VUCA | Demo Dogs

VUCA

First coined in 1987 by the US Army War College to describe the world after the Cold War, then the term gained more popularity after the fall of the Berlin Wall. In the 21st century, it became a pillar term in the business world to explain the chaotic and rapidly changing environment.

    The four components of VUCA – V for volatility, U for uncertainty, C for complexity, and A for ambiguity describe the condition of our local and global business environment

 

Why should I care?

How can I use this in my job?

What it is?

CSR Definition

Have you ever considered the reason for the ethical and economical sides of a business? Why do companies follow a specific standard of rule to run the organization? This is all in the name of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). As stated in The Role of Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Image in Times of Crisis, CSR is described as being how a company manages its industry and takes responsibility for its social impact. CSR is accompanied by numerous attributes such as legal conformity, societal influences, ethical requirement, and economic dependence, claimed by the article given above. It is also essential to the triple bottom line.

Triple Bottom Line Theory

According to a Harvard Business School report, the triple bottom line is “a business concept that posits firms should commit to measuring their social and environmental impact, in addition to their financial performance—rather than solely focusing on generating profit, or the standard ‘bottom line.’” The concept itself is broken into three P’s: planet, people, and profit. The planet subject is summarized to be contributing to a positive impact on the planet. The people subject is minimized to showing a societal impact, while profit is minimized to keeping a good record of financial performance. It also works to maximize profits whilst reducing costs.

CSR History                 

The origins of the social component in corporate behavior can be traced back to the ancient Roman Laws and can be seen in entities such as homes for the poor and old, asylums, hospitals, and orphanages.

It wasn’t until the 1930’s and 40’s when the debate around the social responsibilities of the private sector begun and authors started discussing what were the specific social responsibilities of companies.

In the 1950’s, Howard R. Bowen, an American economist and college president, defined what those responsibilities were by explaining that the social responsibility of business executives was to make decisions based according to the values of society and provided the first academic definition of CSR.

In the 1970’s, the understanding of CSR was influenced by new legislations and social movements. The term CSR became increasingly popular leading to the unrestricted use of the term CSR under different contexts, and by the end of the decade, the concept became unclear and meant something different for everyone.

During the 1980’s, new societal concerns around environmental pollution, human and labor rights, and waste management indirectly influenced the evolution of the concept. In 1980, Thomas M. Jones was the first author to consider CSR as a decision-making process that influences corporate behavior.

In the 1990’s, the creation of international bodies (e.g., the creation of the European Environment Agency in 1990 and the UN summit on the Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro which translated in the adoption of Agenda 21 and UNFCCC in 1992) and the adoption of international agreements set higher standards with regards to climate related issues and indirectly to corporate behavior. In 1991, Archie B. Carroll represents the four main responsibilities of companies with Pyramid of CSR and states that companies should be good corporate citizens. Carroll is a a professor emeritus at the Terry College of Business at University of Georgia. 

The definitions of CSR of the 2000’s reflected the belief that corporations had a new role in society in which they need to be responsive to social expectations and should be motivated by the search for sustainability, which meant they would have to make strategic decisions to do so.  

In the early 2010’s, it was believed that businesses can generate shared value while improving the firm’s competitiveness through the implementation of strategic CSR. The Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals adopted in 2015 reflected a new social contract in which corporations are expected to play an important role in the global role to achieve SDGs.  In the same year, Carrol defines CRS as the benchmark and central piece for the socially responsible movement.  In 2018, the EU Directive 2014/ 95/EU requires large companies to disclose non-financial and diversity information on their reports.

The understanding of CSR evolved from being a personal decision of businessmen in the 1950’s to be understood as a decision making process in the 1980’s and to be perceived as  a strategic necessity in the 2000’s. The social responsibilities placed on corporations have evolved over the years from being merely acknowledgeable in the early publications to being explicitly defined. The discussion around what those responsibilities are continues to this day (Latapí Agudelo et al., 2019).

 

How Can I Use This In My Job?

Some ways that employers can embrace CSR in their company include being environmentally friendly and eco-conscious; promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace; treating employees with respect; giving back to the community; and ensuring business decisions are ethical. Business success of a company goes far beyond profitability, brand recognition, e.t.c. In today’s world, customers and employees  judge a company by how its activity impacts the community, economy, environment and society. According to Harvard Business Review, business and society need each other might seem like a cliché, but it is also the basic truth that will pull companies out of the muddle that their current corporate-responsibility thinking has created. Successful corporations need a healthy society. Education, health care, and equal opportunity are essential to a productive workforce, and providing these essential resources is the first step to considering the people in an organization. 

CSR volunteering

Using and developing CSR in the workplace has become the social norm since its original study in the 1930s and 40s. In today’s world aligning an effective CSR program with the company’s purpose and values is crucial. So understanding this is the key to developing an acceptable CSR program for one’s company, and also help gain an advantage. If done right such as aligning CSR activities with the values of the company, this will improve and provide a better relationship between employees, society, and help with brand promotion. This is done by allowing employees the time and chance to volunteer in the communities around them. This not only provides an impact in the community, but gives the corporation a chance to promote the company’s values and some of the initiatives the corporation has taken to act on those values. By using CSR in the workplace you can produce a productive healthy environment for the corporation’s employees and the community. 

