Wednesday, January 12, 2011

CSR for HR is rather jolly

Another review of CSR for HR, this time by the creative, dynamic and very influential Solitaire Townsend, founder and leader of Futerra Sustainability Communications , a leading light in all things to do with making the concept of sustainability more accessible, intelligible and authentic. Solly is a true powerhouse in this space, and her voice carries much weight, which is why I am honoured to see her review of CSR for HR on the People Management Magazine website.

The review starts off like this:

Elaine Cohen has been a powerful voice in the corporate social responsibility and sustainability movement for many years. Turns out she also has a secret aptitude for fiction.

That could be a rather sarcastic start to a review of her new book, CSR for HR. Except that this is an overt work of fiction, and a rather jolly one at that. We follow the story of Sharon, a fictional HR director who sets out on a journey of CSR discovery. This is a fantastic ploy to entertain the knowledgeable, while filling in the gaps for the new entrants to CSR.
 
Sharon delves into the definitions of CSR, learns from the real-life achievements of Body Shop, Gap, Nike, Microsoft, Ben and Jerry’s, Google and energy company Vattenfall. The book is stuffed with mini-articles, models, a road map to get started and interviews between Sharon and real leaders in CSR.

and finishes up like this:

Nevertheless, this is a must-read for HR professionals, students and those interested in holistic management. It’s rare to find a business book where you learn as much from the protagonist’s chats with her daughter as from the case studies. Enjoy.


My thanks to Solly for taking the time to read the book and for the wonderful review. Anyone who helps get the message out to the HR community that it is time for HR to wake up to CSR is a VSP (Very Special Person)  and I am highly appreciative. I hope the HR community will be, one day, too!

elaine cohen, CSR consultant, Sustainabilty Reporter, HR Professional, Author of CSR for HR: A necessary partnership for advancing responsible business practices. Contact me via www.twitter.com/elainecohen  on Twitter or via my website www.b-yond.biz/en

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