How CSR spills over into HR and quality functions

The topic of CSR has taken on a new dimension with the adoption of the CSRD directive on sustainability reporting in late 2022. A company’s non-financial performance will be measured with the same rigor and detail as its financial performance. This will require meticulous attention to detail—at least as much as a quality control process! Beyond this current development, one thing is clear: as the issue of social responsibility has grown in scope, it is no longer the sole domain of the CSR manager but extends to other strategic functions within top management—including quality management, of course, but also human resources. Two studies commissioned by the AFNOR Group in 2022 highlight this trend. The first, available for download here, was conducted among 700 quality decision-makers in collaboration with the BVA Institute. The second, available for download here , surveyed about a thousand HR decision-makers in the public and private sectors.

Performance and Transparency

How are quality and corporate social responsibility (CSR) related, and how can a chief quality officer take on the role of chief sustainability officer? What links the two spheres are the concepts of performance and transparency, sums up Karine Georges, head of research for the AFNOR Group. The concept of quality is largely determined by customer satisfaction. However, today, customers are no longer satisfied simply by the quality of the product or service they have purchased. They are now also satisfied when a company demonstrates values and conduct that align with its principles, without hiding anything. The quality manager must therefore take these expectations into account. “The challenge for quality is that everything we say must be justifiable. It’s not enough to simply write on a container ‘made with milk from our farmers’; it must also be true, and we must be able to prove it,” explains a quality specialist in the food industry in the study. The quality manager is thus drawn into the endeavor as an expert in verification. Within the AFNOR Group, this is the case: the quality department leads the CSR initiative. The topic is clearly defined within the role. In our study, quality decision-makers rank CSR third among the challenges of today and tomorrow, after the ecological transition (of which it is a part) and automation.

Paturle Aciers, an SME based in Isère, has also integrated CSR into its quality management system. Céline Marotte , the QSE manager, reports on the initiative to senior management, whom she has trained on the subject. She confirms that transparency is the concept that bridges the two worlds, but suggests another: The 2015 version of the ISO 9001 standard, which, by adopting a structure common to other major management system standards, encourages us to look beyond customer relations and extend the concept of satisfaction to other stakeholders: suppliers, local partners, and employees. This brings us to questions of ethics, purpose, and trust, and covers the three pillars of corporate social responsibility: the environment, social issues, and the local community. , she explains.

With this in mind, the quality manager also comes to play a role as a change agent: Most companies are currently undergoing a transformation (…). The question is how the quality department can support this transformation strategy to facilitate and formalize these changes and ensure that best practices are reinforced , says a quality assurance specialist in the IT sector in the study. A shift that also involves the HR department! “When a company changes its business model—which is the case with CSR requirements—it is the role of the HR department to support these changes and adapt skills and job roles,” explains Damien Monier, Director of Human Resources, CSR, and Corporate Assets—a triple role!—at Paredes, a company specializing in occupational hygiene. Employees in a real estate management department, for example, must now focus on energy conservation and water reuse. Marketers must no longer simply sell a product, but rather its utility, the way it was designed, and how it will be recycled at the end of its life. These are all new skills that must be acquired. 

Attractiveness and Employer Branding

 

Another reason why HR departments are turning to CSR is the issue of attractiveness and employer branding. "A company that fails to demonstrate CSR would put itself out of the running in the job market," asserts Damien Monier. Candidates, as well as external partners and internal employees, expect the company to provide purpose, respect, leadership, and best practices. This therefore touches on workplace morale, and workplace morale is the HR department’s domain. As a result, HR finds itself at the center of CSR issues, in addition to naturally being on the front lines when it comes to workplace quality of life—if we choose to link these issues to the broader CSR landscape. However, the AFNOR study shows that CSR in the strict sense ranks only 13th among the top 15 HR topics considered important today. It even ranks second-to-last on the list of those to which the organization devotes resources, a list dominated by the item change management and new ways of working . The decision-makers we interviewed all agree that CSR falls under the purview of HR, but they also say they would like to do more in this area; however, they are unable to find the time to do so alongside the core responsibilities of their role, such as health, safety, payroll, and employee representative bodies , says Karine Georges.

HR topics rated on a scale of 1 to 10 based on their current importance

The proof: 55% believe that HR departments should contribute to the company’s CSR policy on an equal footing with other departments in the organizational chart, while 22% believe this should be the sole responsibility of a dedicated unit reporting to senior management (9% even insist that it should be led exclusively by the HR department). HR directors are on the front lines when it comes to CSR issues. They are in charge of everything related to the social pillar , concludes Olivier Graffin, coordinator of occupational health, safety, and sustainable development for the AFNOR Group, in an interview with Parlons RH. This is an opportunity to bring this pillar—which is often overshadowed by the environmental pillar but is just as important—to the forefront.