancapitalonline.com ■14 N June 2015
T
Integrating CSR within the HCM strategy makes an organization's
career offerings that much richer. It is a much richer view of career
as one that seamlessly spans the organization and the world beyond.
BY ABHIJIT BHADURI
Weaving CSR into
your talent strategy
ROLE OF HR IN CSRI
"In a free enterprise, the community is not just another stakeholder in
business but is in fact the very purpose of its existence." - Jamsetji Tata
a few interns (who the organization
pays for) who work for an NGO that
the organization supports. Having
them leverage their skills in coding
or finance or creating a process
manual can be a great differentiator
for your organization on campus.
But why should the organization pay
for someone whose work benefits
an NGO? And would that option
motivate the student?
There is business and then there
is Corporate Social Responsibility.
Never the twain must mix. That is
how conventional wisdom operates.
The for-profit businesses write
cheques annually to support a
charity of their choice. That alone is
enough to have them feel that they
have done what a busy enterprise
possibly could. CSR is like a little
village stream that loses its identity
as it hesitatingly joins the river that
is busy merging with the ocean.
Organizations have often
operated inside a bubble. This world
celebrates the cognitive abilities and
sniggers at the emotional. Yet, the
ability to inspire and connect
emotionally remains at the heart of
every leader's biggest challenge.Very
often the work done by the vast
majority does not seem to have a
purpose beyond the routine
transaction. Without that sense of
purpose, employees cannot be
he next time your
organization goes to the
campus to hire summer
interns, how about having
engaged. Could CSR be an integral
part of an organization's talent
management strategy?
Attracting talent
Millennials will make up half the
workforce by 2020. A focus on
purpose and people is, for many
millennials, just as important as a
company's ability to generate profit.
They want to make a difference. CSR
then becomes a valuable approach
to attracting the top talent.
Adam Grant's research shows
that even a small connection to the
people who benefit from your work
not only will improve productivity, it
makes everyone happier. Work must
have a larger purpose beyond being
means of providing us with a
15. www.humancapitalonline.com■ June 2015 N 15
paycheck. In his book Give and Take,
writes about this power.
The study was done in a
University's fund raising call center.
The employees had to make calls to
potential donors and seek
contributions. The control group did
their job with no other information
given to them. The second group
read stories from other employees
about the personal benefits of the
job: learning and money. The third
group read stories from scholarship
beneficiaries about how the
scholarship had changed their lives.
The first two groups saw no change
in performance. The last group that
knew about how the scholarships
changed the lives of beneficiaries
increased their weekly pledges from
nine per week to twenty three - an
increase of almost 155%. Knowing
that we make a difference to the
lives of people can be a great
motivator.
When I speak to Wipro
employees, they inevitably mention
that one of the greatest sources of
pride for them is to be associated
with an organization that gives back
to society. One such initiative is called
Wipro Cares. It isWipro's community
initiative focused on certain key
developmental issues faced by
under-served and underprivileged
communities. It also provides a
platform to employees to
meaningfully engage with
disadvantaged communities. More
than five thousand employees are
engaged across 14 projects. The other
initiative, Mission10X has successfully
empowered 10,000 professors in
engineering colleges across 20 states
to make them more effective. I have
no doubt that these initiatives are
the best talent attraction programs
that we could have.
Developing talent
Several companies look at CSR as a
core way of developing leadership
skills. The Head of HR for EMC,
Debashish Patnaik says categorically,
"We use CSR for our leadership
development. It teaches people to
rely on themselves and their skills
rather than organization provided
leverage. This helps people to clearly
16. www.humancapitalonline.com ■16 N June 2015
than 30 countries in the developing
world. The employees spend a month
in a team of 6-12 colleagues working
on an issue that has social impact.
Why do they do it?
"The objective was threefold: to
support IBMers in their service
engagements, to invest the
intellectual capital of IBMers in
tackling social issues around the
world, and to develop the expertise
and leadership of IBMers through
volunteer opportunities that leverage
their skills and abilities."
Beyond profits
The organizations values are
transmitted through the behaviors
ROLE OF HR IN CSRI
see in which areas they fall short
e.g. frustration tolerance, influence
etc. They learn to make do with
what is available rather than focus
on asking for more or what's not
given and this is usually done in
addition to their day job. So it gets
to be a great lesson in stress
management and delegation. Above
all, this is a great leveler; it puts one
in touch with reality outside and
thus makes one more humane and
builds the ability to empathize. We
want our leaders to possess all of
these."
The IBM Corporate Service
Corps, deploys 500 young leaders a
year on team assignments in more
that leaders display. Values form the
bedrock of culture in any
organization. Nothing builds a better
shared culture than living the values.
CSR promotes the process of living
the Values like no other intervention
within the organization.
The notion of a "career ladder" is
becoming more archaic. The role of
a leader is to help people find
meaning in the workplace. Integrating
CSR within the HCM strategy makes
an organization's career offerings that
much richer. It is a much richer view
of career as one that seamlessly
spans the organization and the world
beyond. That would be truly
enriching.
AbhijitBhaduri
Chief Learning Officer, Wipro
Abhijit Bhaduri is the Chief Learning
Officer of Wipro. He is a social media
influencer, blogger and the author of
two bestselling works of fiction and one
book on how to hire for cultural fit.
HC
17. www.humancapitalonline.com■ June 2015 N 17
N
As part of CSR, HDFC Life offers a fair chance to the dependent of the
deceased policyholders to become an employee and lead a life with dignity.
CSR with an
HR twist
investing heavily in corporate social
responsibility (CSR) initiatives to
earnestly give back to the society.
While every organization has its area
that it wants to contribute to, HDFC
Life has chosen to make a difference
by offering employment
opportunities to the deceased
policyholder's family. HDFC Life's
'Swabhimaan Careers' is considered
to be a CSR initiative, where HR has
taken a leading role in deciding the
direction and driving it. As part of
CSR, the company offers a fair
chance to the dependent to become
an HDFC Life employee and lead a
life with dignity.
The overall objective of life
insurance is to compensate the
financial loss caused due to the
untimely death of the breadwinner.
Going one step ahead, HDFC Life
helps secure the future of the
nominees/dependants by creating a
fair employment opportunity, which
is in line with our brand philosophy
"Sar Utha Ke Jiyo". Our association
with the customer does not end with
the "transaction" of "claim
settlement", but continues with us
providing an opportunity to the
customers' dependants who are in
distress to become self-reliant.
From March 2013, we began
sending letters to the claimants
informing them about this initiative.
This letter informed them about the
process involved in applying for a
job and a team has been dedicated
by HDFC Life to support this cause.
An on-going initiative, the
Human Resources Division has been
instrumental in designing and initially
administering the scheme. In
addition, it also continues to ensure
that against each and every vacancy
arising in the organization, due
preference is given to those who are
applying via the Swabhimaan Career
scheme. We also make sure the
eligible candidates are put through
the required employment
assessment. Also, awareness about
this initiative has been driven across
the board so that all employees can
contribute towards this noble cause.
Even employees take pride in
being a good corporate citizen.
Especially for those from the sales
function, talking about this
humanitarian initiative by their
organization help them garner the
trust and respect of prospective
customers. All in all, employees will
take pride in associating with a value
driven organization.
