1.

Executive Summary

Corporate social responsibility is a link between social, environmental, and organizational

goal. All through my internship at TYDideas I came across huge amount of literature and
different aspects of CSR.
This project report describes CSR- Definition, importance of CSR, history of CSR in India,
and how CSR can be used as an employee engagement tool.
CSR activities can be considered as the important attempt, by any organization to engage and
conduct a significant dialogue with various stakeholders. CSR activities give various
competitive advantages such as greater access to capital and markets, operational cost
savings, increased sales and profits, enriched productivity and quality, improved brand image
and reputation. Additionally, organizations with effective CSR have most efficient human
resource.
In Indian history, social philanthropy has existed since the late 1800s. Because of Indian
visionaries, like JRD Tata Narayan Murthy, many organizations today consider CSR as one of
the key organizational function.
This report highlights some of the examples of successful organizations, who have used CSR
as an employee engagement tool.
Literature has given three different models connecting employee engagement and CSR
Transactional, Relational, and Developmental.
Legal aspect of CSR is extremely important. Under new companies act, government has laid
down certain rules about eligibility, composition of CSR committee, CSR activities and other
compliances.
This report describes the work done at TYDideas during two months internship period.
TYDideas is a strategic HR firm, which helps corporate clients in HR related functions.
During my internship, I developed a CSR model with Warrior Women Program (TYDideas
initiative), which could be used in various organizations as an employee engagement activity.

2.

Introduction

2.1

Definition - Corporate social responsibility

Commonly, CSR is known as the way through which a company achieves a balance of
economic, environmental, and social obligations while at the same time fulfilling the
expectations of shareholders and stakeholders.
It is important to understand the difference between CSR, which can be a strategic business
management concept, and charity, sponsorships or philanthropy.
Even though the concept of CSR also makes a valuable contribution to poverty reduction, it
will also directly enhance the reputation of a company and strengthen its brand.
Therefore, we can say that the concept of CSR clearly goes beyond philanthropy or doing
charity services for the community.
CSR activities can be considered as an important attempt by any organization to engage and
conduct a significant dialogue with various stakeholders.
The stakeholders are any individual or group, which might affect or be affected by the
organization's activities.1

Figure 1: Companys major stakeholders

2

A firm that is committed to employee development and empowerment is, in fact

already practicing some components of CSR.

A firm that openly shares information with employees about a move toward
downsizing, and then helps displaced employees find new jobs, is actively practicing

CSR.
Moreover, a firm that is committed to the production of safe, reliable, and innovative
products or services in line with customer needs is strategically involved in CSR.

Therefore, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a management perception by which

corporate companies can integrate social and environmental responsibilities along with
their business objectives.

Society

CSR
Economy

Environment

Figure 2: CSR concept

2.2

Importance of CSR

A properly implemented CSR concept can bring along a variety of competitive advantages:
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Greater access to capital and markets

Corporate Social responsibility can play a significant role to get better market position
through potential customers. A responsible organization ensures better customer
satisfaction by minimizing cost of production, which allow customer to get better
product for cheaper price. A study in 1993 at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio,
found that managers believe corporate social actions have an effect on perceived
market share. Corporate social responsibility ensures better market position through
global market access.

Operational cost savings

Eco-friendly business process may cost more in the short run business, but it is
extremely important for long-run business. Eco-friendly processes also inspire
employees to work efficiently and reduce the total cost in a long run.
Tex Cycle Sdn Bhd reduces their total cost through eco-friendly business process.
They are currently using solar system to fulfill their electricity requirement and reduce
their water bill through recycling. Other study also shows benefits of CSR include
cost saving and risk reduction.

Efficient human resources

One of most important advantage of CSR practice is potential recruitment. When a
corporation improves its workplace management, show respects towards all level of
employees, and responsibility towards the society than the next thing comes
automatically e.g., better company culture. Better company culture led the
organizations toward increasing attractiveness to potential recruits. If organization
recruits potential candidates, it will generate more revenue for them because they will
have the most efficient workforce available.

Increased sales and profits

CSR helps to improve the financial performance through cost reduction, efficient
employees, and more sales. Research shows that organizations with CSR have better
reputation, which led to the better financial performance than the irresponsible
organization. In 1994 at Florida International University, a study that tried to link
social performance with financial performance found a significant positive relation
between CSR and growth in sales return on assets and so on. Thus, the concept of

CSR is becoming more popular today; more than 80% of the Fortune 500 companies
address CSR issues in their webpage.

Enriched productivity and quality

When employees and management feel they are working for a company that has a true
conscience, all company employees will likely to be more enthusiastic and engaged in
their jobs. This can build a sense of community and teamwork, which brings everyone
together and leads to happier, more productive employees.

Improved brand image and reputation

Practicing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) brings many benefits to an
organization including improvement of image, reputation, good-will, employee
motivation, and positive approach from stakeholders. CSR may work as a global
brand insurance. Additionally, CSR can be seen as a part of a continuing process of
building long-term value system within the organization. Everything done by the
organization should help to improve its reputation, encourage customers and other
stakeholders to stay as a part of this organization.

Better customer loyalty

CSR improves business trust and understanding within its customers because
responsible businesses are always careful about their sales service, which is the best
tool to achieve customer satisfaction. The customer service is a series of activities
designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction that is, the feeling that a
product or service has met the customer expectation. Customer service may be
provided by a person (e.g., sales and service representative), or by automated means
called self-service. Better customer service has lead organizations to access the Global

market through improving trust and understanding within stakeholders.

