Social Responsibility Series (5)
Benchmarking Social Responsibility
After introducing the concepts of social responsibility and what the Force has been doing, we now highlight some key observations of the focus group study conducted in 2008, followed by two newly available benchmarks - ISO 26000 and HKQAA-HSBC CSR Index 2010.
In addition to surveying Force social responsibility activities in 2008, a focus group study was conducted to obtain the views of Force members on this issue.
Mainstream views
The focus group study provided a general overview of how Force members perceived social responsibility in our organisational context. All participants believed every organisation, including the Force, owes a responsibility to society but considered that social responsibility initiatives are largely related to environmental protection. The participants also considered that the Force should focus more on integrating social responsibility values into day-to-day policing duties, rather than follow the practices of large commercial enterprises and corporations, who, they thought, pursued social responsibility activities for image-building and long-term business growth.
The Four Pillar Model on social responsibility, comprising Environment, Community, Marketplace and Workplace, was new to most of the participants. The structure the model provided was seen as an advantage because although they fully supported the social responsibility activities championed by their formations, they felt that a more structured approach would make involvement in social responsibility activities more meaningful and appropriate for Police officers.
International and local benchmarks
International social responsibility benchmarks that surfaced after completion of the Force-wide research in 2008, provide another useful reference as how the Force could approach and champion social responsibility.
The new international benchmark is ISO 26000, which was launched in October 2010. Rather than merely being a certification process like other ISO protocols, ISO 26000 provides a holistic framework for organisations that decide to pursue social responsibility. The seven core socially responsible topics and ISO 26000 are Organisational Governance, Human Rights, Labour Practices, The Environment, Fair Operating Practices, Consumer Issues and Community Involvement and Development. They provide standardised framework for any organisation to follow.
The local benchmark is provided by the Hong Kong Quality Assurance Agency (HKQAA) and the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC). They jointly launched the HKQAA-HSBC CSR Index in Hong Kong, which adopts mostly the same ideology and design as ISO 26000. Moreover, this corporate social responsibility index measures an organisation's maturity level in practising social responsibility from four different perspectives, namely Corporate Governance, Social Well-Being, Economic Performance and Environmental Conservation. Participating organisations fulfilling the criteria are entitled to use the “CSR Advocate” mark, rewarding for their commitment to corporate social responsibility (http://www.hkqaa.org/cmsimg/CSR_brochure.pdf).
These benchmarks, which provide a broader context than the Four Pillars Approach are worthy of deeper exploration to determine whether they can shed some light on our drive to promote social responsibility across the Force. Under Strategic Action Plan 2010-2012 Key Project 2.4, the Force Working Group on Promotion of Social Responsibility is now examining them in detail. We want to remind colleagues that it is important for every member of the Force to embrace the concepts and values of social responsibility while dealing with the public, both on and off duty.
