The Role of Human Resource Department in Corporate Social Responsibility

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The fields of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and human resource (HR) function have gained increasingly importance to corporate strategies. As many hotels are concerned with sustainability issues and CSR, the HR function is positioned to assist implementing and enhancing CSR strategy as well as administering its core functions. In most cases, CSR in the hotels are housed in HR Department where the managers have responsibility for the strategic application of CSR in the hotels. This paper presents a case study of five hotels in Penang Island, Malaysia as an attempt to demonstrate how Human Resource managers of these hotels perform their CSR practices. Specific focus is placed on the role of Human Resource managers who are not well-equipped with social work experience or background and specifically to investigate how these managers perceive CSR concept, the impact of their CSR programs on beneficiaries and the challenges that they encountered in the process. To answer these questions, we have conducted interviews with five managers from four and five star hotels in Penang. Our findings have reflected the importance of conceptualization of CSR particularly in hotel sector as well as gaining insight into current HR profession in administering CSR activities to consider someone with social work background in a bid to improve the quality of life of targeted communities.