While we have been able to
provide employment to the deceased
policyholders' dependants, it's been
an uphill task in terms of reaching
out to the dependents of the
customers, explaining to them that
they will be considered for
employment based on their
suitability and the overall
administration of the program. For
ot just as means to earn the
trust of customers,
emloyees and shareholders,
most Indian businesses are
RajendraGhag
Senior EVP & Chief - HR Officer, HDFC Life
Rajendra Ghag is the Senior EVP & Chief
Human Resource Officer, HDFC Life. He
joined HDFC Life in September 2009
and has been spearheading the Human
Resource function since then.
instance, the direct beneficiaries of
this initiative are the dependents of
the deceased policyholder who are
unemployed. They can apply for an
employment opportunity with HDFC
Life, however, they will be considered
based on merit, fitment and
vacancies.
Our aim is to ensure that our
customers' dependents leads a life
with dignity and hence, we do not
want to package this initiative as a
"social charity" and instead wish to
make them feel that they have
earned it. HC
BY RAJENDRA GHAG
ROLE OF HR IN CSR
18. B
ROLE OF HR IN CSRI
leading companies embracing it even
further - as a fundamental
component of its DNA, as one of its
corporate values and therefore
driver of culture. Going beyond just
the ethical practices in its
conduct of business, those
companies have a formal
platform and
institutionalized programs
that engage employees and
enable them to make a
difference beyond the workplace.
Being an active partner to
building communities and driving
positive change in places where
companies operate has then
become one of the key attributes
of a company's corporate
citizenship, and its brand
as an employer.
usinesses in India increasingly
recognize Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) as a
strategic focus area, with
Many successful organizations
follow a 'grassroots' approach
towards community giving -
driving meaningful engagement
for its employees right in the
places where they live and work.
What makes a CSR platform truly
effective and sustainable, is when
employees themselves drive the
philanthropy, volunteering
their time, talent and
treasure to contribute.
Strategic connection
to business
The rapid rise of socially
responsible investment illustrates
that corporate citizenship is
becoming a key measure that
clients/investors, as well as potential
What makes a CSR platform truly effective and sustainable, is when
employees themselves drive the philanthropy, volunteering their time, talent
and treasure to contribute. And, HR plays a critical role in driving employees
towards this noble cause.
Building the
strategic connection
BY AMIT KUMAR
www.humancapitalonline.com ■18 N June 2015
19. As HR takes the lead for the
company to establish the local
partnerships in the areas where the
company's employees live and work,
the partnerships promote a culture
of social responsibility, ensure long
term relationships in the
community, greater employee
engagement and volunteer
opportunities and therefore, greater
impact in the countries where we
live and work.
Again, in "people businesses"
such as the customer management
industry, employees are the number
one stakeholder because they are
ultimately driving and sustaining the
community partnerships with their
direct involvement. With employees
at the forefront in making a
difference to the communities
where the company operates, they
are the direct ambassadors of the
company's reputation and brand as
an employer.
The approach
Employee engagement towards CSR
as a practice should be practiced at
all company levels. Human
Resource drives the approach and
processes by which philanthropy is
practiced (such as the grassroots
approach where each local
operations center partners with a
local beneficiary, and employees
volunteer where they live and work).
The extent of effectiveness to enabling
employee involvement is the key to
and across the globe, removing
barriers to stability that include
poverty and illness, and supports
healthy communities in which
educational and skills-development
opportunities thrive.
HR's role
Human Resources plays a critical
role in driving a culture of giving
back and an involved workforce -
from taking the lead in identifying
partner or beneficiary organizations
whose goals are aligned to the
company's philanthropic focus
areas, and the potential for
sustainable long-term partnership,
all the way to organizing the
philanthropic activities and engaging
employees to volunteer and be
active in the partner in these
relationships, and documenting the
results.
For global companies that
operate in multiple geographies,
some HR departments also have a
formal Community Relations arm, a
dedicated resource unit that aids in
various operating centers' HR teams
in identifying, selecting and
developing new community
partnerships, providing global
process governance, communication
tools and best practices. The HR
team in each city/province of
operations determines the local
organization to partner with, but
ensures it is aligned to the company's
global focus areas for philanthropy.
employees, consider important in
their decision to partner with, or
join a company. In view of the
increasing importance placed on
socially responsible investment, HR
- and the company's leadership-
needs to first consider the linkage
of its CSR platform to the nature of
the company's business and
purpose.
Companies such as those in the
customer management or service
industry are a people-focused, and
the CSR focus areas represent the
issues that are relevant to its people
-clients, employees, and
communities. With human talent as
the key asset of customer
management sector companies, in
addition to providing meaningful
jobs and career growth, these
companies are empowering its
employees to give back to the places
where they live and work,
supporting their communities'
capacity to create opportunities to
help build skills and improve
employability of potential or future
workforce, eliminate barriers to
stability, and improve health and
wellness.
In Convergys for instance, we call
this Convergys Community Action
Network (CAN), driven directly by
each of our operating centers, and is
directly aligned with our corporate
value of "Serve the community." CAN
powered by our very own employees
from every Convergys site in India
www.humancapitalonline.com■ June 2015 N 19
20. www.humancapitalonline.com ■20 N June 2015
realizing a culture where people giving
back to where they live and work is
intrinsic to demonstrating the
company's corporate value of serving
the community. And while HR takes
the lead in the process, it is critical to
note that the involvement of the entire
leadership of the company, from the
topmost level such as the CEO, is
necessary to making CSR "real."
Employees realize great personal
satisfaction and sense of well-being
at the opportunity to give back and
help others. This satisfaction is
potentially transformational for
individuals and increases loyalty and
motivation, as well as personal and
leadership skills development -
volunteering enables employees
opportunities to gain and
demonstrate skills and leadership
behaviors outside of the workplace.
Community partnerships
Community partnerships with local
beneficiaries/non-government
organizations are a great way to
implement a grassroots approach to
CSR and develop long-term
relationships in the community. As
earlier mentioned, HR takes the lead
in identifying partner or beneficiary
organizations whose goals are
aligned to the company's
philanthropic focus areas (examples
of focus areas are: workforce
preparedness, stability, and health
and wellness).
As a specific example in Convergys
India's Community Action Network
(CAN), teams in our operating centers
in Pune, Thane, Bangalore and
Gurgaon have all partnered with
respective local-area institutions
whose focus are providing stability
(through shelter and youth education)
for impoverished members of those
communities, with as many as 6,000
employee volunteers and donors,
raising USD 7,000 in employee
donations, items in kind such as
computers and school supplies, as
well as supplemental funding from
the company's global Community
Relations' CAN fund. Hundreds of
volunteer hours were also spent by
employee volunteers in their regular
outreach visits to the institutions'
beneficiaries.
Sustainability
Sustainability is crucial to the success
of CSR, especially in the company's
ability to measure the impacts of its
efforts in the long-term. A
sustainability approach also affects
corporate practices and policies, as
well as transparency, as is manifested
in the growing number of
organizations issuing annual
sustainability reports.
With sustainability and a
Amit Kumar is the Head of Human
Resources for Convergys India and
EMEA region. With over 20 years of
experience, he has established a track
record of success, balancing the
demands of the business with a strong
focus on people.
AmitKumar
Head of HR – Convergys India and China
ROLE OF HR IN CSRI
21. www.humancapitalonline.com■ June 2015 N 21
HC
grassroots approach, the continuity
of a company's CSR programs will
also enable involvement beyond
current employees - such as former
employees, and their respective local
networks.
