Practical, step-by-step guides for the busy FM
March 2002
Corporations Need to Demonstrate Social Responsibility
Social responsibility is an obligation organizations have to society. It means going beyond legal responsibilities and profit making. Social responsibility tries to align organizational long-term goals with what is good for society. Society in this context refers to such groups as an organizationis employees, customers, and the community in which it operates.
An organization should recognize the impact of its actions on others and be able to predict how those actions would threaten or further its existence. Social responsibility obligates organizations to make decisions that nurture, protect, and promote the welfare and well being of stakeholders and society as a whole.
We can understand social responsibility better if we compare it with two similar concepts, described below.
- Social obligation: Social obligation is a businessis most basic duty to society. A business has fulfilled its social obligation when it meets its economic and legal responsibilities and no more. It does the minimum that the law requires.
- Social responsiveness: In contrast to social obligation, social responsiveness adds a moral obligation to business responsibilities. It requires business to take actions that make society better and to refrain from actions that could make it worse. Societal norms guide this process.
When a company meets the safety standards established by the federal government, its industry, or its profession, or if that company doesnit discriminate against employees on the basis of race in a promotion decision, the organization is fulfilling its social obligation o and nothing more. Various laws prohibit employers from putting employees at risk, polluting, or discriminating against certain groups, and this company is abiding by those laws. When a company packages its products in recycled paper or provides healthcare insurance for an employeeis significant other, however, it is being socially responsive. How so? Although it may be responding to social pressures, it is providing something society desires o without having to be told to do so by law!
Forms of Socially Responsible Behavior
Many kinds of decisions signal an organizationis interest in being socially responsible. Supervisors must recognize the important role they play in supporting actions that encourage employees and organizations to act for societyis benefit.
Organizations act socially responsible when they:
- provide severance payments to help laid-off workers make ends meet until they can find another job
- provide workers with opportunities to enhance their skills and acquire additional education
- allow employees to take time off when needed
- provide healthcare and pension benefits for employees
- contribute to charities or support civic activities in their localities
- decide to keep open a factory whose closure would devastate the local community
- decide to keep a companyis operations in the United States to protect the jobs of American workers rather than move abroad
- decide to spend money to improve a factory to reduce pollution
- choose to help poor countries develop an economic base to improve living standards
Why should organizations and their employees be socially responsible? Several advantages may result from socially responsible behavior.
- Workers and society benefit directly when organizations bear some of the costs of helping workers that would otherwise be borne by the government.
- The quality of life as a whole would be higher if all organizations in a society were socially responsible. Several management experts have argued that the way organizations behave toward their employees determines many of a societyis values and the ethics of its citizens.
- Being socially responsible is the right thing to do. Evidence suggests that socially responsible supervisors and other managers are, in the long run, best for all organizational stakeholders. Socially responsible organizations, in comparison with their less responsible competitors, tend to be more secure investments, have a more loyal and committed workforce, and have better reputations.
- Supervisors who promote a proactive approach to social responsibility are also sought out by organizations.
How to Institutionalize Ethical Behavior
One key to reinforcing ethical behavior is effective, ongoing communication. An organization must communicate its commitment to ethical values to all of its employees and external stakeholders. Codes of conduct or ethics should be adopted and distributed to all employees. Through their actions, organizations should foster employee commitment to ethical behavior in the same way that they foster employee commitment to other goals.
Effective communication is built and sustained on the mutual trust between supervisors and employees. Open and trusting communication between supervisors and employees helps both to do what is right and enables supervisors to learn about tensions and pressures that can lead to unethical behavior. Supervisors who wish to communicate ethically should:
- set and communicate high standards in public and private; never tolerate double standards
- act quickly and firmly when the standards are violated, taking responsible, swift action to correct any illegal or immoral activities
- communicate with openness and candor; expect and give honest, direct feedback
- keep in touch with employees to promote ongoing communication
- survey employees on their concerns and issues in the work environment
- listen to both the spoken and silent concerns of employees; show concern
- follow up concerns by taking action to correct problems discovered through legitimate feedback; design and implement peer reviews of supervisory, management, and employee positions; use the results as a basis to communicate honestly with employees and to create an open organizational culture
- educate and train employees on other culturesi communication practices
- educate and reward effective multicultural communication
Following these recommendations can help create a climate of honest and open communication in which moral behavior can be discussed, modeled, and reinforced.
To explore ethics in a national forum, be sure to participate in BOMI’s 7th annual “NATIONAL COMMERCIAL PROPERTY ETHICS WEEK” April 22-26, 2002
During Ethics Week, BOMI Institute’s Ethics Is Good Business® seminar will be held in 14 cities nationwide, serving as a forum for facilities and property managers, building engineers, and building technicians to discuss ethics in the workplace.
Using video presentations of real business scenarios, group participation, and instructor interaction, the one-day Ethics Is Good Business® seminar will address such issues as tenant and employee relations, trade secrets, proper use of funds, contract negotiations, and more. The seminar will be offered for just $250 per person or $220 per person when three of more people from the same company register at the same time. Continuing education credit toward real estate license renewal may be available in certain states.
Call 1-800-235-BOMI (2664) or visit BOMI Institute’s Web site at www.bomi-edu.org/ethics to register for Ethics Is Good Business® during “National Commercial Property Ethics Week.”
BOMI’s “National Commercial Property Ethics Week” 2002 ScheduleBOMI’s Ethics Is Good Business® seminar will be held in the following cities:
- April 22, Charlotte, NCPhiladelphia, PAPortland, OR
- April 23, Baltimore, MDSan Francisco, CA
- April 24, Chicago (Lisle), ILWashington, D.C.
- April 25, Orlando, FLSecaucus, NJSt. Paul, MN
- April 26, Atlanta, GABoston, MAKansas City, MONew York, NY