Dr. Richard Welford, Chairman of CSR Asia.

It is not surprising to see more CSR projects popping up in the workplace. In fact, CSR has proven to be one of the top ways to keep talents engaged as people now all want to work for good employers who care about society. In short, CSR matters. And it is time that organisations placed some weigh on society instead of having business as the only focus.

Dr. Richard Welford, Chairman of CSR Asia says that corporate social responsibility is an important aspect of business strategy and has a strong positive impact on brand reputation and trust. It also helps to forge a positive relationship with the company's various stakeholders. One of the most
important stakeholders is a company's own staff, who increasingly want to work for companies that they see as responsible and contributing positively to society.

"People want to work for companies that they can trust and respect. Increasingly financial compensation is only one part of what talent is looking for. Increasingly people are looking at a package of benefits to attract them to an employer. Part of that package is often the opportunity for personal development that can be gained from employee volunteering and being involved in innovative and exciting CSR projects and initiatives," says Dr. Welford.

Get Staff Involved
Dr. Welford points out that more and more companies are developing CSR initiatives in their business and are trying to integrate CSR programs into their talent management strategies. "The challenge is to  find initiatives that both enhance the brand and give staff opportunities to be involved in environmental and local community based projects. However, Hong Kong companies still do not recognise the importance of  nding innovative projects and tend to epeat the same initiatives over and over again."

For the purpose of engaging and keeping great talents, Dr. Welford suggests that CSR initiatives should be designed that bring a benefit to the company through brand, reputation and trust and at the same time bring bene ts to local communities.

"Staff should be able to support the initiatives, if they wish to, and companies should think about how they can use CSR projects to enhance the personal development of their staff. Good initiatives will be linked to core business, meet a real community need and will be designed to involve staff," he continues.

Social Media
While more organisations realise the importance of CSR and are communicating it to the people, Dr. Welford says that organisations should be aware of the growing popularity of social media and its impact on talent management as well.

"Particularly for younger staff, the social media is how they communicate to their peers and colleagues and it is where they will comment on the activities of companies. Companies with proactive and meaningful CSR programs can bene t from the exposure of those projects in the social media. This can have an impact on brand perceptions and ultimately sales," he adds.

Success Factors
Finally, Dr. Welford suggests organisations to note the key success factors for developing CSR strategies that help enhance talent management effectiveness:

• Deal with real needs in the community where the company operates.
• Find out what staff members are interested in being involved with.
• Identify staff with a passion for social and environmental responsibility.
• Match staff aspirations with community needs.
• Communicate activities to bring reputational benefits to the company.

When it comes to CSR, many employers would see employing the disabled or the disadvantaged like the ethnic minority as one of the main areas for ful lling CSR.

Mr. Nelson Yip Siu-hong, MH, Chief Executive of EP Venture Limited and Executive Committee Member of Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), thinks that whether organisations employ the disadvantaged groups should not be seen as the focus.

"The focus of CSR should be sharing a company’s values and ideology through various CSR initiatives. It is not good to engage in CSR just because other people think you should do it. It's about the cultivation of corporate culture instead of leveraging one single CSR initiative to attract talents. It’s like two sides of a coin. On the one hand, organisations encourage staff participation in CSR; and on the other hand, demonstrate corporate culture to win employees' recognition," says Mr. Yip.

Mr. Nelson Yip Siu-hong, MH, Chief Executive of EP Venture Limited and Executive Committee Member of Equal Opportunities Commission.

Diversity and Inclusion
As a sufferer of cerebral palsy, Mr. Yip shows particular concern for issues like disability and rehabilitation, and has taken up roles in various government and non-government bodies, including the executive committee member of EOC. He reveals that EOC employs various types of talents, including the disabled and minority groups on an ongoing basis. “It shouldn’t be highlighting a company's CSR effort by merely employing a few disabled staff. The key point is to have an open work environment of diversity and inclusion where competencies of all talents are gathered for perfect talent matching to handle different tasks."

Mr. Yip says that it is not good to label the disabled talents. All employers need to know is that the disabled employees do have their strengths and can also create value for organisations to drive growth. "We are not asking all companies to think from an employment perspective when working on CSR. Talent management and CSR rely on an open work environment but employing the disabled doesn't mean there is an open environment in place."

Now, more organisations are having their own CSR programs. While some may think that organisations will have ful lled their social responsibility if they carry out CSR programs such as special recruitment schemes for the disabled, Mr. Yip holds that embracing corporate culture is the starting point that can later lead to good employer branding and corporate reputation.

"We hope that more companies will share their value and philosophy through CSR programs. Companies should ask themselves: Why do they promote CSR? What do they want to advocate? Other than earning money, what do they want to do for our society? CSR doesn't really have to be organising large-scale campaigns, but more importantly to have the company’s values demonstrated."

