“Whether you’re talking about whites, blacks, Latinos
or Asian Americans, the new generation of college
graduates has a different mindset about the companies
they want to work for,” explains Carlos F. Orta, president and CEO of the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility (HACR), a Washington, D.C.-based
advocacy group that advances the inclusion of and support for Latino communities. “They feel they can work
anywhere, and they want to know where a company
stands before they decide where they want to go.”
“There’s a strong interdependence
between business and society.”
—MARK R. KRAMER,
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
According to a survey of 1,800 13-to-25-year-olds
(a.k.a. millennials) by the Boston brand-strategy firm
Cone Inc., 79 percent reported that they want to
work for a company that cares about how it impacts
and contributes to society. More importantly, more
than half of the respondents said that they would
refuse to work for an irresponsible corporation. Other
research has found that employees who work at companies with strong CSR programs stay at their jobs
Carlos F. Orta, President and CEO of the
Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility
longer and are more content with senior management.
Recruiters report a similar passion for CSR among
baby-boomer job seekers. Since they spend much of
their time tethered to work, experts say that they may
be searching for more meaning in their careers and
want to be employed at a company that reflects that.
Indeed, a company’s reputation built by its record
on social responsibility is important to people of all
ages, races/ethnicities and genders. And it’s not only
CARING FOR COMMUNITIES
AT HCSC
Health Care Service Corporation’s (HCSC) community involvement is rooted in one of HCSC’s
core values: corporate citizenship.
“Our long-term strategy is to work with customers, communities and government to support
a healthcare system that’s effective for everyone,”
says Lydia Ashanin, senior manager for enterprise outreach. “Part of that is being a responsive,
engaged and contributing corporate citizen.”
There are three components to corporate
citizenship at HCSC. The first is a corporate-giving program that emphasizes strategic contributions to organizations that are aligned
with HCSC’s healthcare and human service
mission. Through the program, HCSC’s divisions maintain their local focus by support-
ing community-based programs. “Because we
operate plans in Texas, Illinois, New Mexico
and Oklahoma, each division sets its own
agenda according to the needs of the diverse
communities it serves,” says Ashanin. In New
Mexico, for instance, HCSC collaborates with
the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and local organizations to sponsor Mi Dieta, a weight
and nutrition program that incorporates
culturally relevant foods, behaviors and attitudes.
HCSC also has a strong and evolving corporate volunteer program. Like the corporate-giving program, HCSC employees volunteer at
the local level, lending a hand to activities such
as food drives, health fairs and volunteer walks.
HCSC employees also support Operation Back
to School, a program that collects and delivers school supplies to elementary students in
underserved communities with a high level
of poverty. The third component is HCSC’s
Care Van program, which uses mobile clinics
to deliver healthcare services such as childhood
immunizations and health information to underserved communities, both inner-city and rural.
After Hurricane Katrina, HCSC donated a Care
Van to a health clinic in Louisiana to aid with the
recovery effort. “While our mission is to serve
our customers, we understand that it’s important
that we contribute to communities since that’s
where our customers live,” says Ashanin. “Having
a healthy community is a key element of having of
healthy customers.”