For human resource
For companies who are serious
about making CSR part of its DNA,
real and meaningful cultural change
is necessary in order to ensure a
culture of responsible practices and
sustainability permeates the entire
organization. In conclusion, with the
growing importance of human
capital as a key asset for people-
based businesses, the role of HR
leadership will become ever more
critical in leading strategic
implementation of CSR and
mobilizing employees domestically
and abroad.
With both company reputation
as well as business growth in mind,
one of the critical roles of HR
leadership today is to spearhead the
development and strategic
implementation of CSR throughout
the organization. While strategically
including CSR in the organization
can begin from different points (e.g.,
product safety, the board of
directors, business development), it
makes good business sense for HR
to head the process and partner with
all stakeholders because human
capital is arguably the number one
value driver. HR leaders can
influence three primary areas of
CSR-ethics, employment practices
and community involvement, the
latter being the focus of this article.
All these point to HR not just
being integral to CSR but also one of
the ways by which HR demonstrates
its role as a strategic business
partner!
t a k e a w a y s
G One of the critical roles of HR leadership today is to spearhead the development and
strategic implementation of CSR throughout the organization.
G Employee engagement towards CSR as a practice should be practiced at all company
levels.
G HR play a critical role in driving a culture of giving back and an involved workforce.
G HR drives the approach and processes by which philanthropy is practiced (such as
the grassroots approach where each local operations center partners with a local
beneficiary, and employees volunteer where they live and work).
G HR leaders can influence three primary areas of CSR—ethics, employment practices
and community involvement.
22. www.humancapitalonline.com ■22 N June 2015
H
HR can play a significant role in CSR by contributing in subtle but crucial
ways by providing key insights into the congruence of all aspects of
management and facilitating collaboration with a broad range of stakeholders.
BY DR. GANESH SHERMON
Building
sustainable sensitivity
An HR agenda
ROLE OF HR IN CSRI
as Sustainability & CSR
Programs kept pace with
our growth aspiration as a
country? India plans to
grow at an annual rate of 9% GDP,
the need of the industry towards
building a Sustainability Program that
is inclusive in all its actions also
needs to grow exponentially. The
timing is appropriate as CSR law has
also come into effect from April 1
2014, which requires companies to
allocate 2% of their profit towards
CSR initiatives. It is estimated that
this initiative will raise Rs 20,000
crore every year as sustained stream
of resources available for CSR
initiatives. I am not a supporter of
any mandate or law driven CSR
activity, as it is unlikely to sustain a
value based long term commitment.
Nevertheless, "A company's ability
to achieve its business goals and
increase long-term shareholder value
is best realized by integrating
economic, environmental and social
opportunities into its business
strategies." Companies that want to
survive do need a socially responsible
behaviour. Opinions diverge on the
question how this goal can be
reached, i.e., how can the short and
long term be combined. Companies
don't exist in a vacuum and in a
world of their own devoid of the
community in which its stakeholders
benefit and corporations have a
'meaningful need for social interest'.
We do not necessarily need a
regulation as we should leave this up
to the companies' own initiative and
its shareholders commitment.
Mandates and legal demands never
work. Values and ethics do. However,
some explicitly proposed tougher
rules on disclosure and reporting
may become necessary to simply
ensure governance. Sustainability
development is convened with
"meeting the needs of people today
without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own
needs" - World Business Council.
The term, "Sustainability" and
"corporate social responsibility" was
rarely heard until the 1970s when a
few pioneering companies, such as
Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream in the US
and The Body Shop in the UK,
ventured into the marketing of social
responsibility as a business strategy.
Today, companies are embracing the
notion that they exist to do more
than just to make a profit. In 1994,
John Elkington, coined the term, "The
Triple Bottom Line" also known as
"People, Planet, Profit".
The dissonance lies here.
Approaches that help identify HR
priorities and work better on CSR
are based on three factors:
1. Role of HR in CSR help in
establishing an appropriate
problem identification and
resolution mechanism.
2. Role of HR in enabling CSR
through a delivery process that is
linked to the business process and
a value that is perceptibly realized
in an ongoing organizational
model.
3. And the fact that CSR does not
value add unless it is inextricably
aligned to business strategy,
community, industry requirements
and detailed internal processes.
These approaches can be
classified into four HR
styles....
The Laggards - Traditional HR -
Low Emphasis on Sustainability -
CSR, poor expectation from the
community and stakeholders, low
demands on functional knowledge
23. www.humancapitalonline.com■ June 2015 N 23
and industry knowledge factors but
score high on community or
employee expectation. Here the
community could be encountering
straight forward social problems
dealing with issues that are short
term and need immediate fixing. The
emphasis on CSR functional
knowledge not integrated with
business or industry realities needs
no additional mention. Several
firms are quite adept in
conducting their businesses,
doing exactly what the
community or people have
asked for as a simple deliverable
with the belief that short term
community satisfaction is
buying peace. It's popularity
driven and is organized as a
road show for media and hype.
The firm and its HR leadership
has inadvertently set low
expectation on the overall
potential of the good that CSR
can do to its constituents and
has been unable to present to
the community a
comprehensive strategic
perspective with which the
issues could have been resolved
on a long term basis, if not for
the myopic outlook.
The Gainers - Sustainability
driven as an organization
builder - HR plays a short-term
outcome role in this context.
Low emphasis on expectation
from the stakeholders, lack of
depth in functional domain
knowledge of CSR, its uses
outcomes, benefits and high
degree of knowledge of industry
practices and business strategy.
Gainers, driven as an
organization builder is several
steps in the communities
expectation hierarchy but
severely handicapped by low
demands, poor strategy, limited
problem solving and lack of
prioritization. More importantly
there is clear lack of emphasis on
depth of sustainability and CSR
functional knowledge, best practices,
expectation on expertise or
prioritization of integrating business
knowledge with strategic drivers.
While the critical drivers are deep
knowledge of CSR, its uses and
benefits. They do not articulate a
problem in its holistic configuration
nor does the consultant perceive a
need to evaluate the problem for its
non-articulation. A certain degree of
self-preservation dominates the
management style of the employer
and the HR function.
The Populist - People Oriented
CSR- High emphasis on meeting
employee expectation, high levels of
functional knowledge of what is
sustainability and CRM, but low
degree of knowledge of industry best
practices, need of the hour and
linkage to business strategy. People
oriented CSR is driven through a low
emphasis on the business strategy
of CSR and lack of alignment with
the business strategy. Here firms or
individuals in the HR function are
dominated by low emphasis on
alignment with business strategy,
organizational architecture. The
orientation is to employ hourly work,
based on administrative content that
a community expects to be delivered.
This is followed by a low expectation
from the community and limited
understanding of the context of the
company in relation to its industry,
other macro-economic factors,
competitive factors and consequent
delivery capability through an
appropriate solution to the client.
Both do not emphasize the need for
advanced and deep functional
24. www.humancapitalonline.com ■24 N June 2015
understanding of the business
strategy, competitive forces that
shape strategy, economic and
influencing environmental factor as
they relate to a consulting
intervention. The firm has moved up
the value chain in driving their
community work through strong
and appropriate alignment with the
business strategy, demonstrating
intervention capability that can
typically go beyond singular issue
resolution mechanisms. The solution
structured could be multipolar, inter
functional and integrated across
organizational boundaries. The
community here has an opportunity
to leverage the company's
sustainability business strategy, best
practices process knowledge in
consonance with functional domain
knowledge, and led by HRF function.
