Study: More CEOs say good works boost recruiting

Mon, May 18, 2009 - 10:51 am

Reprint from the Boston Business Journal | May 29, 2009
By Mary Moore

A report issued by the Massachusetts Business Roundtable shows that Boston-area companies are incorporating social responsibility initiatives in their business plans not just because they are good for the community, but also because they help recruit and retain workers.

This marks a shift in corporate philanthropy since the Roundtable released its Primer for Strategic Corporate Philanthropy in 2000, which noted that corporate responsibility was beginning to evolve from community impact to bottom line impact. The most recent report shows that the evolution, indeed, has taken place.
Boston struggles to maintain its college grads as they move into the workforce, and the Round Table report underscores that philanthropy is a factor making some local companies more attractive to younger workers.

The Roundtable issued the report in collaboration with the University of Massachusetts Boston Emerging Leaders Program. A team from the Emerging Leaders Program started working on the report last summer, interviewing 20 Massachusetts companies about their corporate social responsibility activities—predominantly large companies and representing a cross-section of industries.

“Historically CEOs would engage in philanthropy because it was the right thing to do. They wanted to be good corporate citizens,” said J.D. Chesloff, deputy director of the Massachusetts Business Roundtable. “Now there’s a good buiness case to incorporating it into their business plan. There’s a bottom line impact to it, in addition to being good for all the other community reasons.”

Based on the findings from the 20 companies included in the research, the report suggests five ways companies can build a culture of social responsibility:

• Create and maintain a clear link to the company’s mission and secure executive endorsement;
• Engage employees at all levels as decision makers and leaders in regard to CSR targets and activities;
• Leverage employees’ skills and their ability to make positive contributions to the community;
• Provide opportunities for employees to develop new skills; and
• Encourage teamwork through group volunteer programs.

“A lot of it is around a company being authentic about wanting to do something in the community and listening to what the employees are interested in doing and connecting it to the values of the company,” said Ellen Remmer, CEO of The Philanthropic Initiative Inc., a nonprofit that promotes strategic philanthropy and advises donors.

MASSACHUSETTS BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE
The Massachusetts Business Roundtable is a statewide public affairs organization of chief executive officers and area executives of the state’s leading companies representing a full range of Massachusetts industry and business enterprise.  The Roundtable’s mission is to inform the Commonwealth’s elected and appointed leaders by applying the knowledge, experience, insight and unique managerial perspective of its membership to the resolution of complex public policy issues. Through research, evaluation and communication, the Massachusetts Business Roundtable strives to influence the state’s public policy agenda, and develop and articulate long-term views, programs and policies that promote the economic and social vitality of Massachusetts.

UMASS BOSTON EMERGING LEADERS PROGRAM
The Emerging Leaders Program is an executive training program for Greater Boston area professionals.  Program participants enhance their individual leadership skills and learn how to work effectively with other leaders toward specific goals. The ten-month program for “Fellows” chosen includes a weeklong seminar, followed by monthly meetings and team projects.  Fellows hone their individual leadership skills in several areas, including networking, communication, conflict resolution, the political process, entrepreneurship, media relations and teamwork. The program stresses the collaborative leadership model, in which leaders share resources, networks, intelligence, perspectives, and assets to achieve common goals.  Fellows will increase their knowledge of the cultural framework that determines how Greater Boston and other major urban areas function.