There are lots of things businesses need in order to thrive. They need employees, capable staff, a niche to focus on, and experts with sufficient and relevant knowledge. One thing many don’t consider, however, is the role of corporate social workers. Social workers are increasingly becoming a draw for many businesses, especially with the rise of ideas such as corporate social responsibility. This article looks at the many benefits that social workers can provide to businesses.
What is corporate social responsibility?
Corporate social responsibility is the rise of the desire for businesses to serve the needs of the public, to create positive social impact and change, and to act in an ethical manner. This can include having a portion of employee time and money dedicated to helping social causes such as non-profits, homelessness, food insecurity, and more. Additionally, many companies are focusing on efforts to have inclusion and diversity in the workplace by hiring a diverse workforce.
The values that a company fights for and espouses are starting to become more and more important in today’s world, to the extent that it is considered essential by many people. In fact, many employees are starting to really take a company’s social values and their actions to support groups and causes into serious account when it comes to knowing who they want to work for.
If a business hasn’t been very socially active and doesn’t have clearly defined causes it champions or people it wants to help, it may be left behind by more socially conscious companies when it comes to hiring staff.
What do corporate social workers do?
Social workers often work in human resources, working to make sure that everyone is comfortable in the workplace, and that any internal problems are handled appropriately. They are also trained to provide therapy and deal with issues relating to harassment, discrimination, and other HR issues.
They are also used to focus on the corporate social responsibility needs of a business, helping them stick to and carry out their plans to make the world a better place. Sometimes, businesses claim to be socially responsible purely for marketing purposes without taking sufficient time to support the causes they claim to champion; a social worker can make sure that the appropriate amount of time and money is going to these causes.
Social workers can also work on managing and guiding a company through periods of change and growth. Often, changes such as mergers, taking on new clients, and moving to new buildings come with changes in culture. Social workers are designed to work with a business and ensure that these transitions are handled and all of the groups in the workplace continue to work together.
Improve the systems of businesses
One of the biggest talking points in the world of business is the ‘work-life balance’, as many employees and even many business owners are taking note of what it means to have and be a healthy business with healthy employees. If a business is making more money than it ever has, but its employees and upper management are stressed, exhausted, and it has an extremely high staff turnover rate, can it really be considered successful?
Social workers can help everyone involved in the business find a work-life balance that still allows the business to be successful. This can be done through employee assistance programs, counseling, and support for workers who have problems in both their personal and professional lives.
Corporate social workers are problem solvers
Problem solvers are what businesses need. Businesses of all sizes encounter problems and must deal with them effectively. Corporate social workers can help businesses understand any issues they may be facing, particularly in relation to their employees, and workplace culture.
Often, certain problems are culturally sensitive or otherwise focused on something not related to work. For example, in one social worker case, they were assigned to see why an employee group of mostly immigrants was fighting against the case to have their working hours curbed by their employer. This was going to be done for reasons of safety and laws, but the employees didn’t want it. The social worker learned that many of the employees wanted to work as much as possible because the money was being sent home to their families. Because of this extra information, the employees and the company were able to reach a compromise that helped out everyone.
Social workers often provide context and information that many companies just don’t have access to, or don’t have the time to find out. With nearly every single business, the more information they have about a problem or an issue, the more power they have to solve it. Social workers give businesses that information and make sure that they are able to solve problems effectively.
Provide a bridge between employees and employers
Just as in the previous example, many social workers are able to facilitate communication between the employers of a business and the people who work within it. Even in the most open businesses where everyone has a tight relationship, there is often still a divide between the owners and the workers that can prevent needed conversations from being had.
For example, some workers might be using work and working longer hours in order to get away from problems at home. Others might be struggling to communicate their needs and what they want out of a job, and still, others might be stressed about an impending layoff or a company downsize.
At this point, working with a social worker can help to bridge the gap and facilitate those conversations. Many social workers have knowledge about therapy and can help employees work through some of the problems they are experiencing or can push to open up wellness and stress management programs that are designed to take some of the pressure off the shoulders of the employees.
Corporate social workers can advocate for employees and communities
If employees are dealing with personal issues, work-life balance issues, unresolved trauma, or other concerns, it can be very hard to find the time and to find the right words to talk to an employer about it. Furthermore, employers are often ill-equipped to deal with these problems.
Especially in sensitive and complex situations, such as in cases of sexual harassment, trauma, or discrimination in the workplace, the specialized knowledge, skill, and experience of a social worker can be invaluable in implementing a workplace culture that ensures such things do not happen again. Also, having a corporate social worker in the employees’ corner can ensure that employees have a voice and that employers are made aware of all the options available to them when it comes to dealing with complex issues. With the help of corporate social workers, both sides can walk away with their goals fulfilled and their relationship in a better place.