Risk management processes
The research finding proves that the investors are increasingly focusing Corporate
Social Responsibility (CSR) as similar to long-term risk management and ethical
governance practices. The study also indicates that corporate reputation is as
important as financial performance. At the same time, corporate social responsibility
brings new business network, which assist organization to mitigate financial as well
as non-financial risk.

CSR is important because businesses are based on trust and foresight. To be successful in
the long-term, companies need to think about future challenges. It is not only about
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considering changes towards technology or the needs of customers, but also taking into
account alterations in social, environmental and governance issues.2

Pyramid of responsibility

Philanthropic
Ethical
Legal
Economical
Figure 3: Pyramid of responsibilities
The idea behind corporate social responsibility is that companies have multiple
responsibilities to maintain. These responsibilities can be arranged in a pyramid, with basic
responsibilities closer to the bottom. As a business meets lower-level responsibilities that
obligate it to shareholders and the law, it can move towards achieving higher-level
responsibilities that benefit society.
Economic Responsibilities
An organizations first responsibility is its economic responsibility -- a company needs to be
primarily concerned with maximizing profit. This is for the simple fact that if a company
does not make profits, it will not survive in the competition, employees will lose jobs and the
company will not be able to consider about taking care of its social responsibilities. Before a
company thinks about being a good corporate citizen, it first needs to be profitable.
Legal Responsibilities

An organization's legal responsibilities are the requirements, which are laid down by the law.
Once the financial position of the company is profitable, ensuring that it obeys all laws is the
most important responsibility, according to the theory of corporate social responsibility. Legal
responsibilities can range from securities regulations to labor law, environmental law, and
even criminal law.
Ethical Responsibilities
Economic and legal responsibilities are the two big duties of an organization. After a
company has met these basic requirements, it can concern itself with ethical responsibilities.
Ethical responsibilities are responsibilities that an organization puts on itself because its
owners believe it is the right thing to do -- not because they have an obligation to do so.
Ethical responsibilities could include being environmentally friendly, paying fair wages or
refusing to do business by unfair means.
Philanthropic Responsibilities
If an organization is able to meet all of its other responsibilities, it can begin meeting
philanthropic responsibilities. Philanthropic responsibilities are responsibilities that go above
and beyond what is simply required or what the company believes is right.3
Organization accomplishing all these responsibilities; has successfully established their
CSR policy.

2.3

CSR History in India

In India, CSR is known from ancient time as social duty or charity, which is changing its
nature in broader aspect, now generally known as CSR. Social and environmental issues have
deep roots in the history of business. India has had a long tradition of corporate philanthropy
and industrial welfare came in to existence since late 1800s. Historically, the philanthropy of
business people in India has rooted in religious belief.
Business practices in the 1900s that could be termed as socially responsible activities:
philanthropic donations to charity, service to the community, enhancing employee welfare
7

and promoting religious conduct. Corporations may give funds to charitable or educational
institutions and may claim for them as great humanitarian actions, when in fact they are
simply trying to buy community good will. The ideology of CSR in the 1950s was primarily
based on an assumption of the responsibility of business towards society.
In the initial years, there was little documentation of social responsibility initiatives in India.
Since then there is a growing realization towards contribution to social activities globally
with a desire to improve the immediate environment. It has also been found that companies
that pay genuine attention to the principles of socially responsible behavior are favored by the
public and preferred for their goods and services. This has given rise to the concept of CSR.
After Independence, JRD Tata who always laid a great deal of emphasis to go beyond
conducting themselves as honest citizens pointed out that there were many ways in which
industrial and business enterprises can contribute to public welfare beyond the scope of their
normal activities. He advised that apart from the obvious one of donating funds to good
causes, which has been their normal practice for years; they could have used their own
financial, managerial, and human resources to provide task forces for undertaking direct relief
and reconstruction measures.
Slowly, it began to be accepted, at least in theory that business had to share a part of the
social overhead costs. Traditionally, it had discharged its responsibility to society through
sponsorships for education, medical facilities, and scientific research among other objects.
The important change at that time was that industry accepted social responsibility as part of
the management of the enterprise itself. The community development and social welfare
program of the premier Tata Company, Tata Iron and Steel Company was started the concepts
of Social Responsibility.
The term corporate social performance was first coined by Sethi (1975), expanded by Carroll
(1979), and then refined by Wartick and Cochran (1985). In Sethis 1975 three-level model,
the concept of corporate social performance was discussed, and distinctions made between
various corporate behaviors. Sethis three tiers were social obligation (a response to legal
and market constraints); social responsibility (congruent with societal norms); and social
responsiveness (adaptive, anticipatory and preventive).4
The last decade of the twentieth century witnessed a swing away from charity and traditional
philanthropy towards more direct engagement of business in mainstream development and
concern for disadvantaged groups in the society.
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This has been driven both internally by corporate will and externally by increased
governmental and public expectations.
This was evident from a sample survey conducted in 1984 reporting that of the amount
companies spent on social development, the largest sum 47 percent was spent through
company programs, 39 percent was given to outside organizations as aid, and 14 percent was
spent through company trusts. In India as in the rest of the world, there is a growing
realization that business cannot succeed in a society which fails. An ideal CSR has both
ethical and philosophical dimensions, particularly in India where there exists a wide gap
between sections of people in terms of income and standards as well as socio-economic
status.
According to Infosys founder, Narayan Murthy, social responsibility is to create maximum
shareholders value working under the circumstances, where it is fair to all its stakeholders,
workers, consumers, the community, government and the environment. Commission of the
European Communities 2001 stated that being socially responsible means not only fulfilling
legal expectations, but also going beyond compliance and investing more into human
capital, the environment and the relation with stakeholders. Over the time four different
models have emerged all of which can be found in India regarding corporate responsibility.4

2.4

CSR and Employee Engagement

Several studies have shown that linkage between CSR and employee engagement has a
strong correlation between employees commitments to their organization. For example, a
survey by Sirota Survey Intelligence, of 1.6 million employees in seventy companies, found
that employees who approved of their companys commitments to social responsibility
compared to those who did not approve, were far more engaged in their jobs and believed
that employers were interested in their well-being. They also had more favorable perceptions
of their managements integrity and rated their companies as more competitive.

