Exploring the Barriers to Employee Engagement with Corporate Social Responsibility in the Fashion Industry

Abstract

The fashion industry is increasingly under scrutiny for its unsustainable practices. Currently, the most accessible tool for businesses to respond to these societal demands is voluntary Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) schemes. These exist in most companies but fail to deliver the desired results to mitigate many of the negative effects of the industry. A prerequisite for a successful CSR scheme or department is that it engages the company’s employees, yet the literature on the barriers to achieving this has been sparse. This study explores the levels of employee engagement with CSR and the barriers to such engagement in the fashion industry. The relationship between perceived barriers and the level of engagement was also studied. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 employees at the HQ of the fast fashion retailer WE Fashion in Utrecht, The Netherlands. Employees were placed in categories, namely Indifferent, Curious and Committed- and their perceived barriers to engagement were ascertained. It was found that, although different categories of employee differed slightly on the kind of barriers they perceived to their engagement; the more significant difference was their personal attitude to these barriers.