Social Responsibility in the Workplace and in your Community

Social responsibility is all about ensuring the wellbeing of those who are part of your organisation – your staff. Instead of being solely focused on money, leading companies are now investing in socially responsible practices, both in the workplace and in the wider community.

Social responsibility starts at home. Some say it’s a matter of putting the heart back into the business, making it an integral part of doing business. Companies like the ANZ Bank, The Warehouse and Body Shop are well known for volunteer work they’re doing in the community.

But fewer people are aware of what an organization’s management is doing for its staff, apart from paying the salaries. Socially responsible employers are the ones where staff trust that the organisation will deal with issues as they arise, rather than burying their head in the sand. They are the ones that will listen to their staff, empowering them to make positive changes in the workplace.

Branding Issue – Is your organisation being Socially Responsible towards its staff?

Workplace Conferencing rebranded late 2003, as part of its commitment to social responsibility.

Fiona explains: “Social responsibility towards staff is all about ethics and doing the right thing by those working with you. It’s about seeing an organisation as a team that needs to pull together to work well.

“One of our government clients recently put it really well – they said the intervention process we’d done for them was all about “Putting it Right’”. We equipped their front-line staff with some training that gave them new skills for low-level conflict intervention. This meant they were able to put issues right at source, rather than involving management staff. This was a win-win for all involved, leading to greater workplace satisfaction. Staff felt supported by the organisation and its socially responsible training.”

Fiona says Workplace Conferencing felt so strongly about its commitment to social responsibility, that it rebranded in a way that expressed the organization’s belief in social justice.

“We believe one of the catch-phrases of our process is that we make a positive difference to the organizations we’re working with,” Fiona says.

The positive difference symbol sitting behind the Workplace Conferencing logo expresses our belief that change is an ongoing process of discovery, where each intervention impacts on another. This brings in the Maori concept of whanaungatanga – which talks of the inter-connectedness of people.

Fiona says: “We’re all part of a community – whether it is a workplace or a family situation - and we need to be aware of the impact our behaviour is having on those around us. Workplace Conferencing facilitates this awareness, using a process that empowers groups to be more aware of the need to consciously monitor their behaviours in the workplace and more committed to shared responsibility for positive change. The outcomes are healthier workplace environments that are willing to accept individual and collective responsibility – dealing with it, rather than simply blaming ‘the boss’, an individual or the organisation. This process creates balance and harmony, and respect for all parties. The outcomes are win-win for all involved, with by-products including greater understanding, positive change and more open communication.”