Using CSR to Engage Employees

A 2007 Towers Perrin survey of 90,000 employees in 18 countries found that only 21 percent
reported being fully engaged on the job. The rest were either simply enrolled (41%),
disenchanted (30%), or disconnected (8%).In turn, the Gallup Employee Engagement Index
reported that, on average as of 2010, 33 percent of employees were engaged by their
companies, 49 percent were not engaged, and 18 percent were actively disengaged.

Figure 4: CSR-Employee engagement

Can CSR help to reduce this gap?
Organizations link CSR to employee engagement in three ways.
First, many strive to be a responsible employer. In Golin Harris surveys for example, the
values and treatment given to the employees has been the number one factor in ratings of a
companys social responsibility, less importance is been given to its philanthropy, community
involvement, environmental performance, and other CSR factors. One report phrased the
message briefly:

CSR minus HR = PR.

Second, companies create a portfolio of programs and develop a reputation to demonstrate
their commitment to CSR. Here the Reputation Institute finds that, on average, 75 to 80
percent of those polled in over twenty-five countries would prefer to work for a company that
is known for its social responsibility.
Third, companies engage employees directly in voluntary and on-the-job CSR-related
activities. The polling firm Globe Scan reports that nine out of ten employees worldwide are
interested in participating in the CSR initiatives of their companies. Increasing numbers of
organizations are using CSR to enable employees to actually do something more on their
jobs and, in selected cases, to produce value for both the business and society.
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In a survey given below, by the nonprofit Net Impact, 53 percent of workers said that a job
where I can make an impact was important to their happiness, and 72 percent of students
about to enter the workforce agreed. Most would even take a pay cut to achieve that goal.

Figure 5: Research Data

This phenomenon, which is particularly observed in younger generations, was a key finding
in the book The 2020 Workplace, where the focus on people, planet, and profits known as the
new triple bottom line is increasingly becoming the main way organizations to attract and
retain new hires.
Research conducted by Cone Millennial Cause group, detailed in The 2020 Workplace found
that 80% of a sample of 1,800 13-25 year olds wanted to work for a company that cares about
how it impacts and contributes to society. More than half said they would refuse to work for
an irresponsible corporation. According to research conducted in The 2020 Workplace, by the
year 2020, Millennials will be 50% of the workforce.5

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Luckily, today the social media boom has brought about more and more ways for companies
to communicate their CSR efforts. Many companies are aware of the competitive advantage
CSR provides.

2.5

CSR - A Tool for Employee Engagement

Not only is CSR crucial to recruiting talented employees, it is also a great way to maintain the
engagement of your existing work force.

That has certainly proven true for AMD (Advanced Micro Devices)s green
teams groups of eco-minded employees who work together on things
like reducing waste in the cafeteria, saving energy, saving water. We
asked our green team members, Tim Mohin said, does being able to
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contribute to a cause while youre at work improve your commitment and

level of engagement to your core job function and to the company? 96%
agreed.

However, employee engagement in the form of feedback can also help companies
improve their CSR practices. AMD seeks for input from their employees regarding what they
can do to enhance their CSR efforts. By increasing accessibility to corporate sustainability,
AMDs aim is to crowd-source the ideas that will take us to the next level of performance,
Mohin said in a recent blog post.
After all, who has a better perspective on the companys progress on their CSR agenda than
the employees themselves?
2) Leverage CSR as a tool to develop global talent
Engaged employees are happier and more productive, but CSR has benefits even beyond the
trickle-down productivity of high employee engagement. Research suggests that involvement
in the companys corporate responsibility practices teaches workers valuable new skills that
they bring back to their regular roles for the company.
IBM found this to be true with the launch and growth of its Corporate Service Corps
program, which is explained in detail in The 2020 Workplace. Essentially this program
operates like a corporate version of the Peace Corps where IBMers bring their core
competencies and skills in such areas as project management, strategic planning, marketing
or engineering to an entrepreneurial company based in one of the countries designated by
IBM as emerging market for growth such as, Brazil, China, Ghana, India, Malaysia,
Romania, South Africa, to name a few. These IBMers build their global mindset by working
and living in one of these developing countries. What is important here is that IBM launched
Corporate Service Corps as an integral part of a larger effort to facilitate the development of
IBM employees into global leaders and global citizens. What better way to build global
leaders than by having them be part of a global team to build a new business in an emerging
market. CDC Development Solutions estimates 27% of Fortune 500 companies have
programs such as this one at IBM.
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3) Maximize your investment in CSR by leveraging all forms of social media:

CSR has moved from a type of corporate philanthropy to a strategic investment for the
organization. Additionally, this investment and its benefits need to be communicated to all the
key stakeholders.
These stakeholders include not only investors, current employees and consumers, but also
prospective new hires to your company.
Given the growing value placed on a companys CSR practices by Millennials and the
impending explosion of Millennial in the workplace, CSR must become part of companys
recruitment strategy to attract top talent.
In a 2011 report by Forbes Insights, 60 percent of companies surveyed either strongly agreed
or agreed with the statement, Philanthropy and volunteerism are critical for recruiting
younger qualified employees (i.e., Millennials/Gen Y).
Since Millenials are the most socially conscious consumers to date, according to the 2006
Cone study on the Millennial Generation companies would be remiss to not emphasize their
achievements when recruiting for the future workplace. These strategies will only become
more important as we approach the 2020 workplace.5

2.6

Models of Employee Engagement

Many organizations are taking different approaches to engage their employees through CSR.
Literature suggests that there could be three different ways that companies design and
manage their efforts:

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A transactional approach, where programs are undertaken to meet the needs and interests of
those employees who want to take part in the socially responsible actions of a company
A relational approach, where an organization and its employees together make a commitment
towards social responsibility
A developmental approach, where a company aims to more fully activate and develop its
employees and the firm to produce greater value for business and society
Each of these models is grounded in a psychological contract between a firm and its
employees.
With reference to the first two contracts, there is a distinction between the transactional
versus relational type. The former emphasizes market forces impinging on employment and
makes it a short-term arrangement wherein each party operates out of its own interests. The
latter stresses the communal aspects of employment and makes engagement more a matter of
mutual trust and shared interests. A third frame to the employment relationship emphasizes its
developmental dimensions.
How do these frames apply to the ways that companies engage their employees through
CSR?
To preview, in the transactional model what is important to the company is to recruit and
retain talent and CSR programs are akin to an employee benefita part of whats on
offer in the companys incentive package. By contrast, the relational model treats CSR as
central to the identity of both the company and its employeesyielding, say, a socially
responsible company staffed by value-driven people. The developmental model considers
CSR not only as a joint obligation, but as a joint opportunityit helps to connect the dots
between employee, employer, and society. On the company side, this shifts the conversation
from what can CSR do for our employees? to what can our employees do to make us (and
themselves) better corporate citizens?
The table below highlights how these three frames apply to the link between employee
engagement and CSR.

15

Figure 6: Three models of Employee engagement through CSR

In each of these three models, firms can aim to do well for society and to do well in
terms of employee commitment, reputational benefits, and long-term financial returns.
A Transactional, Relational, and Developmental Approaches limitations in delivering on these
aims; consider, first, how companies in each model conceive of the connection between CSR
and employee engagement.

The Company Perspective

It is certain that companies are facing more demands from the public and other stakeholders
to be socially responsible. In turn, surveys show that CEOs understand the importance of
these expectations and recognize a need for their business to play a more responsible role in
society.

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Transactional Model = HR Management

