The use of work environment performance indicators in corporate social responsibility reporting

The literature on corporate social responsibility reporting is well-established. However, issues related to employees' work environment have been consistently overlooked. Work environment issues refer to all aspects of the design and management of the work system that affect employees' interactions with the workplace. The lack of attention on work environment is problematic given its influence on worker health and organizational performance. Enhanced reporting on work environment issues could motivate companies to make meaningful improvements in this area. The purpose of this article is to analyze indicator disclosures related to work environment issues in corporate social responsibility reports. The analysis was based on a content analysis of 100 Canadian reports. Half of the reports were from companies designated as corporate social responsibility leaders, while the other half were drawn from a random sample of companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The findings show that a wide range of work environment indicators were used. A total of 657 different indicators were used by the leaders. The randomly selected group of companies used a total of 438. Within both groups there were a total of 892 distinct indicators, while 203 indicators were used by at least one company in both groups. A detailed analysis of the differences both within and between the two groups of companies is presented. The results show a heavy emphasis on issues that are regulated, such as safety-oriented indicators. Issues that are not highly regulated, such as psychosocial issues (e.g., work-related stress) of work environment, are generally underrepresented in the indicator disclosures. The study highlights that there is a need for greater standardization in work environment reporting and that there is a need to report on indicators that cover the full scope of work environment issues.

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