G Lack of HR expertise to visualize
the problem at both the strategic,
operational and process level
operates acts as a constraint while
constructing customized solutions.
The Sustainers - Business Strategy
& Process driven Sustainability - HR
demonstrates a high emphasis on
knowledge of CSR relevant in the
industry, alignment with the business
strategy and macro environment
factors, but high level of expectation
from stakeholders, be it community,
people, customer, government as
well as demonstrated high degree of
depth of functional knowledge and
competence. However in contrast,
the sustainer HR leaders seek a
Business processes driven
sustainability program, and are
perhaps the ones who would be
expected to complete the missing
link? The business performance
barometer drives them to
contributing to their community in
a way that integrates Revenues,
profitability, cost management and
enhancing shareholder value is their
role in building a long term
sustainability strategy and
deliverables.
G Intervention is simply an
enabler, not an end in itself.
Fundamentally in this situation, both
the community and the company's
HR to understand the need to align
business strategy and processes with
an advanced degree of detail of what
needs to be done for the community
to enable any intervention. The
possibility of providing integrated
solutions becomes possible.
Critically an awareness of the CSR
processes that enables all of it to
stitch together - Here HRs ability
lies in providing an outside in
perspective, strong commitment at
the strategic level, applying theory
and its relevance to application and
are deeply concerned with the
client's problem and are concerned
with doing. Concurrently the
emphasis from the community is
high on the need for an appropriate
engagement at the grass root level
and is willing to partner to enable
alignment of the work with the
business strategy of the firm..
G A community integrated CSR
approach is strategy centered,
driven by high quality delivery and
aims for early and appropriate
resolution of the problem.
Building collaborative relationship,
Ganesh Shermon is currently the
Partner, Platform Solutions - North
America, TCS Canada Inc. Prior to this,
he was Partner and Country Head of
People & Change Practice at KPMG
Advisory Services. He brings in 30 long
years of experience in consulting in the
areas of Merger Integration,
Organization Design, Change,
Employee Relations, BSC, People
Strategy & Transformation.
Dr. GaneshShermon
Partner - Platform Solutions
North America, TCS Canada Inc.
ROLE OF HR IN CSRI
t a k e a w a y s
G People oriented CSR is driven through a low emphasis on the business strategy and
industry knowledge factors but score high on community or employee expectation.
G The right face of the sustainability enterprise identifies ways in which HR can play an
even more pivotal role in creating the qualities for sustainability management.
G An HR leader can develop, influence, and help business leaders to build the "Foundation"
for sustainable-business strategies that simultaneously take into account all its
stakeholders, as well as the short- and the long-term view.
G HR would need to define a CSR Sustainability driven code for their people to follow.
25. www.humancapitalonline.com■ June 2015 N 25
using principles of collective
bargaining, with its employees has
been the critical business driver for
the organizations focusing on CSR.
These corporate groups deal directly
and openly with its associates on a
global basis. Each business ensures
that HR & IR policies are being
operated honestly and that people -
individually and collectively - are
being treated appropriately with
value for human dignity, respect for
the individual, integrity, openness,
transparency, honesty and fairness.
Businesses are responsible for
developing programs, practices, to
maintain and make two way
communications - a way of life.
Best of companies with business
driven sustainability programs and
philosophy emphasize a need to
build upon the concept of
trusteeships/ownership of a
company and enable a culture to
facilitate the concept of "Extended
family" covering spouse, children
and parents in our welfare activities.
They adhere to all laws of the land
and employment standards and take
responsibility for Health, Education,
living, environment and overall well-
being of our associates and their
families in the context of their
employment and what is
provisioned as per law in each of
the countries that it operates. The
company has a board governed
process to ensure that we will follow
the laws of the land under all
circumstances and we will never
ever stray away from being an ethical
company and a value based
employer to all our stakeholders. The
country manager is held accountable
for ethical Behavior, adherence to
laws of the land, associate
engagement and comprehensive
compliance to all standards. At one
level CSR starts with taking care of
one's own employees. But surely it
barely stops there.
G Such cultures can be developed,
institutionalized, changed as
organization matures, builds size
and derives strength from current
culture
G But clearly it cannot stop here
for the moment.
HR would need to define a CSR
Sustainability driven code for their
people to follow. This Code of
Conduct sets out the policy
framework underpinning the
behavior of an institution, fellow
associates and the external world
which are expected of every associate
of the group is expected to behave.
Consultation and participation are the
customer management systems
followed and is an organized process
in which staff are called upon to
participate and to help in the
formulation of policies that help
effective community driven actions
and related decision-making. This is
a way of satisfying an urge for self-
expression and creating in them a
feeling of belonging in order to get
their willing co-operation for the
efficient functioning of the
sustainability program.
The right face of the sustainability
enterprise identifies ways in which
HR can play an even more pivotal
role in creating the qualities for
sustainability management shown on
the left face. By working proactively
with top management and earning
their respect as a trusted business
advisor, an HR leader can develop,
influence, and help business leaders
to build the "Foundation" for
sustainable-business strategies that
simultaneously take into account all
its stakeholders, as well as the short-
and the long-term view. To enable
"Traction," HR can oversee talent
management, training and
development, and diversity. In
addition, HR is generally well
positioned to manage organizational
change and help inculcate values,
apparently a critical success factor
for companies to become more
sustainable. Toward "Integration,"
HR can contribute in subtle but
crucial ways by providing key insights
into the congruence of all aspects of
management and facilitating
collaboration with a broad range of
stakeholders.
"Lest we forget it should be
remembered that responsible
Corporations determine far more
than any other institution the air we
breathe, the infrastructure around
our homes, noise, pollution, health,
the quality of the water we drink,
even where we live. Yet are they
accountable to anyone to ensure
that they help make the world a
better place to live? There are many
institutions who have answered this
question. By voluntarily doing what
is right, and yet there are many who
need a legislation to contribute.
Several HR leaders are known in
the country for their contribution
towards sustainability and CSR and
yet there are many in the HR
professional world who barely show
their understanding, knowledge or
ability to contribute to sustainability
and CSR. It's when this
contradiction dissipates would we
see a true contributor from HR to
community. HC
26. www.humancapitalonline.com ■26 N June 2015
C
In CSR, the Human Resources function should contribute in building a socially
conscious organization. However, it also has a crucial role to play in creating the
right environment within the organization to make CSR efforts flourish.
BY SHAILESH SINGH
Revisiting the role of
HR in CSR
ROLE OF HR IN CSRI
orporate Social Responsibility
(CSR) has got lot of attention
during the last couple of
years after the Companies
Act, 2013 made it mandatory for
profit making Indian companies to
spend two per cent of their average
Profit before Tax for the last three
financial years on CSR. The Act also
made it mandatory to set up a Board
committee to review and approve
annual CSR Policy of the company
and monitor the progress on the
same.
However one thing that tends to
trouble me is what was the need to
make such a noble cause mandatory,
because if the urge and belief does
not arise from within to make a
difference to the society, will the
impact of CSR efforts of the
company be sustainable. This is why
I am compelled to analyse the role
of HR Head and that of HR function
in creating the right environment
within the organization to make CSR
efforts flourish.
