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Growing competitiveness in business has made it necessary for companies today to not just indulge in highly effective CSR practices, but at the same time, to account for every rupee spent thereby. Contribution of CSR to business success is likely to remain unpredictable in the absence of adequate measures of assessment and reporting
Tools of measuring
Measuring CSR becomes a complex task largely because it is a very wide-ranging concept with innumerable qualitative and quantitative dimensions. A K M Ahsanul Hoque, CSR Bangladesh director of training & research explains, “The impact of CSR is intangible, you can't measure it accurately in either length or width, or in weight or distance. The impact of CSR to the organisation has to be studied in terms of the employee loyalty, zero-day or reduced strikes in the production line, increased employee performance, increased productivity, and many other parameters which are an outcome of practicing CSR in the organisation/industry.”
Besides internally generated goodwill, benefits of CSR reflect on a company’s external environment as well. Companies adopt different indicators of measuring these, depending on their projects and objectives. Sona Group of Companies, for instance, has constituted a special committee called ‘CSR Council’ that comprises members from the top, senior, middle, junior management as well as the shop-floor level. It is how they secure a just and equitable process of socio-economic development. Hari Nair, vice president-HR, Sona Koyo Steering Systems says, “We evaluate the effectiveness of our programs in terms of benefits to the stakeholders and society. For example, number of patients treated per day in our “Sona Swasthya Kendra” (Sona Health Center) or number of girls benefitting from the schools that we have improved.”
Stakeholders’ participation
Companies are increasingly involving stakeholders and integrating their needs in the overall commitment to CSR. In the long run, this may relieve companies from adverse criticism that often arises from publically committing to CSR goals. Sudeshna Datta, EVP & co-founder, AbsolutData Research and Analytics explains with an example, “In the area of child education, we have developed extensive mentorship programs to aid the growth and development of children from NGOs and certain slum areas that have been adopted by us. In order to gauge the impact of our CSR programs, we have put in place a rigorous feedback mechanism. Further, all concerned stakeholders are encouraged to contribute to the CSR index that is calculated through a rating system and monitored on a regular basis.” Monitoring plays a key role in implementing and evaluating CSR.
Clearly, to avail of the various benefits of meeting social responsibility, the approach must be integrative and transparent, with added emphasis on feedback and evaluation systems. Globally, measuring CSR has received increased attention. RARE (Rhetoric and Realities: Analysing Corporate Social Responsibility in Europe) project, for instance included ‘Developing a CSR Impact Assessment tool and identifying drivers of high CSR impact’ among other things.
In addition, proper evaluation should be matched with adequate reporting. True and fair reporting of CSR must itself become a part of a company’s CSR policy. It is indispensable for building trust not just outside the organisation but also within! |
