CSR

Earth Day and Water Day 2016: Ensuring corporate social responsibility when it comes to protecting the environment

April 21, 2016 Cristina Lavecchia Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Training and Development

In light of Earth Day (celebrated annually on April 22) and World Water Day (celebrated annually on March 22), we thought we would provide employers with a background on the internationally observed days, as well as discuss what can be done to ensure their business is operated in an economically, socially, and environmentally responsible way.

corporate social responsibility, CSR, Earth Day, employment law, environmental issues, Farming, Paris Agreement on Climate Change, UN, United Nations, World Water Day, World Water Development Report 2016

Could these counterintuitive policies work for your company?

July 11, 2012 Adam Gorley Employee Relations, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources

Flexible scheduling, telecommuting, broad benefit plans, and so on can hardly be considered unorthodox anymore. But what about increasingly creative efforts to make and keep employees happy? It’s old news that Google’s offices feature games, free food and massages in a casual and comfortable atmosphere. Many others have followed suit. Take a look at these counterintuitive employment policies.

alternative work arrangements, babies and work, community service, corporate social responsibility, counterintuitive policies, CSR, employee retention, employment law, employment policies, flexible scheduling, flexible work arrangements, Google, horizontal hierarchy, maternity buddies, no vacation policy, open source, paying employees to quit, sabbatical, telecommuting, tuition reimbursement, unlimited sick days

Summertime, social committees and corporate social responsibility

June 12, 2012 Marcia Scheffler Employee Relations, Human Resources

Summer weather is here and as a human resources manager or a front-line manager you may be asked to be responsible for coordinating social or charitable activities, such as the Heart & Stroke Foundation’s Big Bike, the Canadian Cancer Society’s Relay for Life teams, the summer strawberry social or an employee barbecue. How important is good management of social committees or charitable activities? What are the associated risks and rewards for an organization?

charitable activities, control over work, corporate social responsibility, CSR, employee empowerment, employee morale, employment law, ESG, inappropriate conduct, negative perception, negative publicity, social committee, social media, workplace events

Make AODA training count for more than compliance

April 18, 2012 Marcia Scheffler Accessibility Standards, Employee Relations, Human Resources, Integrated Accessibility Regulation, Standard for Customer Service, Training and Development

The best employers and proactive HR managers will go beyond just meeting the AODA training requirements. You can make the greatest impact for your employees and for your organization by using your AODA training as tool for increasing employee engagement. One way to do this is to carefully design and promote your organization’s AODA program as socially responsible corporate behaviour rather than simply as a compliance-driven reaction…

Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, AODA Compliance, AODA standards, AODA training, best practices, corporate social responsibility, CSR, employee engagement, employment law, return on investment

Introducing guest blogger Marcia Scheffler

March 20, 2012 Adam Gorley Announcements and Administration, Human Resources, Payroll

We are happy to welcome Marcia Scheffler to our roster of regular bloggers at First Reference Talks.

best practices, business strategy, change management, corporate social responsibility, CSR, HR issues, Marcia Scheffler, organizational development

New guide to CSR for small and medium businesses

January 13, 2011 Adam Gorley Employee Relations, Human Resources

A business research centre at Cardiff University, Wales, has teamed up with the British arm of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants to release a new guide on corporate social responsibility (CSR) for small and medium-sized businesses, called The ABC of CSR for small and medium enterprises. If you don’t mind the Welsh, and can handle reading “programme” instead of “program”, then you might find this guide offers some valuable lessons.

Absenteeism, corporate social responsibility, CSR, efficiency, employee retention, motivation, reputation, strategy, sustainability