David Fairhurst: McDonald’s social responsibility evangelist
‘You are on shaky ground if you are trying to build your reputation and you do not live up to it internally. CSR without HR is PR.’
– David Fairhurst, Senior Vice President, McDonald’s
Early this week I breakfasted with a potential business partner keen to create the first sound public relations business. It will, in keeping with the spirit of the age, begin life as a loose collection of like minded individuals who understand that corporate social responsibility is about much more than showing concern for the environment.
This venture is for bolshy characters – like me perhaps – who won’t work for just anybody, but for businesses that are prepared to walk the talk in everything they do. Or at least be eager to learn how to walk.
Others will claim to have beaten us to it, but we believe responsibility is still too narrowly defined around the environmental agenda. And that’s simply not good enough.
Environmentalists have succeeded in creating a situation where business increasingly recognises that its success isn’t only measured by an ability to create shareholder value (important though that will always be). Most have started to wake up to their impact on the planet, but too often forget about stakeholders closers to home, especially employees. A truly responsible organisation does much more than sign over a proportion of profit to charity or plant some trees to offset its carbon emissions. It looks deep within itself and embarks on a programme of cultural renewal.
‘Here’s a quiz question for you,’ I emailed later. ‘Who says “CSR without HR is PR”?’ My radical friend replied: ‘dunno – someone good tho. should we make him/her Hon Pres?’
I reckon he’ll be a little surprised to learn that this evangelist for social responsibility is David Fairhurst a senior vice president at McDonald’s, a business with a terrible reputation.
As a non-meat eater, I’m not rushing to declare McDonald’s sound. Yet McDonald’s Quorn Premiere (R.I.P.) was a feast to die for. But ahead of its time, few veggies are yet ready to make the leap into McDonald’s.
David Fairhurst is the brains behind the attempt to redefine McJob (something he says American colleagues fought him on) and an initiative, like Quorn Premiere, that I reckon is too much too soon.
But it must also be David Fairhurst that has been encouraging employees to blog on life as a burger flipper. Having led courses for those on the other side of the digital divide, people living in social housing whose lives have yet to be transformed by the internet, I’d love to know how this initiative has gone.
Could McDonald’s ever be sound?
Comments (2 comments)
This is really interesting. It would be fascinating for example to see if McDonalds recognises trade unions, or if they pay above the minimum wage etc – really practical ways of demonstrating real change and trying to build a sound reputation for the business in Britain. What training programmes do they make available for staff? Can staff share economically in the success of the business? It’s not just about what McDonalds do to the food – important though that obviously is. Sounds as though he has a huge job on. But good luck to him. And to a broader ethical approach to business.
Friend / October 26th, 2007, 11:44 am / #
McDonalds doesn’t recognise trade unions.
The book Fast Food nation has an example of them closing down a branch (in Canada I think) on the day there was due to be a ballot for union recognition there.
I’ve always wondered how they get on in France where union recognition is mandatory.
Miles / October 29th, 2007, 11:38 am / #
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