As a social worker (merged) social scientist (merged) human ‘resourcefulness’ specialist, I struggle daily to juxtapose and even marry what seem to be (at times) two very distinct realities—‘social justice’ and ‘corporate responsibility’. It is not an easy proposition. However, it is one which I feel needs to be done if these terms are to be useful as anything more then euphemisms, oxymorons and/or social illusions.
With this in mind, I was pleasantly surprised when I learned that the CEO of my company Kelly Services is an advocate for health care reform.
Living overseas—first in a developing country with little health care (Honduras) then in a country that has socialized health care (Germany)—showed me the need for deliberate social focus/energy when it comes to individual health care. To oversimplify my observations: With capitalism as our current economic ‘Rosetta Stone’, health care has become a reward—a ‘privilege’. For those of us who think it should instead be a ‘right’ it is clear that some form of government intervention is necessary.
Fortunately, this is a view that more and more corporate leaders are starting to take.
It seems that my personal ‘social justice’ approach to ‘corporate responsibility’ is not such a new idea after all…I truly hope all the effort pays off and my company can join with other companies and together we can make a positive difference in society.
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