Finding the ’social’ in CSR

I regularly look through publications like Building and Construction News online, to keep up to date with the big news and look for community stories to write about on here. Unfortunately, I usually fail to find any of the latter. Why?

Most construction-sector news websites have a section on sustainability, which companies often see as the ‘green’ element of CSR (although work is often ‘green’ by client specification, while CSR is, in theory, voluntary). What about a community or social section?

While some projects that benefit communities are voluntary, many clients also ask for them in bids: ‘If we award you our project, what are you going to do to help us fulfil our social commitments?’ Either way, both sorts invariably get included in annual CSR reports.

So if they help to win work, why aren’t they talked about much in trade publications?

Perhaps the industry doesn’t want to appear too self-congratulatory by talking about the donations it’s made. Perhaps it’s focusing on the bigger fish it has to fry (safety and global warming), which draws more attention from other media and stakeholders.

Or maybe the social side is too ’soft’ for construction? But there are clear business benefits, so shouldn’t ideas and projects should be shared a bit more, in view of each other and the public?