Social Workers in the Corporate World - Clash of Cultures?

Image courtesy:http://cas.umkc.edu/socialwork

 

A recent article in Business Line stated that if the Companies Bill is to be passed in the winter session of Parliament, nearly 8500 Companies in India will come under the compulsory CSR spend category. This translates into roughly 60,000 jobs for CSR Professionals. It is also anticipated that this will be a bonanza for Social Work professionals and professionals from the NGO sector.

The article also speculated that Companies in their eagerness to comply with the many CSR related provisions, may poach jobs from leading NGOs. While rejoicing at the prospect of new opportunities for many of my Social Work colleagues, I also wonder what challenges that this opportunity may throw up. The first thing that comes to my mind is the perceived clash of cultures and the transition that the Professional Social Workers have to make to the so called Corporate Culture.

Till recently and even now in some Companies, CSR functions are handled by Corporate Communications team. Therefore these “CSR professionals” mostly have a Communications, Marketing, PR background - and not Social Work background. Recently, some MNCs started recruiting “Specialists” or “Subject Matter Experts” - in the field of education, environment and community development. Indian companies too followed suit and this created a trend and a wave of migration already started from many large NGOs to the Corporate Sector. Going by the Business Line report, this “migration” will increase or even be forced when Corporates and Head Hunting firms spread their nets to NGO /non-profit sector.

Interestingly, during the late '90s, few young professionals from corporate world made a dramatic shift to the NGO sector. It was indeed dramatic because: those days you either worked with a NGO or with a Corporate. Nobody will even think of crossing each other's domains. It was also logical as you could very well argue: Corporates Make Profits and Non-profits -do not make any..(silly)– so it's a no brainer actually – the twain shall never meet ..scenario. Many hailed this move from the Corproate to the Non-Profit sector, rightly so. However some went overboard and also said that with this shift, NGOs will function “more professional” and actually prescribed this as a panacea to all ailing NGOs!

So, when professionals from Corporate world made a successful transition into the NGO sector – why can't the Social Work Professionals do the same? Will eye brows be raised when a qualified Social Worker walks in with confidence in the hallow corridors of Corporate power? I think, the answer lies in the initial perception of Corporates being more professional and NGOs as not being professional and lacking in management systems etc.

I am sure the debates will continue on this perceived shift /transition and resultant clash of cultures.

Eventually, clarity will emerge. The nay sayers or those who decried NGOs for their lack of professionalism and systems, will have nowhere to hide when you point out to them that the Companies Act itself came about because of some rather shocking or shall we say “unprofessional behaviour” of some highly acclaimed Corporates.

The irony is now NGOs pilloried for not having any Governance are going to contribute in a large scale to the growth and development of Governance and Professionalism in Corporates!