Responsible Employer
"Organisations should not engage in CSR programs just because others are doing it. They should do it from the heart and show that they are doing something good for society as responsible employers. By displaying corporate culture and philosophy, organisations will be able to attract good talents to work for them, while the public will gain better understanding of the organisations. Effective talent management depends on whether a work environment with diversity and inclusion is in place. Employing one or two disabled employees doesn't represent the fulfillment of CSR. The key is to let different types of staff display their talents and make contribution," Mr. Yip adds.

More and more organisations have begun CSR programs in recent years. Larger corporations invest even more resources in them. As a key player in the real estate sector, Sun Hung Kai Properties endeavours to contribute to society through its various CSR initiatives as it carries out its business operations.

SHKP Group Head of Internal Affairs CH Tang says, "CSR should be seen as an essential element in the sustainable success of an organisation. As a stakeholder in society, it is important that an organisation takes the initiative in doing something good for society. Organisations doing well in CSR will contribute to society and develop good branding that attracts and keeps talent. Organisations that encourage staff to take part in CSR activities can develop a strong sense of belonging among staff working in different departments and team spirit across the workplace, so all parties bene t for a win-win-win."

Mr. Tang believes that CSR activities offer a lot of advantages to employees. By participating in CSR activities, employees are able to broaden their exposure, have a closer connection to society and pursue better work-life balance. He says, "We believe that one factor in the success of a CSR program is staff participation. We therefore promote CSR activities to encourage participation."

Part of Training
One feature of the Group's CSR strategy is to integrate CSR initiatives into training and development. Mr. Tang says, “For example, we encouraged our people to take part in the Race to ICC-100 – SHKP Vertical Run stair limbing event at International Commerce Centre where runners climbed over 2,000 steps to raise funds for the Community Chest, and the HK Challenge where teams competed over three days and two nights to raise funds to support underprivileged young people. By participating in these programs, employees could connect with their colleagues and develop strong team spirit and cooperation."

Mr. C. H. Tang, Group Head, Internal Affairs Department of Sun Hung Kai Properties.

Start from the Top
He also believes that support from top management is essential for the success of CSR programs, noting: "We are happy to have our top management, including our chairmen and managing directors Thomas and Raymond Kwok, active in the Group's CSR activities such as the Community Chest Corporate Challenge with half marathon and 10-km race. Thomas and Raymond joined hundreds of staff and friends for the charity event, and both of them completed the 10- km race."

"By participating, top management serve as role models for the entire workforce, which is very effective in encouraging staff to get involved in CSR programs and contributing to society. Some of the activities we organise are also open to employees' family members, which is a good way to foster family relationships that are a key factor for employee wellness," Mr. Tang continues.

The CSR policy at SHKP consists of four key areas: health and sports, community, environment, and reading and youth development. "We believe in good corporate citizenship and strive to build a harmonious community with multi-faceted efforts. That is why we offer sponsorships for a wide range of charitable projects. We hope they can help the needy improve the quality of their lives," Mr. Tang says.

SHKP Volunteer Team
Mr. Tang says Building Homes with Heart is part of the Group’s core culture. One of its Caring Initiatives is to provide renovation assistance to families in dif culty and elderly people living alone. This involves SHKP volunteers using their professional skills to do basic repairs and maintenance for the disadvantaged. “These renovation projects make use of our resources to help the needy, while our volunteers can apply their skills to contribute to society," says Mr. Tang.

The SHKP Volunteer Team has set up for ten years and now a team of over 2,000 members who put in over 80,000 hours of service in 2011. “Most of our CSR initiatives are supported by our volunteer team members and their relatives. In fact, the success of CSR programs doesn’t merely depend on the Group’s efforts, but on cooperation with various parties including NGOs and staff. That’s why we hold a volunteer appreciation day every summer to recognise volunteers'’ contribution to society," he says.

Mr. Tang talks about reading and youth development, saying: "We aim to foster a culture of reading in the community and also nurture talented individuals to enhance the competitiveness of Hong Kong. Initiatives include the SHKP Book Club, Young Writers’ Debut competitions and the Modern Apprenticeship program that provides underperforming students with practical learning and on-the-job training, plus oneon- one coaching by experienced SHKP employees."

Mr. Tang believes that effective talent management interlocks with a healthy and strong corporate culture that encourages teamwork and participation, while support from leaders is necessary. He says, "It is expected that organisations will place greater emphasis on CSR in the near future. We will also invest more in CSR programs to demonstrate our ideal of Building Homes with Heart so that the Group, the needy and society all benefit."