Irrespective of whether the
Corporate Social Responsibility
function sits with HR or in any other
function, HR has a critical role to
play in planning and executing the
CSR strategy and initiatives. I would
like to take a broader definition of
Corporate Social Responsibility. It is
not just about the two per cent spend
on communities in and around the
area of your operations. It is about
the social good becoming inherent to
the business operations and also a
part of the value system of the
organisation and each and every
employee of the organisation. Hence,
I would like to analyze CSR or societal
responsibility at three levels:
1. Societal impact in-built in
larger social objective of the
company - Businesses do not
27. www.humancapitalonline.com■ June 2015 N 27
participation inspires the whole
organization to contribute. Such
initiatives then become part of the
fabric of the organization. They
provide a sense of satisfaction and
fulfilment to their employees. In
many cases, they help organizations
become attractive as employers. The
biggest shortfall in implementing any
social program is not the lack of
money but the lack of motivated
people power. This is where a well-
oiled volunteering program could be
of critical importance.
It is time the HR function of every
company takes the lead in driving
societal good as a cultural milieu of
the organization. It is time for HR to
drive the mindset of its people to
build a socially conscious
organization.
flourish in isolation. Businesses
flourish when they are able to
provide effective solutions for
expressed or latent need of the
society. However, the business
objective should not end here only.
Business should align itself with
values and ethics of the society it
lives and prospers in. The larger
vision of the company should be
guided by broader societal needs not
the narrow objectives of its
shareholders, employees or those
engaged in the business.
This is where HR function plays
a critical role. While business
managers tend to be focused on
financial objectives of the business,
HR has to play the conscience
keeper of the business organization
by aligning the whole organization
towards its vision, mission and
values.
Increasing popularity of triple
bottom line reporting or
sustainability reporting, which has
gained popularity worldwide over the
past decade, is of significance. Triple
bottom line reporting covers the
company's performance on
economic, social and environmental
parameters. HR has a critical role to
play in social and environmental
reporting.
HR plays an important role in
setting the vision and values of the
organization. It is also the custodian
of mindset changes in the
organization. Living the values and
mindset change is of critical
importance in incorporating social
objectives as the critical component
of business.
2. Doing good for the society -
While social good as part of business
objectives mainly touches the
customers of an organization, there
is a need for corporates to move
beyond that. Every corporate take
the resources from the society it lives
in and thus it also has the
responsibility to give back to the
society. This giving back has to go
beyond the products and services it
offers to its consumers, it has to be
direct contribution to communities
the company operates in.
This is where the Corporate Social
Responsibility in its narrow
Companies Act definition comes into
play. As a responsible corporate
citizen who is earning profits from
the society it operates in, it is the
responsibility of every corporate
citizen to identify the needs of the
society and work towards fulfilling
some of those needs.
A two per cent contribution
towards this could mean a corpus of
around Rs.14,000 crore which is a
significant amount, if properly
utilized, to bring about a solution to
any social problem. Adoption of
villages, contribution towards Swacch
Bharat Abhiyan, healthcare facilities
in remote areas, hygiene are some
of the critical areas which have been
formed as part of CSR programs of
the companies.
HR can play a critical role in
decision making on the themes the
company should pick up. They
understand the pulse of their
employees as well as the vision of
the company. This helps them in
identifying the areas where the
company can make the most
contribution.
3. Volunteering opportunities for
employees - There is no doubt that
as human beings we want to do good
for our fellow human beings who
are not as privileged as us. To some
extent, we want to share our relative
superior well being with less
privileged ones. Most of the time it
is not the lack of desire to do
something good for the society but
the lack of opportunity and sheer
inertia that does not allow people to
contribute towards the social good.
This is an area where HR can
play the most important role by
creating a robust volunteering
programs for its employees at all
levels. The CSR program should not
just touch the society; it should touch
one's own employees too. HR can
offer opportunities to its employees
to volunteer in social activities of the
company and inspire each and every
employee by leading the social effort.
My experience tells me that it is the
leadership that drives social
contribution and thus the HR Head
along with fellow leaders have to take
the responsibility of driving social
programs of the company. Their
Mr. Shailesh Singh is responsible for
developing and implementing
successful Human Resources strategies
that support long term growth and
transformation of the organization.
Prior to joining, Max Life Insurance, he
worked as Country HR Leader for GE
India Supplychain comprising all its
manufacturing operations, sourcing,
materials and logistics. He headed HR
responsibility for GE Energy - India
operations. He was earlier the Regional
HR Leader for GE Energy (Africa, India
and Middle East).
ShaileshSingh
Director & Chief People Officer
at Max Life Insurance
HC
28. C
To ensure the credibility of corporate social responsibility
programs, it is important to embed the CSR culture within a
company's and employees' mindset.
Inculcating the
CSR ethos
orporate Social Responsibility…
often interpreted as something
beyond business is a highly
undermined notion. On the
contrary it is and has to be the
way to conduct business. It is an essential
to be imbibed and integrated in the
business processes and operations if the
business has to continue successfully. It
becomes all the more imperative in
today's world where the stakeholder
groups are aware, alert and assertive and
communication is fast and varied.
Another restraining thought around
CSR is the general perception of
THE SHIFTING FOCUS TOWARDS CSRII
interpreting CSR and Community
Development as one and the same thing.
This interpretation to a great extent is a
resonance of CSR as something beyond
business. It is this perception that
restricts an organization and the
implementation bodies from embracing
CSR as an integral part of business
planning, operations, communication.
Credibility beyond compliance
Some activities possess a peculiar
penchant for attracting unwelcome
attention, even scepticism. In this unusual
category, CSR or corporate social
BY RANU KULSHRESTHA
www.humancapitalonline.com ■28 N June 2015
29. responsibility activities can be safely
clubbed.
The reason the word 'CSR' holds
negative connotations is not too difficult
to decipher. Many corporate entities are
viewed with deep suspicion in myriad
geographies globally. Consequently, CSR
activities of such companies are taken
with a pinch of salt. Clearly, companies
need to ingrain CSR within their DNA
and daily activities to eliminate the taint
that such activities are aligned to PR.
This is not to suggest that companies
refrain from publicising CSR measures.
There are instances where publicising it
inspires others to do likewise, benefitting
society at large. But such publicity needs
to be undertaken selectively, not as a
matter of course. Many stakeholders are
perceptive enough to differentiate
between deliberate placements of CSR
cases versus need-based publication. The
former erodes credibility, the latter
enhances it. Also, these stakeholder
groups are vigilant enough to assess if
the over publicity of CSR activities is to
cover up a business related irresponsible
instance of the company and therefore it
is essential to imbibe and integrate CSR
within the company rather than only
extending helping hand towards
community development.
The above elaboration clarifies that
while CSR has collateral benefits for
companies, these initiatives could
boomerang if undue steps are taken to
publicise the same. But if media publicity
arises of its own accord, the company is
welcome to discuss it as required. Yet,
there is a fine line between publicity and
self-publicity. Given the sensitivities
involved in publicising CSR activities, a
cautious approach is advisable.
In other words, CSR should extend
beyond legal obligations to address the
needs of all stakeholders and society at
large, while building a more sustainable
business.
Also note that CSR, business
sustainability and bottom-line benefits
can be handmaidens. For instance,
operational efficiencies can be achieved
by reducing energy and material
consumption as inputs for production.
Wastes can also be curbed and materials
recycled. Taken together, these result in
concomitant environmental and
economic benefits for the company,
boosting profitability and allowing scope
for higher CSR outlays.
