Chief Learning Officer - December 2008 - (Page 74)

Corporate Social Responsibility: How Can Learning Contribute? BY ANNICK RENAUD-COULON One emerging element in executive education has been corporate social responsibility. How can the learning organization encourage this sort of behavior, which ultimately has a positive effect on the bottom line? representatives, want their companies to implement meaningful policies and demonstrate virtuous behavior. This is what emerges from research conducted by Right Management, which conﬁrms there is a “growing demand to demonstrate elevated socially responsible and compassionate behavior.” So how, if not through education, can companies respond to this demand, which is grounded in reason, emotion, common sense and ideals? Companies can’t just wave a magic wand to show they’re being responsible. Responsibility isn’t a question of communication or making declarations. That would be too simplistic. Responsibility only comes from education, reﬂection, exchange, sharing and sustained effort. In other words, it is absolutely essential for employees, and especially managers, to spend some time learning about and understanding world issues — and particularly issues relating to their company — so they can learn about socially responsible behavior. This will make it possible to mobilize them around individual and collective initiatives and for everyone to experience the satisfaction of seeing the signiﬁcant and tangible results of implementing CSR. The corporate university or learning department seems to be the preferred lever of corporate responsibility, from the social and environmental perspectives. This educational structure that is principally focused on aligning skills with business strategies also should promote CSR education to encourage this sort of behavior, which ultimately has a positive effect on the bottom line. How can the university do this? By embracing the following concepts: he idea that education is the key to everything isn’t new. Plato was a fervent critic of the civilization in which he lived, which was rife with corruption, and saw education as a means of creating the ideal society. Confucius believed education not only offered a means to establish a reign of virtue, but could also change human nature and improve it in a qualitative way. In some ways, the world hasn’t changed much since antiquity. Human behavior — its foundations, selﬁshness and selﬂessness — remains unchanged. Virtue is still a much sought-after commodity, and education is the best means of ﬁnding solutions to the world’s ills. Companies’ efforts to spread awareness of corporate social responsibility (CSR) among their stakeholders is very much a part of education’s salvational role. DID YOU KNOW? It is encouraging to note that, According to research from under the combined inﬂuence of Right Management, 85 scientists, international organizapercent of organizations tions, non-governmental organizaconsider CSR a critical tions (NGOs) and the media, the component in the selection world of work is embracing the ideals of an outplacement service of CSR. Companies are drawing up and partner. ethical charters; creating sustainable development and diversity management departments and drawing up budgets for them; and publishing an annual environmental and social report. While companies are taking a genuine, ethical interest in major social and environmental causes, there are often other reasons associated with their image and business: the need to satisfy their stakeholders’ demands. Among the latter are the employees who, as brand T 74 Chief Learning Ofﬁcer • December 2008 • www.clomedia.com http://www.clomedia.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Chief Learning Officer - December 2008

Chief Learning Officer - December 2008 Editor’s Letter Contents Connections Business Impact Best Practices Effectiveness Guest Editorial The Future of Learning CLO Profile Learning Opportunities Embedded in Social Networking ManTech Leverages Knowledge Management Approaches for Social Networking Agility Training for the Learning Organization Creating an Agile Organization With Learning 2.0 2008 Learning In Practice Awards Corporate Social Responsibility: How Can Learning Contribute? Union Fenosa Corporate University: How CSR Education Impacted the Bottom Line Training in the 21st Century: Everything Old Is New Again Zions Bancorp.: Connecting the Dots Case Study Business Intelligence Advertisers’ Index Editorial Resources In Conclusion

Chief Learning Officer - December 2008

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