Do socially responsible companies foster more engaged employees?

Abstract

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is an innovative approach to creating value for stakeholders by fostering strong relationships. There has been increasing interest in exploring the impact of CSR on employee attitudes and behavior. This paper evaluates the influence of CSR on employee commitment and performance in Portuguese companies through the lens of Social Identity Theory. A questionnaire survey of 278 Portuguese employees was conducted, and the Partial Least Squares method was used for analysis. The findings suggest that CSR practices positively affect both employee commitment and performance. Moreover, employee commitment is positively linked to performance. Therefore, organizations that adopt more CSR practices are likely to see increased employee commitment, which in turn enhances performance. This study contributes to CSR and social identity theory literature and offers practical recommendations for companies, policymakers, and HR professionals, urging organizations to reassess their CSR practices.