There has been a lot of talk about the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) within a company, in particular on how it is shifting from being an add-on to the business to becoming an integral part of an organisation’s strategy. 

Indeed, there are many benefits to be gained from embedding corporate social responsibility in a business, from staff retention to improving profitability to increasing a company’s competitive advantage. Consumers, clients and potential employees (especially the younger generation of candidates coming through now) are all increasingly looking at companies who have responsible and ethical practices at their core. 

This is particularly true for the recruitment sector, which continues to have the image of sharp suits and even sharper practices among those outside the industry. More consultancies seem to be embracing CSR as a route to shifting these perceptions, but there is still a long way to go. 

However, formalising a company’s responsible business practices is not always easy, as organisations need to make the necessary investment in time and money. That said, you don’t need to be a big organisation with a huge CSR budget to make a difference; you do, though, need to make sure that ethical practices and sustainability are at the heart of every aspect of how your business is run.

Companies should focus on implementing responsible best practices in the workplace, environment, community and marketplace. There are a number of initiatives that recruitment consultancies in particular could undertake in order to do so – here are just a few: 

1. Charity support – Get involved in your community, selecting local charities that your company can support through fundraising initiatives. However, it’s not just about the money. Think about all the valuable skills in your business and how these could also help. 

As an example, we support a local organisation that helps people with long-term mental health problems get work-ready and find transitional and full-time employment placements. As well as fundraising, our consultants spend time working on CVs, interviewing skills, career planning and providing guidance on potential career paths. This is invaluable to those we help, but is also incredibly rewarding and motivating for our staff.

2. Going green – Making a difference to the environment is also key to CSR and there are a number of simple initiatives that organisations can implement in order to make their working practices greener. For example, moving to paperless operations, implementing stringent recycling practices and encouraging staff to cycle to work through the government’s cycle to work scheme.  

3. Staff buy-in – The CSR values of a business should be embraced by all staff members; the stronger the staff buy-in, the more effective the initiatives will be. This helps employees view their company as different and leading the way in ethical business practice, giving them the opportunity to give something back as part of their working day. Moreover, staff buy-in significantly increases staff retention and attracts high-calibre individuals who are interested in the company’s ethos and values.

These are ways in which individual recruitment consultancies can start to make a difference. However, what would help in putting CSR not just at the heart of specific businesses, but a movement for good among the industry as a whole, would be if a universally recognised CSR standard – championed by an industry body such as APSCo [Association of Professional Staffing Companies] – were developed. This would provide recruitment consultancies with a framework and code of practice, tailored to the industry’s needs, which would make it easier for organisations to implement responsible business practices – and benchmark their efforts against the rest of the industry. 

Patrick Feast is director – Training & Development at IT and finance recruiter Harris Global

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