Responsibility roles have progressed beyond figurehead position

By James Hyatt 

Corporations are stiffening their requirements and expectations of executives hired to address social responsibility issues.

In the past, said Martha Josephson, a partner and co-head of the Internet and Media practice at recruiting firm Egon Zehnder International, the CSR function “was something CEOs would put in place to demonstrate their good will and good intentions.”

In the past two years, she notes, corporate heads “have gotten very serious” in how they define the CSR role.  They expect CSR executive to understand the short, medium and long-term impact of CSR-related programs— “what it is going to cost and what the likely benefit would be,” rather than, as was previously the case, only generating “positive PR.”

In addition, she says, CSR-type jobs have been “really technical and sophisticated” because the subject matter is so broad, from pollution and energy to natural resources to feeding the poor. “You can’t just put in an energy efficiency, or recycling, or solar panel program in place without understanding the consequences, which are likely to be inadvertent.”

Switching the type of packaging, for instance, may raise unforeseen issues.

As a result, Josephson finds, demands for such executives are “much more rigorous” but the jobs are “much more interesting.” And such positions are “being imbued with more responsibility and more business impact.”

And as a result, companies are “willing to pay more money for someone who demonstrates they have those skills.”