A CSR-centric company also tends to
create conducive conditions at the
workplace that increases employees'
commitment and motivation to become
more innovative, productive and CSR-
conscious. Such a working ambience
boosts the loyalty and commitment of
staff to the company. Companies with a
www.humancapitalonline.com■ June 2015 N 29
30. www.humancapitalonline.com ■30 N June 2015
positive CSR image then find it easier
to hire, retain and motivate
employees, which could augment
productivity and reduce absenteeism
too.
Another key feature of CSR-
inclined entities is how they engage
with various stakeholders, including
shareholders, employees, vendors,
customers, communities, NGOs and
the authorities. Such companies
engage in open dialogue, form
effective partnerships and
demonstrate transparency in all
practices, increasing their credibility
and trust quotient. This is a crucial
benefit that increases their "licence
to operate", enhances prospects for
community support over the long
term and boosts their capacity to be
more sustainable.
Incidentally, CSR does not always
hold financial implications and can
involve almost any aspect of a
company's operations. These could
include environmental management,
eco-efficiency, responsible sourcing,
stakeholder engagement, labour
standards and working conditions,
employee and community relations,
social equity, gender equality, human
rights, good governance and anti-
corruption measures.
Coming back to the credibility
conundrum, the other important
element in imparting robust
credibility to CSR efforts is to
inculcate this ethos in every
employee thoroughly. The company
should act as an equal-opportunities
employer promoting diversity at all
levels. This is especially relevant to
India which has very diverse groups
both in-term social and economic
strata and structures. Mainstreaming
them into the business through
affirmative actions would add value
to the organization… both in-terms
of bringing diverse perspective and
also gaining a repute of a real equal
opportunity organization, not to
forget the value addition in nation
building.
It is important to mention here
that the significance of
mainstreaming of women as
contributors to the economy and
their increased participation and role
can only be achieved if the
organization consciously works
towards it. Robust policies and
efficient mechanisms to implement
them are essential for gender
mainstreaming and a socially
responsible organization will have
this agenda in mind while adopting
policies and practices for the business
be it recruitment, representation at
senior level, in various functions,
effective and strong harassment free
culture with zero tolerance for sexual
harassment, post maternity leave
measures for female employees to
catch up, etc. Such a mind-set is
especially important because for
millennia women in India have been
traditionally relegated to the
background in personal and
professional domains. The
competency of women at the
workplace can be gauged from the
fact that in some verticals empirical
evidence indicates women are indeed
the professional "better halves", so
to say, of their male counterparts
and perform especially well in
Ranu Kulshrestha heads the CSR
function of Hindustan Powerprojects
Private Limited. During her career
spanning over 18 years, She has worked
at various levels – right from the
grassroots to advocacy and policy
development at various ministries and
industry bodies. As the Chief Executive
of Moser Baer Trust, she has successfully
integrated CSR and Employee
Volunteerism in the core business and
her leadership is widely acclaimed for
the stakeholder engagement through a
process driven program management.
RanuKulshrestha
Group Head – CSR, Hindustan
Powerprojects
THE SHIFTING FOCUS TOWARDS CSRII
t a k e a w a y s
G CSR has collateral benefits for companies, however, these initiatives could boomerang
if undue steps are taken to publicise the same.
G A CSR-centric company tends to create conducive conditions at the workplace that
increases employees’ commitment and motivation to become more innovative,
productive and CSR-conscious.
G The other important element in imparting robust credibility to CSR efforts is to inculcate
this ethos in every employee thoroughly.
G A company with women helming select top roles would not be viewed sceptically when
undertaking CSR initiatives that empower women.
G Direct engagement helps in aligning the actual needs of the community needs and the
management understanding of CSR.
31. www.humancapitalonline.com■ June 2015 N 31
1 Why banking mints the most women CEOs in India, The Economic Times, 4
October 2013
banking and allied domains.
Women in banking and
finance perform even better
in the upper echelons as
CEOs, MDs and
Chairpersons , as attested by
banks such as ICICI, Axis and
SBI, to mention a few led by
women.
Organizations with this
mind-set and with women's
empowerment embedded
within the company's culture,
it would be in the fitness of
things to launch external
women's empowerment
programs, whereby women
from nearby regions could
be helped in various ways. A
company with women
helming select top roles
would not be viewed sceptically
when undertaking CSR initiatives that
empower women. This is because it
would be clear that this particular
company walks the talk. It is difficult
to challenge the credentials of
persons who practice what they
preach, unlike those whose words
and deeds are poles apart. Such
organizations would be held in high
esteem by employees, customers and
other stakeholders.
With these learning lessons in
mind, Hindustan Powerprojects
works for the uplift of contiguous
communities near the Company's
areas of operations, with special
focus on women's development and
empowerment. The programs are
revolved around capacities
enhancement of each individual for
their economic, social and
intellectual development, with the
emphasis on ensuring beneficiaries
become self-sufficient and self-
reliant in the future.
To institutionalise gender
participation in the rural
development program, most of the
village level paraprofessionals are the
tribal women who are trained to use
new age technology and agricultural
practices. These women in turn reach
out to 100-150 families each and
facilitate and supervise the usage of
this information under the HPPPL
initiated SAFAL a livelihood program
which focuses towards ensuring food
sufficiency and sustainable
livelihoods by promoting farm and
non-farm based livelihood activities.
In the beginning year itself the
programme got high receptivity
from the beneficiaries as it was
addressing their expressed needs. In
its two years, it has reached out to
almost 2000 families in two locations
through its multiple livelihood
enhancement programs like
improved paddy wheat and chickpea
cultivation, vegetable cultivation,
rejuvenation of the lac sector and
backyard poultry. The average
productivity has increased
tremendously from 3.5Qt/acre to
23.5Qt/acre and 2.9Qt/acre to 12Qt/
acre in paddy and wheat respectively.
This intervention has not only
ensured the food sufficiency for the
villagers but also has reinforced their
lost belief in their traditional
occupation. Gender inclusion is also
a focus in building community based
institutions in the form of SHGs
through which all the programs are
routed once they achieve maturity…
In the same direction of
empowerment, HPPPL undertook an
educational intervention which
focuses on women's empowerment
through "Power of Literacy". This
program was not only confined to HC
literacy rather other additional inputs
on life-skills education, vocational
training as well as training on theatre
and educational projects were given
to ensure their grooming and
development.
These initiatives are successful
because the Company's employees
and other stakeholders believe the
programs are meant for the
betterment and development of
society, rather than for simply ticking
the right boxes about the CSR
programs undertaken each year. Also
they are not in contradiction to the
practices at the business operational
level.
Another significant point is that
the CSR community engagement
programmes are not out-sourced.
Direct engagement helps in aligning
the actual needs of the community
needs and the management's
understanding of CSR. Employee
engagement through volunteering
also helps in transferring and
imbibing the values and also in
reassuring that we actually practice
that we publicise.
This is how the CSR ethos
embedded within every employee's
mind can make an immense
difference to the success of such
programs.
32. www.humancapitalonline.com ■32 N June 2015
C
An organization which has its vision and strategy hinging on philanthropic and
CSS agenda exudes much more positive imagery in terms of internal and external
employer branding and able to attract and retain more number of employees
besides securing the long-term commitment of existing employees.
