Responsible Careers: Doing Good Even if it Isn't Your Job

The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been the source of much controversy over the years. Some believe that corporations have a responsibility to do nothing more than turn a profit. Others, meanwhile, think that companies should take steps to mitigate the negative impact of their actions (or--even better--require that they have a positive impact) on society.

Whichever point of the spectrum you happen to be on in that debate, it's difficult to deny that proponents of CSR have been making inroads in recent years. Many companies have begun calculating their success using metrics that take account of concepts like energy usage and environmental footprint, in addition to traditional revenue and profit measurements.

That in turn has raised the value of CSR-specific knowledge and skill sets among employees. But here, too, there has been some divergence of thought. While some companies hire individuals--in many cases at the executive level--with titles like "Director of CSR", others believe that social responsibility should be everyone's job.

That latter point of view is on display at Humana, which has been working with Vault over the past couple of years to highlight the extent to which the principle of CSR are embedded throughout its entire organization.

In the last of a series of posts and articles for Vault, Humana's Director of Corporate Communications, Jim Turner, demonstrates that "you don't need the words 'sustainability' or 'CSR' in your job title in order to address these issues on a daily basis."

In Turner's case, he brings the same tool-set to Humana's CSR-related efforts that he does for any other communications-related project--storytelling. His story is proof positive that anyone, anywhere in a company can make a difference to an issue that they care about--even if making that difference isn't strictly within their job description.

Click the link to learn more about a typical working day in Jim's life. Be sure to also check out the archive of Day in the Life profiles of other professions on Vault. 

Related:

A Day in the Life: Corporate Social Responsibility Lead, Humana

A Day in the Life: A Clinical Disparities and Cultural Diversity (CDCD) Consultant at Humana.