From manufacturing to IT, companies are roping in experts on corporate social responsibility and assigning them the entire responsibility of CSR initiatives, right from strategising to implementing the idea.
Says R R Vederah, joint managing director, Ballarpur Industries Ltd (BILT), “The demand for environmental experts and experts on social issues across sectors are increasing among companies with their increasing thrust on standing out in the crowd through a positive brand building exercise. They not only report to the top management of the respective companies but also strategise and implement the idea.”
This is a trend that has caught on in the last five years with companies putting up separate teams for corporate social responsibility initiatives, specifically in the manufacturing sector.
Says Yashashree Gurjar, chief general manager, BILT, “It is getting much more organised within the organisations as they put up separate teams for such activities and this is going to increase in the years to come with more and more firms dedicating a complete team to similar activities.”
BILT has a team of four engaged in strategising and implementing the CSR initiatives along with NGOs carrying out the field activities, ONGC’s central team has around ten people involved in strategising while Microsoft has a separate team involved in such activities.
The pay packages that are being offered to them is at par with the top management, varying with expertise and experience in the field. Feels George Paul, executive vice-president, HCL Infosystems, “The CSR experts’ salaries are at par with the top management but it also depends on the experience and expertise of the individuals concerned.
Definitely, higher expertise and greater experience can result in better pay packages.” Besides, with a heightened demand for experts in this field, it is leading to fattening of pay packages.
According to A K Balyan, director, Human Resources and Business Development, ONGC, “Compensation packages are governed by the principle of supply and demand, so due to the augmented demand for experts in recent years, the compensation profiles are looking northwards, especially in the private sector.”
Brand building being at the core of such initiatives, companies across the globe are taking up activities to fulfil their long-term objective of sustainable development, feel industry experts. This could get a further boost with the introduction of awards like TERI Corporate Social
Responsibility awards which provide organisations a credible platform to showcase their work and get rewarded.
According to Ankhi Das, lead, corporate affairs, Microsoft India, “Such awards give recognition and promote further intensification of CSR efforts, thus benefiting the company and the society at large.”