The process of establishing and responding to the Corporate Social Responsibility agenda of the firms has opened up plethora of job prospects for specialists who have experience in various fields like social work, health, education and disaster management, says PK Joseph
The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Sector is emerging as a rapidly growing and promising career domain. India is the only country that has brought out legislation on CSR. It is now viewed as an integral part of business strategy to minimise the business risks linked to uncertainty.
CSR does not imply charity, sponsorship or philanthropy. Instead it is a process through which a company achieves a balance of economic, environmental and social obligation. It is an essential concept whereby companies decide to spent a certain percentage of their net profit either voluntarily or on account of the legislation to contribute to make a better society and a cleaner environment.
The CSR provisions made under The Companies Act 2013 entails:
Every public and private sector company that fulfills certain criteria has to spend two per cent of its net average profit of the immediately preceding three years. This is mandated by Companies Act 2013 and the New CSR Rules 2014 that came into effect from April 2014. Subsequent to recent reports, it is expected that over one lakh jobs will be generated in the next six years, 16,000 companies will come into the CSR fold and `22,000 crore will be generated. Moreover, the liberalised and globalised Indian economy is witnessing shrinking role of state and growing role of corporate and business in overall development of country. Corporates, with their wider reach, professionalism, innovation and wealth, have the ability to influence the pace of growth and development. Further, public expectations from corporates and businesses are growing.
In addition to providing good quality products at reasonable prices, companies should strive to make their operations environmentally sound, adhere to high labor standards, reduce human rights abuses and mitigate poverty. The CSR industry is diverse due to distinct nature of activities of the organisations leading to plethora of job opportunities within the private, public and voluntary sectors.
In private sector, larger companies may have CSR departments or have CSR functions located within particular areas including marketing, communications, environmental management, public affairs, investor relations, finance, operations and human resources. Opportunities are also opening up in the larger accounting and consulting firms, many of which are trying to compete with the niche CSR consulting firms by offering their own CSR client services. In public sector, CSR career options can be found in national Government agencies, PSUs and international organisations.
There are a wide variety of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), industry associations, think-tanks and academic institutions engaging in learning and/or advocacy within the CSR arena.
Major corporations have their CSR wings which are exclusively dedicated to doing community development and CSR activities directly or indirectly in the vicinity of their operations sector. In other companies, CSR activity is undertaken by the HR, marketing, corporate communication or the department dealing with environmental matters. It is observed that companies whose operations directly impact nature, like mining, manufacturing, power generations etc, have very active CSR wings. They tackle the grievances of nearby populations and engage the stakeholders. In green field projects, we have seen corporate giants and Government struggling hard to get the land acquisitions and Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&R) issues solved. Even here, CSR professionals are in great demand.
The process of establishing and responding to the CSR agenda within an organisation will require specialists who have experience in various fields like social work, health, education, disaster management etc.
Skills required
The six core competencies — understanding society, building capacity, questioning business as usual, stakeholder relations, strategic view and harnessing diversity— are listed for managers involved with CSR activities.
Job prospects
CSR sector recruits its major workforce from among the professionals who are into social work, rural development and other developmental fields to undertake and manage CSR activities of the company. There are an increasing number of qualifications becoming available at masters level and as part of MBA courses. The professional courses like Master of Social Works (MSW), MBA in Rural Development and PGD in Rural Development etc offered by different universities and reputed institutions may be right option for career in CSR.
Most corporations would look for candidates who have some relevant CSR experience. A possible solution would be to opt for internship for a few months and gain experience.
Many direct CSR roles require specialist knowledge and business experience and therefore may not be open to those on graduate programmes or just starting out with a company. You may have to take a long-term strategy and build up your skills and experience in relevant areas first.
Remuneration
The type of remuneration which can be expected while working in the CSR wing of an organisation is `5 lakh per annum for junior level, upto `15 lakh (per annum) for mid-level, `40 to `60 lakh for senior-level and `1 crore for top CSR positions holders.
Courses
There are many institutes which offer courses that could land one a job in the CSR sector: nMBA in Sustainability, BIMTECH, Greater Noida and TERI University.
(The writer is director, programme, DlF Foundation.)