An article by C. B. Bhattacharya and colleagues on Using Corporate Social Responsibility
to Win the War for Talent sets out the main parameters of the transactional model for
engaging employees via CSR:
We consider internal marketing to be the most apt rubric under which CSR can be used to
acquire and retain employees. Such a perspective holds that just as companies succeed by
fulfilling the needs of their customers, they can manage employees best by viewing them as
internal customers, fulfilling their needs through features include salary, benefits packages
and job responsibilities. Planned properly, it can contribute dramatically to job satisfaction,
employee retention, and productivity.
A key task for managers, then, is to incorporate CSR into job products that are tailored to the
often diverse needs of employees.
This seems to work: results from their longitudinal study of a consumer-goods company
found that employee engagement in CSR led to pride in the company, which in turn was
positively related to employee performance and negatively to intention to quit . . . (and)
positively related to customer focus and pro-company citizenship behaviors. . . . The
researchers went on to remark that CSR humanizes the company in ways that other facets of
the job cannot, adding, A paycheck may keep a person on the job physically, but it alone
will not keep a person on the job emotionally.
The advantage of this internal marketing approach to employee engagement is that it enables
a company to tailor and pitch its CSR initiatives to the most receptive employee segments.
This, in return, yields a good fit between an employees interest and his or her job
satisfaction, higher levels of commitment, and less inclination to turnover.
Relational Model = A Socially Responsible Culture
To the extent that the transactional model targets CSR at methe individual employee; the
relational models shifts the focus to wethe collective employee community.
In its simplest form, this is manifest by engaging employees in all staff volunteer days, in
company-wide recycling programs, or in on-boarding processes at companies like
salesforce.com where new hires are thrust into community services activities as part of their
orientation program. At deeper levels, it has a company articulate, and employees embrace, a
shared vision, mission, and values that stress CSR.
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The LS&Co. Way Levi Strauss & Co. has demonstrated a values-led business since its
founder first set up his dry goods firm in San Francisco in 1853. A business downturn in the
late 1990s, however, called its commitments to profits through principles into question.
Having noted that the companys brands used value propositions to define their qualities and
character for consumers, Theresa Fay-Bustillos, then vice president of worldwide community
affairs, worked with the companys worldwide leadership team to develop a value proposition
for corporate citizenship (their term of reference for CSR). She convened a cross-functional,
multilevel working group around corporate citizenship, which included some top execs, to
take account of the companys 150-year legacy of corporate citizenship; to listen to
employees, executives, and stakeholders; and to identify current and potential future societal
issues facing the apparel and textile industry and its workforce.
Out of their work, a corporate citizenship value proposition (CVP) emerged.
Key elements addressed were business practices that reflect the diversity of the world we
serve; supply chain practices that respect the workers who make our products; environmental
initiatives that support sustainability; societal engagement that contributes to positive social
change; and HIV/AIDS initiatives that protect employees, workers, and consumers.
Under each of these elements, the company included detailed outcomes that, over time, it
aspires to achieve. The worldwide leadership team pledged to educate employees on the new
value proposition, incorporate it into the strategic business planning process, and hold
themselves accountable for making progress going forward.
Developmental Model = Socio-Commercial Innovation
The developmental model enlarges the scope of engagement through CSR furtherfrom me
to we to all of usengaging a company, its employees, and often stakeholders in the
corporate ecosystem. Unilevers sustainable living plan, Nestls moves toward shared value
in its supply chain and product offerings, and Wal-Marts Sustainability 360 strategyDoing
Good, Better, Together (which has launched eco-innovations from fourteen sustainability
networks of employees and engaged store managers and consumer groups on ethical
consumerism, fair trade, and cause marketing)all exemplify a transformative form of
engagement hinging on employee development. This moves the CSR thrust of a company
firmly into the commercial space and gets employees interacting with stakeholders to
enhance its impact on the business and society.
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Meanwhile, grassroots employee green teams at Lockheed Martin have improved energy
efficiency at company sites; at Citigroup, theyve reduced paper waste; and at Kimberly
Clark, theyve partnered with local hardware stores to increase employees use of compact
fluorescent bulbs in their homes. Wal-Mart has motivated 600,000 of its employees to
develop Personal Sustainability Projects (PSPs) that includes eating healthier foods,
exercising more, and recycling. In some cases, employees family members develop their
own PSPs. Fifteen thousand associates have stopped smoking and Wal-Mart has implemented
many eco-friendly innovations prototyped by employees in their homes to cut waste in its
stores.6
The Employee Perspective
The great majority of employees report that they want to be engaged in the CSR activities of
their employers. Studies have found social responsibility to be a significant motivational
driver to employees in the U.S., but it is even more important in India, South Africa, and
China.
Transactional Model = Satisfying Needs
Many of todays employee engagement efforts are premised on the notion (Maslows theory)
that people operate through a hierarchy of needs that motivate themstretching from basic
needs for survival and security, to social needs, to higher order needs that when satisfied
yield self-esteem and self-actualization.
In the 1970s and 1980s, when baby-boomers entered the workforce, HR responded with job
enrichment and employee involvement programs. These prescriptions seemed to fit the needs
of better-educated and comparatively well-off new breed workers, as they were called, for
more interesting work and a voice in job-related decisions. These proved to be strong
contributors to psychological and behavioral engagement. HR is today positioning CSR in the
same fashion: it fits the ego needs of many of todays well-educated, more socially conscious
millennials.
When it comes to employee motivation, however, it is arguable whether or not a generic
satisfaction = engagement frame is useful for thinking about how CSR influences employees.
Rather, the question turns to how CSR can enlist, activate, and empower employees on the
job.

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Adam Grant, for example, makes a strong case for relational job design because it enables
people to express their pro-social motives through work that makes a positive difference in
other peoples life. Several field studies connect this specifically to CSR by documenting how
engaging employees in community service gave them an opportunity to support others,
which, in turn, strengthened their organizational commitment. In a felicitous turn of the
phrase, Grant, Dutton, and Russo make the point that linking CSR to engagement is about
employees giving rather than receiving.
Relational Model = Expressing Identity
To say people need something from their work emphasizes their individualistic and atomistic
nature. A relational perspective, by comparison, stresses their social and connected self.
In this frame, the self is a whole that includes and integrates peoples identities in various
roles as, say, employee, co-worker, parent, community member etc.
The relevance of this idea for employee engagement took shape decades ago when it was
speculated that people think of themselves and represent identity in the workplace in the form
of gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, and in their life roles. These forms of
identity have been the subject of debate, consciousness rising, and policymaking throughout
societies and within companies as well. In top firms today, for example, employee diversity is
valued not only as an HR driver, but as a source of fresh ideas, as a means of reflecting and
better serving the multicultural marketplace, and as a source of learning and effectiveness (as
David Thomas and Robin Ely point out in their analysis of the changing contours of diversity
management in organizations). A next-stage in identity engagement has companies linking
HR and CSR to engage their employee as citizens.
This naturally means recognizing and respecting employees in their many dimensions of selfidentityrace, gender, age, and so onand in their multiple work roles to be sure, but also
as working parents and members of a community. It also means recognizing and validating
them in relation to their roles as citizens of a society and inhabitants of the planet.
Expressing Identity at Work The electronics retailer Best Buy exemplifies the relational
aspects of employee engagement. Individual employees, for example, are engaged through
the companys strength based HR model that encourages job involvement and development
around their personal strengths and passions. On the work-life boundary, many employees are
part of a results only work environment that allows them to flexibly manage their work and
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personal time, so long as results are achieved. The company also hosts a womens leadership
forum (WOLF) that engages female managers, employees, and customers in Wolf Packs that
provide leadership counsel and social support. Going further on identity engagement, Best
Buy also supports affinity groups revolving around race (Black Employees Network,
Asian Employees Network, Latin Employees Network), age (Teenage Employees and SaGE
The wisdom of experience), sexual orientation (PRIDE), faith, military service, and
personal abilities/disabilities (INCLUDE).
Best Buy is today expanding its engagement program to focus employee energy and
entrepreneurism on society through a venture citizenship program.
For example, store employees, rather than professional staff, run the companys community
grant program and decide which nonprofits to support. In turn, they work with students in the
@15 program to teach them how to run their own volunteer programs. The companys Geek
Squad donates its time and talents to supporting community-based groups. On their jobs,
employees take part in the companys program to recycle used electronics, whether purchased
at Best Buy or not, and share ideas on greening their operations through Blue Shirt Nation,
employees social media conversation.
Developmental Model = Realizing Purpose
Ironically, it was Maslow who laid the foundation for a deeper level of psychological
engagement by employees in his depiction of peoples Being Values, which include, among
other themes, fundamental human preferences for truth, goodness, beauty, wholeness, and
justice. This marked his embrace of humanistic psychology with its emphasis on human
potential and the importance to people of discovering their fundamental purpose in life.
The ideas that work organizations could serve such a liberating and generative purpose for
employees were variously expressed in the 1960s and 1970s by Douglas McGregor in
depictions of Theory X and Y management models, in the practices of group and organization
development during that era, and in employee. Employee engagement efforts that represented
from the theories of Erich Fromm to show how companies might promote an ethic of being
as opposed to an ethic of having among their employees.
Needless to say, the human potential movement was downplayed in corporate practices of
employee engagement in the 1980s and 1990s that stressed the more material aspects of
21

