A #CSR Siesta ?

The San Fransisco Chronicle reports that a new survey shows that people's energy wanes most in the afternoon hours and offers suggestions as to what to do get over the wall. Impossible things like planning ahead, eating well, smelling the roses. Roses? Do YOU keep roses in your office ?

As HR managers with a CSR mindset, this might be a good point to consider. If people's productivity drops significantly in the afternoon, it might be worth reviweing changes to work processes to allow for productivity dives and enable people to work at the times their biological clocks facilitate top performance. This serves both  the business and a core stakeholder group, employees. Realistically, no-one will plan ahead for their afternoon slump, and as for smelling the roses, that seems like a non-starter. So here is my list of things HR Managers with a CSR mindset can do to improve stakeholder responsiveness, contribute to better business results, and make the wolrd a better place.

Offer a CSR volunteer break: Allow employee volunteering hours in the afternoon, not after work hours or in the morning. Going out to help others is a sure way to release some of that latent adrenalin. And it will certainly boost your volunteer hours which will look good in your next CSR report.

Have a CSR report reading session. Basically, this will put everyone to sleep, which is good, because they will awake after an hour felling much more refreshed and ready to get the nose back to the grindstone.

Float an ethical dilemma : See who can provide the most sensible response. This has the added benefit of checking up who actually has read the corporate Code of Ethics.

Supply free helpings of Chunky Monkey to everyone. This won't boost productivity, but buying Chunky Monkey in bulk will lower the price so you can have MORE.

Offer a CSR Siesta: Provide mattresses for everyone to have a nap between 13:00 and 16:00. As long as they promise to dream about CSR-related subjects.

I would be interested in hearing from anyone that has a positive experience with any of my suggested solutions. But not between 13:00 and 16:00


elaine cohen, CSR consultant, Sustainabilty Reporter, HR Professional. Contact me via www.twitter.com/elainecohen  on Twitter or via my website www.b-yond.biz/en