The idea of a Social Compliance Audit, or Corporate Social Responsibility is relatively new, but has been brought about by consumers who wish to ensure their products are made with all due consideration given to the people and processes involved. This has been a big problem in recent years, as companies outsource their production to China and other 3rd world countries, where laws on environmental and worker protection are non-existent at worse and regarded as best-practice guidelines at best. The most famous case in the news recently involved a Foxconn factory where Apple products are made in Shenzhen, China. A total of 15 workers committed suicide due to inadequate working pay and the promise of insurance money for families if they were to die. Foxconn responded by erecting nets outside the windows to prevent falls, as well as a global pay increase of around 20% to all workers.

Still, this is just one instance of an international problem that highlights the importance of Social Auditing. Indeed, the problem is not just limited to 3rd world countries – a recent Dispatches program from Channel 4 in the UK highlighted a number of factories within the UK itself that were illegally employing Indian workers at half of the national minimum wage and in inadequate working conditions, producing clothes for resale in prominent high street retailers. Companies can no longer ignore their Corporate Social Responsibility and must be vessels for social change.

A Social Compliance Audit consist more precisely of:

- Child labor, checking the proof of age and whether “young workers” (15-18) do not exceed hourly limits for school and shifts.
- Forced labor, checking that the company does not require a monetary deposit to be given a job, or doesn’t withhold money to force continuation of the job.
- Health and safety standards, such as protective equipment and emergency procedures.
- Freedom of unions
- Discrimination and harassment checks
- Disciplinary procedures in place
- Check for illegal confinement, physical beatings or fines levied.
- Working hours and renumeration

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When I hear somebody say that the company is  just like a family,  I think it is just a lie. You are family if you can borrow some money without paying it back, or do not come to work for 15 days and still have the job, or go home everyday after you eat lunch.

The problem is employees get seduced into this euphoric feeling of this when a company does nice things for its employees and it’s sometimes, in small companies, unavoidable not to be more personal on some level. This is great and commendable but employees should never confuse exceptional treatment with being “family.”

Am I a cynic, I don’t think so. You can be personable, friendly, etc. while all the time maintaining a distance with your personal life and not getting involved with employers and employees into each other’s intimate aspects. Granted sometimes friendships are forged but this is normally the exception to the rule.

Years ago I worked for a company that the minute a person left everyone told everyone everything that person had said in confidence; I mean all the personal aspects of their life was now being discussed in an open session and analyzed. I hated this and was able to learn this early in my career don’t tell anyone anything that wasn’t basic general information about your life. This has served me well throughout my career. People can guess about things but that doesn’t mean they actually know real facts unless you tell them.

I never get too close to co-workers and management so when the time comes and the job is no more as it always does nothing of “me” is vested into company. Personally I think that makes for a better worker because the focus is the job you are doing not who you are aligned with. Sometimes this is a disadvantage because a lot of employers like “owning” their employees and knowing their intimate lives give them an advantage of keeping them in what I call “work servitude.” Employees also milk this for job security. Either way it is not a good position.

I would rather be friendly to everyone, treat people with respect and do a “productive” days work instead of spending my day gossiping and “networking [goofing off]“. There is nothing wrong with keeping abreast of company information but who Mary is having an affair with outside of the office is none of anyone’s business unless it’s the owner then unless it affects your job its still none of your business.

Yes some things may need to be disclosed that might interfere with your job such as child care issues, sick relatives, and death in the family and so on. Regardless you still don’t have to give details. Just tell your employer the general situation and then how it may affect your work time. Personal details are not necessary. For example, you have a spouse who is an alcoholic needing treatment. All you have to tell your boss is you need to take time to care for a sick relative and the time you may need off.

I remember one time I walked into the owner’s office for business and had to listen to a conversation with one employee and the owner discussing the employee’s daughter’s boyfriend. It was sexual in nature and I didn’t need or want to hear this nonsense. I guess this employee has job security thru indentured servitude.

Nothing lasts forever so there may come a time when the employee is laid off or fired and not only are they shocked in the first place but there are those added emotions of dealing with broken relationships too. Suddenly, years of personal contact have left you with co-workers who won’t give you the time of day and a boss who just severed a relationship and your job. How could this have happened after all weren’t you part of a family?

All this could have been avoided had you kept everything on a professional level and your personal life just that, personal. Then all you would have to cope with is a lost job and finding a new one. What you need to remember, this time around, is it’s a job and not your family.

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Corporate training has been one of the most basic ways of getting more out of the staff you hire without having to go through the costs, both financially and time wise, of recruiting through advertisements. However, with businesses becoming more cautious and with many people always looking out for the best deal on wages, time off and sick pay, more and more companies have been wondering if corporate training is still the best way to go.

With literally billions of pounds going into training people ever year for new job positions and with the great expansion of the European community, it is now much easier to find employees that will be able to carry out the job for you that already have the skills that you need. As such businesses have now been looking overseas more readily to fill the positions that require a very specific level of skill. However, such methods have generated high levels of media attention whether it is a firm that changes its contract to a cheaper manufacturer abroad or be it a new set of workers that are employed when the neighbouring towns are low on jobs. It is key to remember that even though the costs of corporate training might be slightly higher, the benefits of doing such or the consequences of not may be of a greater cost in the future.

There are many ways to do corporate training; it can be from shadowing another person in the position they will be filling to more formal education such as that which requires specific certificates. The most common of methods is to simply get another worker to teach them what they need to know in order to do their new roles. However, when the position to be filled is of a higher level, such as manger of a new branch, it may be necessary to send that person to university to learn management skills.

Either way the risk of them leaving for a better position can still be a troubling and make for a high deterrent to giving that individual the chance. With any risk such as these there is always a standard form, as such, that allows you do a type of risk assessment on the candidate you are choosing. Usually the best people to give corporate training to be those that have had a: low amount of sick days, do not always take their holiday, rarely if ever late and has proved a willingness to improve themselves. If all of these characteristics are featured in the person(s) chosen then it will be unlikely they will look for a better job when they see that their hard work is going to be rewarded.

In the end the choice between deciding if your business should use corporate training or not is simply down to a risk assessment and costs and consideration of repercussions or rewards. If the end equation gives a good reading then that may be best for your company.