CSR:
orporate Social Responsibility in
today's context is very vital for
the overall growth strategy as it
primarily drives the organizations
to act responsibly as a corporate
citizen. As part of this belief,
organizations while planning and
executing business growth agenda should
also put high consideration to social,
economic and environmental
sustainability on high stakes. This belief of
corporates towards social, environmental
and resources sustainability builds the
foundation of long- term and strong
Corporate Social Sustainability (CSS)
culture which then drives the behaviours
of leaders, managers, employees across
levels and functions. The CSS culture
promotes top down and bottoms up
alignment of employees towards overall
sustenance of their participation in
organization sponsored CSS activities
under the areas of Health, Education,
social up-liftment, environmental
awareness and improvement.
Going by Maslow hierarchy of human
needs, post fulfilment of basic, social and
security needs, human look for self-
THE SHIFTING FOCUS TOWARDS CSRII
In letter & spirit
fulfilment and self-actualisation needs and
this urge can only be satiated once he
finds a purpose through his work life or
Organization sponsored avenues where
he or she can contribute in terms of
time, energy, focus, involvement and
advocacy. CSS culture centric work
environment provides relevant ingredients
to enhance employees' advocacy program
for promoting CSS initiatives within the
organisation. Once employee find a sense
of value and purpose by being involved
in self-fulfilment activities facilitated by
CSS culture, he started getting engaged
with the organization and its vision to
support CSS agenda through his head,
heart and soul.
An organization which has got its
vision and strategy hinges on
philanthropic and CSS agenda exudes
much more positive imagery in terms of
internal and external employer branding
and able to attract and retain more
number of employees besides securing
the long- term commitment of existing
employees. Even employees take lot of
pride to be associated with organization
which believes in CSS philosophy in letter
BY SANJEEV DIXIT
33. www.humancapitalonline.com■ June 2015 N 33
and spirit.
The above hypothesis is very well
supported by empirical evidences
analysed through various employee
engagement surveys carried out in
various organisation worldwide wherein it
has clearly come out that employees in
organisation which has strong culture of
supporting and encouraging people in
CSS initiatives are more engaged with
high sense of ownership and
commitment towards such organisation
vis a vis others. Even the Gen-Y and
millennial employees are more inclined to
join and be with companies which are
CSS oriented. It has also been observed
that high performing employees are also
very comfortable and feel connected in a
philanthropic oriented work culture. Thus
it's proved that by leveraging CSS,
organizations not only enhance its
reputation but increase the employee
engagement and commitment which
further results in the improvement in
organization productivity and business
impact by increasing employees'
retention.
Employees survey findings
(extract courtesy white
paper Corporate Social
Responsibility and
Employee Engagement:
Making the Connection
authored by Rob gross
and Bill Holland) reveals:
G Forty four per cent of
young professionals said
they would discount an
employer with a bad
reputation and nearly half
said corporate social
responsibility policies
should be compulsory.
G Eighty per cent of
respondents would prefer
working for a company
that has a good reputation
for environmental
responsibility. Interestingly,
respondents were more
concerned about working
for an environmentally responsible
company than purchasing from one.
G Working for an organization whose
34. www.humancapitalonline.com ■34 N June 2015
employees positively view
corporate responsibility efforts has
a significant, favourable impact on
how they rate their pride in the
organization, their overall
satisfaction, their willingness to
recommend it as a place to work
and their intention to stay.
G When employees view their
organization's commitment to
socially responsible behaviour
more favourably, they also tend to
have more positive attitudes in
other areas that correlate with
better performance, such as
customer service and leadership
from management.
G Seven out of 10 employees in
organizations that are viewed by
employees as socially responsible
rated senior management as
having high integrity compared
with just one in five employees
who were negative about their
employer's CSR record.
G CSR is the third most
important driver of employee
engagement overall, and an
organization's reputation for social
responsibility is an important
driver for both engagement and
retention.
G A company's reputation as a
good employer ranks sixth as an
attraction driver. Accordingly,
"organizations with a reputation
for CSR can take advantage of
their status and strengthen their
appeal as an attractive employer
by making their commitment part
of their value proposition for
potential candidates.
In my experience across
various companies where I have
worked, the CSS drive had moved
from basic level of plantation of
trees, blood donations to working
around strategic theme of
Resources sustainability like Rain
water harvesting, zero based water
utilisation, waste recycling and
management, resource
conservation, etc.
In my current organization
Allied Blenders & Distillers, CSS is
a strategic critical factor of the
overall organization strategy and
well aligned to the company's
vision to be the "Most Admired
Spirits Company". In order to live
the vision in letter & spirit,
keeping in view the society as the
most important stakeholder, the
company has shown its intent to
drive the Corporate Social
Sustainability under the aegis and
brand name of ABD Yogdaan.
Vision of ABD Yogdaan
"To position ABD as a socially
active Corporate Citizen & Most
Admired Company and leverage
the activities for the social cause
and company, involving employees
through volunteering, wherever
possible."
Objective
G ABD is gaining from the
positive changes triggered by the
fast growing economy in India.
Conscious of its responsibility
THE SHIFTING FOCUS TOWARDS CSRII
Sanjeev comes with 15+ years of
comprehensive and hands on HR
experience in diversified industries with
specialization of People processes like
Performance Management,
Organization Capability building,
Employee Relations & Management,
etc. He is currently the Chief People
Officer at Allied Blenders and Distillers(
ABD). He has worked with Alstom India
where he was the Country HR Director
and was overall responsible for driving
HR shared services for different SBUs of
their India Operations. Prior to this,
Sanjeev was with PepsiCo India where
he was General Manager-HR for their
Beverages Business of South Market
Unit based out of Chennai
SanjeevDixit
Chief People’s Officer- ABD
t a k e a w a y s
G Corporate Social Responsibility is vital for the overall growth strategy as it primarily drives
the organizations to act responsibly as a corporate citizen.
G CSS culture centric work environment provides relevant ingredients to enhance employees’
advocacy program for promoting CSS initiatives within the organization.
G Any organization which has its vision and strategy hinging on philanthropic and CSS agenda
exudes much more positive imagery in terms of internal and external employer branding and
able to attract and retain more number of employees besides securing the long- term
commitment of existing employees.
G Even the Gen-Y and millennial employees are more inclined to join and be with companies
which are CSS oriented.
G High performing employees are also comfortable and feel connected in a philanthropic
oriented work culture.
35. www.humancapitalonline.com■ June 2015 N 35
Pillars of sustainable development - CSS programs to choose from
towards the society, we stand
committed to invest in
neighborhood communities, more
and more and improve the quality
of life and inculcate a sense of
well-being amongst the people,
settled around.
G The Corporate vision of CSS
goes like this, "To behave fairly &
responsibly contributing to
sustainable economic development
and improving the quality of life
in the neighborhood, in the
process maximizing stakeholders'
value."
G Accountable for impact on
stakeholders - work force, their
family, the local community and
society at large.
G Improving the quality of life of
the neighborhood in ways good
for development for impact on
stakeholders - work force, their
family, the local community and
society at large.
G Through Company sponsorship
and Employee advocacy as
employee engagement in
Corporate Social Responsibilities
will sustain the practices.
G ABD is keen in making positive
contribution to society by
targeting social and cultural issues,
maintaining a humanitarian
approach, focus on areas in and
around our Offices / Factories and
areas of operations.
Supporting societal development
by contributing towards and
involving our employees in
person towards:
G Education and skills training:
Training and earning opportunity
to differently challenged youth,
underprivileged children and
young adults, tribal communities.
Alleviation of poverty, financial
inclusion for migrant labour.
G Cultural & sports development: HC
Supporting various community
programs by local citizens.