organizational involvement. However, interest in human potential is being revived today in

many complementary ways. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, as one example, depicts humans as
having an evolving self whose growth hinges on attaining fuller consciousness of their
inner nature and of the world that surrounds them. In developmental terms, this posits that
human potential expands as people gain a deeper sense of their individual uniqueness and
connect it to the processes at work in the world. In so doing, Csikszentmihalyi contends, one
needs to step out of the cocoon of personal goals and confront larger issues in the public
arena.6

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2.7

Corporate Social Responsibility as per New Indian Companies Act 2013

Government of India has notified the rules for CSR spending u/s 135 of the New
Companies Act 2013 along with Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Rules,
2014 effective from 1st April 2014. Turning the CSR from voluntary activities to the
mandated responsibilities, also governed by the bundle of regulations as follows:
Eligibility Criteria:
Company (includes foreign company with branches or project in India) having: Minimum net
worth of rupees 500 Crore. Turnover up to 1000 Crore having a net profit of at least
5crore during any financial year, are covered by this provision
.
Composition of CSR Committee
The Company should constitute a Corporate Social Responsibility Committee as follows:
1. The Committee shall consist of minimum 3 (three) including 1 (one) Independent Director,
however in case of Private Company or the Company, which is not required to appoint
Independent Director on board, or Foreign Company the committee can be formulated with
(2) two directors.
2. The CSR Policy shall be formulated in accordance with Schedule VII and the CSR
Committee will be responsible for framing the policy, finalizing the amount to be spent on
CSR, monitoring & implementation of the Scheme.
3. If Company ceases to fulfill the eligibility criteria for three consecutive years, then the
company is not required to comply until the company will meet the eligibility criteria once
again.
The CSR Rules provides the manner in which CSR committee shall formulate, monitor the
policy and manner of understanding for CSR activities.

23

Under the rules, the Government has also fixed a threshold limit of 2% of the Average Net
Profits of the block of previous three years on CSR activities and if Company fails to spend
such amount, disclosures are to be made for the same. However, an exemption has been given
to the Companies that do not satisfy the above threshold for three consecutive years.
Brief on CSR Activities as prescribed under Schedule VII of CA, 2013
1. Objective to efface the daily life segments including poverty, malnutrition, and hunger
while enhancing the standard of living and promoting the facets of better health care and
sanitation.
2. Initiative to promote the different segments of education including special education and
programs to enhance the vocation skills for all ages like children, women, elderly and
conducting other livelihood enhancement projects.
3. Aim to bring the uniformity in respect of different sections of the society to promote
gender equality and other facilities for senior citizens and developing hostels for women and
orphans and taking initiative for empowering women and lowering inequalities faced by
socially and economically backward groups.
4. Elevate the segment of flora and fauna to bring the ecological balance and environmental
sustainability in respect of animal welfare, conservation of natural resources and ago forestry
while maintaining the quality of air, water and soil.
5. Enhancement of Craftsmanship while protecting art and culture and measures to restore
sites of historical importance and national heritage and promoting the works of art and setting
up of public libraries.
6. Steps to bring worthy to the part of war windows, armed force veterans and their
departments.
7. Sports programs and training sessions to enhance the level of rural sports, nationally
recognized sports, Paralympic sports and Olympics sports.
8. Favoring to Prime Ministers National Relief Fund and contribution to other fund set up by
the central government to promote socio-economic development and welfare of the schedule
castes and Schedule Tribes and for supporting backward classes, minorities, and women.
9. To uplift the technology of incubator thats comes under academic institutions and which
are approved by the Central Government.
10. Introducing varied projects for Rural Development.

