Can communities better support their job seeking residents?

In my travels across the USA last year, I remember seeing a dry cleaning store with a sign in the window.

They were offering a free suit clean & press for anyone unemployed who was needing to attend an interview that week.  In that same city, I observed a cafe with a sign in their window, offering free coffee and breakfast for anyone unemployed who was to attend an interview that day. And in the local newspaper there was an ad for a taxi car company offering free transport for anyone who needed to attend an interview in a location not serviced by their public transport system.

This was all within a small city in the mid west where unemployment isn't high to start with; so presumably its not such a burden to extend such goodwill, when you don’t have high volumes of folks taking up the offers.  Nevertheless, these were small independent businesses, not part of some corporate franchise, and these kinds of offers would eat straight into their profits. 

Do communities set a culture for valuing work?

In my brief visit to that city, I attended an array of social and professional meetings; and from that small sample set, it was clear that this is a community of people who feel its important to be able to work.  Each person I met shared examples of how they, their companies, their church groups, their sports and social groups - were all pro actively offering support others to be gainfully employed.  

In the region I live in within Switzerland, there is a culture that values the contribution of work as well; regardless of paid or voluntary or homemaking.  It's wired into the social psyche.  My Swiss villagers think I'm telling fairy tales when I describe how in the UK or Australia, its no longer socially shameful to accept government benefits instead of contributing to society in some form of work.

Co-incidentally, in both regions of the USA and Switzerland, crime rates are exceptionally low; graffiti, litter and anti-social behaviour is practically non-existent; public amenities are kept in good order and treated respectfully by their users.  Homes and apartments have well tended gardens (arguably a measure of civic pride?) and strangers comment on the courtesy shown to them by residents.

I'm not attempting to solve bigger economic and social issues here.  I do wonder though, what if any part HR could be playing, in building company cultures that encourage people to contribute to their communities.  

Can HR play a bigger part in corporate social responsibility?

I know that CSR (corporate social responsibility) comes and goes as far as business agendas are concerned. Even though it is an expected reference to have on value policy statements, the prospectus and annual reports, it often feels like the token lip service that was paid to Environmental Care and arguably is still being paid to Diversity & Inclusion. For sure these are all “right things to do” but will they make the priority list when the company focus is on protecting the interest of its shareholders and maximising short-mid term profits as a result?

Environmental care commitments arguably only became more of a priority after broader community awareness, mass civil litigations and regulatory legislation had impacts on the bottom line of corporations in various markets. The continued media attention being paid to LGBTQ, Black Lives Matter, gender pay equality, Mental Health, the Me Too movement, and increasingly sophisticated advocacy for various minority and disadvantaged groups should hopefully move Diversity & Inclusion higher up the business priority list. Certainly HR teams are getting more comfortable in espousing the commercial benefits of embracing the D&I agenda to become an “employer of choice”.

Employee wellness is on the way to being enshrined in many companies, and consideration has started on ensuring general financial health for staff - all worthwhile focus areas HR executives to add to the business agenda to ensure companies take a more holistic view on employee care.

Is there however any vested interest for a corporation to ensure the communities where its offices/plants are located are economically healthy?   Should corporations take any interest in supporting the working population outside of the people on its own company payroll? Should this even fall to the HR function as a consideration?  I'd love to hear your thoughts.