This video shows great examples of activities both companies and individuals in order to embrace CSR culture. Some examples that you can do individual or as a workplace team include:

  1. Cleaning Up Litter and Trash
  2. Repairing Local Ecosystems
  3. Volunteering at shelters and soup kitches
  4. Establishing a positive club
  5. Upholding the integrity of workplace policies

Challenges Faced By MultiGenerational Workplaces

Multi-generational workplace brings together ideas and solutions from different perspectives of people from various age groups. However, it also comes with some barriers, issues, and challenges. The first barrier that comes to a multi-generational workplace is barriers while communicating. Age plates a huge role when communicating with others. The older generation prefers to communicate offline and more formally while the younger generation prefers to communicate online and is a little informal compared to the older generation. Another major challenge faced in a multi-generation workplace is differences between work styles. Baby boomers and millennials prefer to work longer and in a specific time frame while Gen Z prefers to have flexibility and be more comfortable with remote work.
Issues in training and development is another significant challenge that multigenerational workplace faces. Learning and training styles differ from generation to generation. Baby boomers and millennials prefer to have offline training, while Gen Zs are more comfortable with technology-based training. When it comes to development in tech Gen Zs’ are more advanced and sometimes it causes conflict as the older generation is resistant to adapting to the new technology. The generation gap can also lead to biases while working. People tend to be more open and comfortable with people their age. These conflicts can hamper job performance and job success rates greatly.

Benefits of Multigenerational Workplaces

Multigenerational teams working in the same workplace offer a variety of benefits. Predominantly, a multigenerational workplace encourages the exchange of distinct viewpoints and best practices. Experienced professionals play an essential role in the career development of younger employees. By imparting the valuable knowledge and expertise they have gained from prior experiences, they can act as mentors to the younger employees, teaching them effective managerial and business strategies. Comparably, according to reverse mentorship, younger employees paired with senior staff can assist them in staying acquainted with new technology, social media, and current trends. Thus, businesses that promotes an engaging and collaborative multigenerational workforce benefits from the competitive advantage of attracting both young and experienced competencies.

 

Generational Breakdown: Differences and Similarities

A multigenerational workplace is where various age groups and age gaps work in the same environment. These generations include baby boomers, Generation X, millennials, and Generation Z. The multigenerational workplace is becoming more common because of the unique traits and skills each generation brings. Their differences and similarities can amplify a company if employers know how to bridge the assets each generation brings to the table.  

Every generation has its own skills, preferences, and values their upbringing and environment around them shape these. Baby boomers like having a good work-life balance, they like having flexibility and working remotely. Generation X is more adaptable to diversity, values work-life balance, have more entrepreneurial traits, and risk-takes, like more individual tasks. Millennials are more competitive, tech-savvy, encouraging (often give rewards just for participation rather than winning), prefer teamwork, and are more community-oriented. Lastly, Gen is tech-savvy, and collaborative while also valuing independence, efficient multi-taskers, and being socially conscious.  

Although, there’s a wide age gap between all the generations they’re more alike than we think.  All of these generations want to be successful, they are result driven. Regardless of their age differences, these generations still want to show out and reach their goals. The Multigenerational still likes to communicate, even if the communication style is different. Each generation has a learning and growth mindset which means feedback is crucial for them. 

Learning how to incorporate the differences and similarities between the multi-generations can lead to a better workplace.

Why Should We Care?

Everyone should care about having a multigenerational workplace because even though it comes with challenges, it has benefits that certainly overpower the struggles. Although whenever you hear someone talking about a multigenerational workplace. You might think that it can be a pain working with someone older or younger than you, but in the long run, it increases skills and experiences by sharing a common space with someone who might have a different perspective than you.
Having a multigenerational workplace enforces fundamental values such as mutual respect. By being in this type of environment, you are going to be able to challenge harmful stereotypes about each other’s generations, and you will even find out how there are more similarities between each other than differences, which will make you more tolerant and have an open mind when it comes to working with other people. This type of workplace will also drive you to voice your concerns more often as well as talk about your boundaries and respect other people’s preferences. This is important in any kind of work environment, so by gaining this experience you will become an engaging person at work, which will impact your job performance and productivity in the workplace positively.

What is a MultiGenerational Workplace?

It is personnel comprised of people from different generations. This happens when people from different generational classifications come together in a workforce with a common goal. This has been present throughout history, although we are currently in the presence of the widest age diversity ever recorded. We see people from the Baby Boomer Generation (1946-1964) working together with Generation Z (1997-2012), there are 2 Generations of people in between these, and we may end up having up to 4 different Generations working together in the same workforce.

The reason why the multigenerational workforce is wider than it has ever been being due to several factors. Firstly, people are working longer and delaying retirement. Secondly, younger generations are entering the workforce. Thirdly, people’s lifespan is longer than before. At the same time, technological advances are creating new job roles that previously did not exist, requiring a different set of skills and experience levels. Additionally, globalization is also a common factor that we should not overlook. You can notice this even in a diverse classroom, which provides a glimpse of how the future workforce will look like and the advantages that it may bring to both big and small organizations.

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