Additionally, many social workers advocate for their communities. They might see an issue that needs to be handled in the community, and push for relevant companies and/or their employees to engage the community and help to solve the problem. Social workers are able to help build bridges between a community and the business that operate within it.
Social workers help individuals and teams to improve productivity
Of course, there are plenty of reasons a business wants its employees to be more productive, and social workers can help them increase the level of productivity and connection between their teams. Social workers focus on making sure that any stressors or problems that are preventing an employee from coming into work at 100% are handled by providing what support they can.
If a business’s employee is dealing with caregiving problems, a military deployment, a divorce, or one of the dozens of other things that can cause stress in a person’s life, then having a session with a social worker can help them come up with strategies and tools in order to manage those issues. Then they can come back to work a happier and healthier human being.
This can be extremely helpful because sometimes employees and employers find it hard to see one another outside of the context of work. Often, as long as the employee in question is doing the work to a satisfactory degree, everything is considered fine. If they are not doing the work to a satisfactory degree, then they are in trouble. It’s a binary way of thinking, and in reality, there is so much more to it.
Social workers can help business owners understand their employees, and can help everyone feel more comfortable in the business. For example, if an employee just became a new parent, they might be unable to adjust to the demands that childcare has put on their home life, and that may be affecting their work—by talking to a social worker and getting the needed context about why productivity for this employee is lacking, the employer can work to give their employee the support they need. This way the work can be done, while the employee is also given the work-life balance they need to care for their child.
Additionally, social workers can improve the productivity of teams. They know how to work with systems; and what is a team if it isn’t one big system? If the team is struggling in certain areas or dealing with conflict, a social worker can work to ensure that those problems are solved, and the team can go back to being 100% productive.
Social workers can focus on outcomes
Finally, a good social worker is always outcome driven, just like a business owner should be. They can analyze the various aspects of a business and determine what changes need to be made, why those changes are the best for a company, and what outcomes they will bring.
They can present valid reasons for a business to work with non-profit groups and community projects, and they can give them reasons to work on improving inclusion and diversity in the workplace. For many employers, they simply need to understand what the outcomes are of doing these things, and then they are happy to do them.
Social workers are extremely outcome driven; outcomes are what they see in every business relationship and action. By listening to the expert advice of a social worker, businesses can apply an outcome-driven approach that can help them grow and improve.
How should businesses find the correct social worker for them?
After acknowledging the value a social worker can bring to a business regarding its continued success, it must then find a social worker to help them. However, finding a great social worker (especially considering the high demand) is still a challenge that many business owners have some trouble with. It’s vital that a business takes time to find and choose a social worker that meets its needs and suits its ethos as a company.
Finding someone who knows what to do in the field of corporate social work is going to start with their education. Social work, learning about outcomes and systems, and having both the skills and the mindset to support employees and employers are all things that are going to have to be learned. The best education that employers can look for in this field is to work with people from accredited online universities, including Florida State University.
Florida State University’s online programs help students focus on the various basics of social work, while also allowing them to branch out into careers in corporate social work or into the field of Leadership in Executive and Administrative Development (LEAD). The online nature of these programs allows students excellent flexibility in their studies.
The demand for social workers is only going to grow, especially with the rise of AI and software automation. With so much work going into automation and the more logical and clinical elements of business, companies often want to compensate by filling more positions with people who are emotionally driven and focused on social improvement. Due to the changing nature of business, now is a great time for a company to think about using the skills of a social worker. Equally, the high demand for social workers makes now a great time for prospective social workers to gain relevant qualifications to improve their employability.
When hiring a social worker, it’s often useful to look at their record in previous employment. Have they worked with and ensured that social needs are met in other businesses and workplaces? Has there been an increase in the growth and productivity of the business that can be seen after the social worker showed up? If the social worker has a proven track record for success in other businesses, then they will likely be able to work with yours as well.
Focus on social work in your business and reap the benefits
If you are a business owner, you’ve likely got a million other things on your plate besides having social conversations and making sure that every single system in your business runs at 100%. Not only is a social worker going to ensure that your business is able to identify those problems, but they might also be able to fix them for you and take some of the stress off of your shoulders.
Hiring the perfect social worker will improve morale in your company and ensure that your company is able to be a place where employees can work and where they enjoy working, and that your company will be able to solve problems and become a well-oiled machine.
Like it or not, your business has social responsibility in today’s world, and a social worker is able to help you take on that responsibility and improve its outcomes. Social workers make businesses better places for both employees and employers, so hire a corporate social worker, and watch your business improve.