24

The below activities are not included under the CSR activities of the Company.
1. Business run in the normal course.
2. Outside the territory of the India or abroad.
3. For the welfare of the employees and their families.
4. Political party contribution of any amount directly and indirectly as defined u/s 182 of the
Act.
The above CSR activities shall be undertaken by the Company, as per its stated CSR policy,
in consonance with the new or ongoing projects excluding activities undertaken in pursuance
of its normal course of business. The Board of Directors may decide to undertake its CSR
activities approved by the CSR Committee, through a registered trust or a registered society.
Yearly Compliances:1. The Annual Report of the Company shall include a comprehensive Report on CSR in the
format as prescribed in the Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Rules,
2014, containing particulars on Overview of CSR Policy, Composition of the Committee,
Avg. Net Profit, prescribed expenditure and details of its spending, reason in case of failure
etc.
2. The disclosure on CSR in Board Report should also be available on the Companys
Website.
3. The activities included in the CSR Policy and the prescribed expenditure being
undertaken/spent shall be ensured by the Board, in the respective manner.
This means all the Companies falling in the aforesaid criteria needs to ensure CSR
compliance but it is debatable to say that the same is for welfare of the society or the
companies are doing it just to avoid penalties. CSR stands to support the Companys Vision
as well as directions to what Organization stands for and will sustain its clients. An ISO
26000 is the accepted worldwide standard for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
CSR term has been revaluated with an aim to embrace responsibility for the Company's
actions and encourage a positive impact through its activities on the environment, consumers,
conscience, corporate citizenship, social performance, employees, communities, and all
stakeholders.7

25

3.

Overview of the Company

3.1

Company Introduction

TYD Ideas is a company, which specializes in people. They focus on coaching and training
for personal development as well as setting up effective, futuristic HR processes.
Through their proprietary tools and practices, they enable individuals and organizations to
improve their performance and productivity by working on the most powerful resource
people. All this is done with measurable end results in mind.
Services offered by TYD Ideas

Communication: public speaking, language correction and enhancement, business

communication etiquette

Self-Image: Assessments and Personality consulting

Personal Goal setting: Psychometric assessments, personality mapping, clutter

clearing, developing a vision, game plan charting

Channeling Inner Power: Chakra alignment, harnessing the power of mind, meditation

and its role in success.

In addition to offering the above as group workshops for corporates, they also assist
companies in the area of people processes that is Human Resource Practices.
This includes

Core HR Processes.

Performance Management System.

Reward Programs.

Understanding business goals.

Reassessing and projecting talent needs in light of the above.

Redesigning work process and reward systems to map with business goals.

Developing training solutions to build capabilities for achieving these goals.

Redesigning organizational culture to be conducive for goal achievement.

3.2

Services offered by the company

26

HR Services
Organizations the world over are facing a huge challenge today. Big decisions are being made
in real time. Organizations are reacting with changes to keep ahead of each other, at a pace
that is faster than ever before. This changed atmosphere can create confusion among the
employees.
TYD Ideas acts as strategic Human Resource Management partners, ensures that an
organization is equipped to meet the needs of their employees and the employees are trained
and motivated to meet the needs of an organization.
Offer services are in the areas of
- Audits and Processes
- Talent Acquisition
- Talent Management and Development
- Leadership Development and Succession Planning
To ensure that organization has employees that are motivated, deliver well on a job and grow
with the organization, need to have an intelligent selection process for the employees both
within the organization as well as for fresh talent from outside.
It all starts with getting the job description right in terms functional as well as behavioral
aspects. TYD ideas have developed a variety of tools to help organizational recruitment.
Tools Such as:

Craft the right job descriptions

Ask the right questions in an interview

Identify talent within the team

Work out succession plans

Psychometric analysis of the candidate for job fit

Psychometric analysis of the internal team to identify resources for a role

Personal interview sessions of the candidate by TYD team along with company team

27

An organization is put together by its people. Managing this biggest resource is a huge
challenge, but if done well can yield big and long term profits for an organization. TYD
ideas, work closely with their clients to understand the current business goals and work
culture and then put together a system that not only helps them optimize their current
performance but also empowers them to achieve long-term business goals more efficiently
and effectively.
As part of this people management, they offer trainings as well as system setups in the
following areas:
Employee Retention Strategies

Retaining effective employees is important to any organizations success. High

retention ratio not only save funds, but also exposes entire strategy & process flow to
the competition. A high employee turnover rate affects an organization both internally
and externally internally because of loss of opportunity, productivity, and employee
morale and externally because of a fast growing reputation of an unstable

organization.
Through various interventions including a fine tuned selection process, a detailed
employee-job fit execution, coaching & training, TYD delivers higher employee
retention for companies across a range of sectors. They also work with high
performing individuals in clients team on a one on one basis, providing customized
employee development and talent management plans. In addition to this, they advise
the key stakeholders on developing a culture that would, in itself, ensure that client
has a more dynamic workplace.

28

Employee Motivation

A motivated employee is a self-starter, an asset for the organization. When this

multiplies from one employee to a larger group in an organization, one not just sees
bottom line results but also a happier, more loyal work force, lower attrition rates and
therefore an organization becomes stronger at its roots.

TYD Ideas believe that employees can be trained to be motivated and work to create a
culture that is a winning situation for both the employee as well as the organization.

TYD has a team of highly skilled trainers who are adept at building rapport with the
people and challenging individuals to achieve their goals. Coaching sessions are
conducted with both, individuals as well as in small groups.

Training services
Corporate trainings:

Neuro-Linguistic Programming: NLP the most powerful technique in communication

used in Interpersonal communications and persuasion including business
communication, management training, sales influence, used for coaching, team

building, motivational Trainings, negotiation Skills Training.

Mind power: The Power of the subconscious mind, what the conscious mind cant
perceive gets stored into the subconscious, the ability to access and utilize ones

potential
Stress Management: Creating work life balance. When one faces challenges and needs
to learn new innovative stress management processes like color therapy, and Time

Based Techniques.
Chakra Meditations: To powerfully utilize ones energy and create a balance on the
emotional and spiritual front, this therapy along with stories from the Vedas Empower
us to take on life. Power Packed session from Learnings from The Mahabharata.8

4.