Helping to create entrepreneurship
opportunities.
G Health & quality of life: Safe
drinking water, sanitation, health
disadvantaged.
G Environment preservation:
Carbon footprint reduction,
increasing green cover, promote
bio-diversity.
With the business environment
becoming more and more
volatile, complex, uncertain and
ambiguous, the imperative will
be to leverage CSS as driver for
fulfilling key strategic objectives
of business which includes
attracting and retaining talents,
enhancing their engagement,
commitment and thus
productivity and collectively
make high return on investment
from employee engagement
through CSS drive.
36. www.humancapitalonline.com ■36 N June 2015
T
Aligning the
millennials in the
CSR movement
here is a fallacy about the millennials or Gen Y
(those born after 1982) - that they are self-
obsessed, self-indulgent lot that does not care
much about the larger good of the society. But
like several other misconceptions about this generation,
this belief too is not true. In fact, they strongly feel about
the social causes they espouse, more than the baby
boomers. The millennials have witnessed the high
trajectory economy in which corporate honchos like
Ratan Tata, Azim Premji, Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao who
have chosen to commit substantial part of their personal
wealth towards Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
Millennial alumni of premier institutions like IITs and
IIMs have also contributed significantly to create
infrastructure at their alma mater. Most of the
participants at events like Pinkathon or Go Green
initiatives that champion causes of women
empowerment, environment etc are millennials. Several
of these millennials have just one sibling or less and
hence demonstrate the urge to give back to the society
that they fall upon. The young working professionals, in
fact, go beyond the call of duty, working with NGOs on
weekends to support social causes, take a sabbatical to
work with organizations like Teach India, and even design
technological interventions, using their skills. This
perspective is critical to understanding and aligning
millennials with a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
movement.
Engaging millennials through social media,
crowd sourcing
Leveraging social media is critical to engaging millennials,
as they are highly dependent on social media to get and
share information. If they are able to associate with a
CSR initiative, they will spread the word over social
(Facebook, Twitter, etc) and Instant Messaging (IM)
platforms (WhatsApp, WeChat etc) using their
smartphones. Thus, they become endorsers for a
cause or CSR program if engaged in the right way
over mobile, social and IM platforms. Organizations
need to understand these traits of the 'mobile-first
generation' and accordingly engage them for CSR. At
Virtusa, we use our own social platform, RAVE, which
is used to thank, recognize and reward employee
contributions towards CSR activities. This platform
has been combined with gamification, badges and
leaderboards to further enhance the millennial
engagement. Millennials seek instant gratification
which means that it is crucial to share updates about
the difference they were able to create. Such a move
will ensure repeat participation during later stages of
the CSR activity.
Social media also provides scope for crowd
Millennials feel strongly about the society that they live in and will not shy away from
working to make it better. The key is to engage them, understand their perspective
and design high impact CSR programs on a sustained basis.
BY KIRAN AIDHI
THE SHIFTING FOCUS TOWARDS CSRII
37. www.humancapitalonline.com■ June 2015 N 37
consume news on the go on their
smart devices and feel the need to
respond to such calamities in a timely
manner. Organizations cannot afford
to ignore putting in place such
mechanisms and processes.
Also, millennials will look forward
to their leaders - team, business etc
- to lead from the front with their
active involvement. There has to be a
top-down approach for all CSR
programs being implemented by an
organization. This will underline the
commitment of the senior
management and also their
expectations from their teams in
participating and ensuring success of
the initiative.
Delineate CSR and
sustainability
It is important to clearly delineate CSR
from sustainability initiatives of an
organization. The communication
outreach to millennial employees also needs to reflect
this. They need to know whether they contributing to a
social cause with significant impact or to create sustainable
practices for the long term. Observance of Earth Hour or
move o encourage employees to cycle to work cannot be
clubbed under CSR. Once employees know what they are
contributing to, they will be clear in their minds on the
efforts they want to put in. Such delineation will
demonstrate to the millennial employees, the seriousness
of the senior management in fulfilling their social
responsibility. The new norms for CSR by the Government
of India also mandate that CSR and sustainability activities
should not be mixed up.
Above all, it is vital that there are no barriers to
participation in CSR - set low barriers for involvement
and offer a spectrum of participation opportunities. Across
the board, there has to be a lot of communication about
a CSR event much before it takes off. Since most of these
activities happen on a weekend, adequate time must be
given so as to draw a firm commitment from millennial
employees. It is also important to ensure continuity of
social causes espoused and identifying employees who
care deeply about a certain cause. Such employees should
also be recognized and encouraged so that they become
icons for other employees to follow. Create leaderboards
to celebrate the individual contribution to CSR programs.
A narrative capturing the entire corporate story of
contribution to social causes revealed through campaigns
across social media will also instill a greater pride among
millennial employees.
Millennials feel strongly about the society that they
live in and will not shy away from working to make it
better. The key is to engage them, understand their
perspective and design high impact CSR programs on a
sustained basis.
sourcing of unique ideas - to shortlist
causes to be associated with, to
announce actual rollout and the
resultant impact. It is advisable to
identify the social causes that an
organization wants to advocate. It is
not possible for any organization to
work on all the social fronts - be it
education, poverty alleviation,
environment protection etc. Hence,
it makes sense for HR teams to crowd
source ideas from their workforce
on social causes they want to work
on, keeping in line with the vision,
values and beliefs of the organization
and its founders. This will make it
more compelling for millennial
employees to participate in the CSR
initiatives. A sense of ownership also
comes into a play in such a scenario,
something the young professionals
relish and revel in.
Social media awareness
campaigns on CSR can also help
organizations in attracting talent as it is one of the factors
considered by millennials while joining employment. It
is also a good idea for HR teams to brief new employees
about the CSR initiatives of the organization during
induction as this will help to create a connect.
Design innovative CSR initiatives to attract
millennials
The millennial generation is deep-rooted with innovation
and technological interventions as a way of
life. They do not wish to indulge in lip service
by involving themselves with a one-off activity.
They also do not appreciate unplanned,
unstructured CSR programs. They need to
see scale in the initiative. They are more than
willing to be part of long and sustained
campaigns that have defined objectives.
Considering all these factors, it is pertinent to
design CSR programs in an innovative manner.
For instance, creating an e-learning module
based on gamification for underprivileged
children to teach them math skills. Millennials
believe technology can solve many of the
problems faced by the society and rightly so.
Innovative initiatives like incubating and
funding social enterprises that make a
difference to the lives of a section of the society
is another example. At Virtusa, we developed
an app for the Corporation of Chennai that
ensures public utilities like parks and toilets
are well maintained and provide redressal mechanisms
in case they are found to be lacking. It is also
recommended to put in place a CSR committee that can
engage with NGOs and Government wings to respond to
natural calamities like floods, earthquakes, etc. Millennials
Kiran Aidhi is Director-HR for Virtusa
Corporation, a well-known information
technology services provider with a global
reach. She possesses more than 17 years of
extensive experience in HR which includes
Talent Management, Talent Engagement,
Talent Development, Performance
Management, Succession Planning and
Career Transitions. Prior to this, she has
worked with Accenture, Convergys, Tech
Mahindra Business Services, Le Royale
Meridian and Bharti Airtel. Kiran has done
her MBA from IIPM Delhi and has spent
most of her career life in Mumbai.
KiranAidhi
Director-HR, Virtusa Corporation
HC
