At Ceridian, social responsibility is 'part of the fabric'

Social Responsibility has come to mean many things to corporate Canada, from business ethics to environmental sustainability to charitable giving.

At Ceridian Canada Ltd., it's expressed in a set of straightforward principles that encompasses those values and more: Maximize the value of people; create a healthy future for our children; educate everyone as to the importance of physical and mental well-being.

Indeed, Ceridian has been in the vanguard of a continent-wide trend - one that was reflected in the calendar of events at the recent Human Resources Professionals Association of Ontario conference, where Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) issues were prominent.

"We have some very strict ethics and governance guidelines that underpin everything we do," says Jim Thomson, director of human resource operations for the company, which offers payroll services, employee assistance programs and recruiting services.

"Companies trust us with their funds and they trust us with their confidential data," Mr. Thomson says. "We are known as a trusted partner to over 40,000 Canadian companies and better than 3.5 million of their employees, whom we pay. They trust us to guard their information; they know that the dollars and cents are exactly what they're supposed to be and in the bank at the right time."

While such respect for stakeholders is a key characteristic of socially responsible companies, it is only the beginning. At Ceridian, for example, CSR also translates into community support, as a total of 32 charities spanning the country can attest.

Mr. Thomson credits employees at various Ceridian offices across the country with helping direct their own fund-raising efforts and matching contributions from the company toward worthwhile causes locally, nationally and even internationally. Examples are the Salvation Army, United Way, Native Child and Family Services of Toronto, Peel Children's Centre in Mississauga, a Nova Scotia shelter for abused women, the Stollery Children's Hospital in Edmonton and the Breakfast Club in Montreal. Ceridian and its employees are also lending support to a village
in Africa.

Mr. Thomson notes that Ceridian had been supporting the United Way at the rate of $1.10 from the company for every dollar raised by employees. "But we were getting feedback from employees saying they wanted to support organizations in their own communities and make an impact," he recalls. "So what we did was redistribute that matching funding equitably to volunteer location managers in various office and say: 'Look, get together with the employees and you decide how you want to spend that money.' We gave them some good guidelines and the reaction was phenomenal. They were so pleased to that we'd listened to them and so pleased to be given the ownership of the funding and responsibility for making sure it went to the right places."

A third element of CSR - environmental sustainability - has been growing steadily in importance with Canadians. "The world is changing, Mr. Thomson says. "We're in the service business; we're not chopping down trees so it's a little easier for us. But we certainly encourage all our employees to think about environmental issues."

Attention to social responsibility helps companies recruit good people, Mr. Thomson continues. "The younger generation asks these kinds of questions. They're concerned, and for them it's part of balancing life and work. I can't see any company ignoring the green movement. Employees are very much aware and are looking at their employer and saying, what are we doing or not doing."

Furthermore, companies are finding their ethics and environmental impact held up to scrutiny by governments, consumers and shareholders. The trend, in fact, prompted the launching last month (January) of an MBA program with a specialization in sustainability at University of British Columbia's Sauder School of Business.

The program will offer studies in environmental economics, sustainable development and corporate social responsibility to MBA students. In that respect, Ceridian is ahead of the curve. "It's in our fabric," Mr. Thomson says. "It's who we are."