When we talk about good corporate citizens, we think about those companies that balance financial results with the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) aspects of business. The complexity of this practice demands diverse skills and experience, and the engagement of employees at all levels.
While the active involvement of all employees is essential to corporate citizenship success, respondents of the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship’s Profile of the Professionals 2018report indicated that of CEOs, executives, managers, and staff, executives are the most likely to help them achieve their objectives (see Figure A).
Respondents were least likely to report that managers are helpful, which mirrors a subsequent finding: That working across departments/lines of business was a top corporate citizenship challenge (see Figure B). To ease these challenges, corporate citizenship professionals should work to create a vivid image of their work’s end result and be able to communicate how initiatives align with—and enhance—the current efforts of each department. Once people understand how corporate citizenship programs benefit THEM, then they’ll be more likely to support and engage in corporate citizenship.
While working across departments is a hurdle for many corporate citizenship professionals, respondents of the Profile of the Professionals 2018were most likely to report that their workload was their number one challenge (see Figure B). While managers, directors, and senior executives were the most likely to feel the constraints of time in completing their work, staff members reported engaging employees as their number one obstacle.
