Corporate social responsibility: issues for human resource development professionals

Abstract

Recent HRD scholarship has called for greater focus on social responsibility and ecological sustainability. The purpose of this article is to explore engagement of human resource development professionals in corporate social responsibility (CSR), examining one central question: How do HRD professionals perceive their roles and challenges in implementing CSR in organizations that claim CSR to be a key focus of their corporate identity and operation? Understandings of CSR vary and are widely contested, but for purposes of this discussion CSR is defined as treating the stakeholders of the firm ethically or in a responsible manner. Drawing from a qualitative study of HRD managers in eight large North American firms declaring explicit commitments to CSR, the evidence shows that their engagement tends to focus on employee learning and promotion, employee ownership of development, and employee safety and respect. Overall however, HRD appeared to be only marginally involved or interested in the firms’ CSR activities. The article concludes with an argument for greater engagement of HRD in CSR, and offers suggestions for research and practice toward this end.