Do you think Corporate India should take a step forward to fight against corruption and declare a Days Off to enable the employees to support the movement? This question was posed by an HR Forum on Facebook, which earned 108 likes and 61 comments from HR and non-HR professionals.
Coming back to the question, of what role can Corporates play & whether this should be taken up as an Act of CSR.; being an HR professional, my arguments run from philosophy to policy. Gathering from what my FB friends who commented on the question, majority of the 61 people who spared time to pen down a word or two, have agreed with a ‘BIG YES’ and feel that Corporates should declare atleast 1 day off so that employees can support this anti-corruption movement. Well, I too am stung with these pests infecting all of India with scams, and hence primarily I too concur with Anna Hazares movement.
The same morning, I had similar questions in mind as to whether corporate should participate in this revolutionary stance taken by our iconic leader Anna Hazare. I have been following this story since Anna Hazare’s fast a few months ago, when I learnt about what Jan Lokpal Bill is all about. Keeping in mind what the bill will do to our warped system, and that activists like Kiran Bedi, Arun Kejriwal and the rest are supporting Anna, I too started having faith in this movement. Moreover Anna’s aura gives feel-good vibes as contrast to Baba Ramdev who (supposedly) fasted for the same cause.
Coming back to the question, of what role can Corporates play & whether this should be taken up as an Act of CSR.; being an HR professional, my arguments run from philosophy to policy. Gathering from what my FB friends who commented on the question, majority of the 61 people who spared time to pen down a word or two, have agreed with a ‘BIG YES’ and feel that Corporates should declare atleast 1 day off so that employees can support this anti-corruption movement. Well, I too am stung with these pests infecting all of India with scams, and hence primarily I too concur with Anna Hazares movement. I strongly believe that the philosophy of management here is of utmost importance. Anna says that everyone needs to sacrifice their bit...only then we can bring an end to corruption. But people always think that the rest are anyways sacrificing... so what difference does it make if I don’t. This attitude itself has led us to this day, when we are seeing another ‘Freedom Struggle’ after independence today.
Not many companies will come forward and declare even 1 day off and incur loss in business due to same. Forget at least supporting the cause, if not actually bringing an end to corruption (Not to forget most of our big corporate leaders have played some or the other role in giving oil to fire). In the recent past, corporates had given days off for Semi-Final and Final matches of the 2011 World Cup. I don’t know whether I should say that it’s a shame why corporates are not coming forward today when India really needs its people.
On the other hand, I will not only blame the corporates for not showing any interest. Even for employees (you and me), will only updating Facebook and Twitter statuses and joining online forums actually help? Yes, it will definitely spread the awareness, but even if we assume that corporates declare a day off, how many people will actually get down on the roads and join the rally? Employees can take leaves for watching World Cup matches, but given a day to join the protest, are people really interested? And so instead people in the HR forum suggested that organizations can dedicate 30 minutes of the entire day regularly for the cause, a common meet of all employees across the country can be called for and such. One friend even suggested ‘pens and tools down’ instead of a holiday. As pointed by a colleague from the forum, who knows a days off means good time at a Cinema hall for somebody.
Well, after a debate like this… yes it is duty of the corporates to pay attention to such issues and contribute in every small way they can. Only providing donations and setting up NGO’s is not enough, corporates must also pay heed to internal corruption issues and setting up a system that will prevent corruption in the first place rather than inspecting and punishing for the same. However, why wait for your company to come forward? We have examples of students and office-goers who have taken a week’s off and are participating in the movement. So why wait until someone else starts? Why not just go ahead and let others follow? We can participate and still keep the business moving. Afterall, every corporate is part of Indian economy, and we must keep the spirit going….
