CSR Customer Focus

Corporate Social Responsibility, or CSR project provides the opportunity for graduates to take total responsibility for a  project with real outcomes. Individuals can take on roles to really challenge them and hence gain maximum learning. Key objectives could include developing commercial acumen, customer relationships, stakeholder management, communication, prioritisation and motivating self and others  By sharing their personal objectives for the project the graduates can form a powerful peer network and really support each other going forward. By facilitating both a mid-project and final review, the graduates have direct experience of the value of reflecting on their performance and identifying improvements.

There is the additional benefit of raising the profile of the organisation within local communities. Research has demonstrated that the current graduate generation rate highly the ability to add value and to make a real difference. Providing this opportunity for graduates could assist with the attraction and recruitment of highly motivated and talented individuals.

How

An event that may span several weeks delivered in separate elements, including launching the event, the implementation of the project and a mid-project review and telephone conferencing during the analysis and planning stages. Based on action learning, this module will be highly participative and will require the graduates to fully utilise their combined skills and talents. The CSR project selected would be relevant in two ways; both from the graduate’s perspective and the community partner involved. It is expected that the graduates will take complete ownership and responsibility for delivery from initial scoping and planning through to implementation and can be linked to a direct ROI for the business.

Sample CSR Project

• Design and refurbish an Internet café in a youth club
• Design and build a garden area in a school
• Business specific – in line with the company’s CSR programme
• Undertake an environmental survey and generate an action plan in a school
• Organise a day out for a retirement home / school
• Organise an afternoon’s entertainment at a retirement home
• Decorate a room in a day nursery
• Organise a charity dinner
• Organise an activity day for a group of disabled young people
• Undertake an environmental survey and generate an action plan in a school
• Deliver a session in a school for example:
• How IT is used in business to 25 – 30 Year 5 – 6 students in a primary school (half day) or year 8 or 9 students in a secondary school (half day)
• A life skills session to sixth form students
• Team working skills session to year 9 students (half day)

Outcomes

• Graduates  become more confident and capable to take on more responsibility
• Graduates have a greater ability to develop sound customer relationship including managing expectations
• Graduates have experience of managing a budget
• Graduates have challenged themselves by adopting a different role within the project team
• Graduates have learned how to motivate and engage others
• Graduates have identified and then developed specific competencies
• Company promoted within the community