Development of CSR Proposal:

29

Primary objective of the summer internship is to design a CSR proposal for

corporates.
Secondary objective is to do the research required for designing the proposal.

Organizational
Funds

NGO
(Reg.under
80G)

CSR

TYDideas
Warrior
women

Training for
Women
Entrepreneurs

Figure 7: The CSR Proposal for corporates

4.1

The process of CSR project

30

Women Entrepreneurs from company database (existing &

old)

Warrior Women training program

Successful Women Entrepreneurs will provide work to

rural women

Each Women Entrepreneur will adopt one rural woman

which would lead to an exemplary case study
Figure 8: The process of CSR project.

Using organizational funds (CSR project for corporates) a training program for

women entrepreneurs will be organized.

Training program i.e. Warrior women is conducted by TYDideas.
Women entrepreneurs will undergo empowerment training and support connected
NGO to help women in need.

4.2

Detailed process of developing CSR model:

1. Defining Objective
31

Why Warrior women?

There are any challenges faced by women entrepreneurs, TYD ideas warrior women program
help these entrepreneurs to tackle issues like self -esteem, self -worth, confidence, inner
strength, entrepreneurship skills, communication skills and more to empower women to live
the lives they truly deserve.
Highlights of the workshop (Launched in 2013)
-

To learn to look at lifes challenges with a FRESH perspective

To understand the reason why through LOGICAL & scientific explanations

To get introduced to the REAL one-self

To set GOALS for yourself

To train to be a STRONGER person, both mentally and physically

To learn problem solving & decision making STRATEGIES

To get in touch with INNER SELF

To learn to MAKE LIFE WORK BY YOUR RULES

The Workshop is designed in a unique way. The program will help to train entrepreneurs to
work on their mind, body, and soul in order to live the life they always dreamed of. Specially
designed capsules on mental toughness, inner strength build up, de-cluttering, problem
solving, and decision making will help them design their own result oriented strategies in
both personal and professional fronts.

4.3

Glimpse of Warrior Women Program

32

2. Getting an NGO involved

33

To create database of different NGOs who worked for women this would be a part of CSR
proposal.
To shortlist NGOs and create contacts.
Benefit for NGO: Women entrepreneurs adapting rural women could provide employment
opportunities for them.
3. Identifying areas of organizational support and benefits to the organization involved
Financial assistance and promotional support by the organization
NGO registered under section 80 G give corporates tax benefit.
Organizational benefit: Involvement of employees in the overall NGO activities will lead to
Employee engagement.
.
4. Designing the Final proposal:
Company: Financial assistance
Promotional Support
Communication to the present database of active customers
Media support
TYD Ideas: Feasibility, Logistical Support and NGO connect
Workshops
Seminars
Workshop Material
Certification Programs
All in synergy with CSR objectives

34

5.

Internship Assessment

Summer internship at TYDideas had given me an opportunity to learn various HR processes.

I learnt how to develop and execute a concept (how to connect the dots).
My main project was to develop a CSR model, for which I did literature research.
During my research, I came across various activities, which organizations perform under
CSR. Additionally, I realized that the legal aspects of CSR are equally important and that
there are various rules an organization needs to follow.
The Warrior Women Program of TYDideas is about empowering women. I contributed in
establishing a connecting link between CSR model for corporates and Warrior Women
Program. I also developed a database for NGOs required for CSR model.
All through my internship I also worked upon various HR functions: Policy designing,
Manpower Panning, Value chain, Employee Brand Building, Gap analysis (Clients site), and
Benchmarking.
TYDideas is a strategic HR firm; I got an opportunity to observe execution of job description
at one of their client site.
I could correlate my classroom knowledge with practical experience at TYDideas.
This summer internship has given me a broad view of HR-Functions and helped me
understand the job responsibilities of Human Resource Department.

35

6.

Recommendations

The model developed during the internship period has been accepted by the company,
but now it needs to reach corporate clients, and for this, TYDideas should form a

special CSR team.

The database generated of different NGOs can be used to strengthen the model.
This model also can be used as internal employee engagement tool within TYDideas.

36

7.

References

1. Veersalu L. The importance of corporate social responsibility in Estonian consumers

purchasing decisions. 2011 (A Bachelors Thesis Presented to the Media Department
Tallinn Universitys Baltic Film and Media School)
2. Hossain TB, Siwar C, Mohd-Jani MF and Bhuiyan AB. Corporate Social Responsibility
(CSR) for Global Market Access: A Malaysian Case Study on Small and Medium Enterprises.
Research Journal of Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology 2013; 5: 60-65
3. Scilly M. Four Types of Corporate Social Responsibility available at
smallbusiness.chron.com.
4. Gautam R and Singh A. Corporate Social Responsibility Practices in India: A Study of Top
500 Companies. Global Business and Management Research: An International Journal. 2010;
2: 41-56.
5. Corporate Social Responsibility: A Lever for Employee Attraction & Engagement by
Jeanne Meister 2012 available at www.forbes.com
6. Mirvis P. Employee Engagement and CSR: Transactional, Relational, and Developmental
Approaches. California Management Review 2012; 54: 93-117
7. Corporate social responsibility as per new Indian act 2013.pdf available at
www.globaljurix.com.
8. www.tydideas.com

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