Implementation of the employee-oriented corporate social responsibility activities vs the preferences of the employed

PURPOSE: The aim of the article is to identify the compliance of employee-oriented corporate social responsibility activities undertaken by micro, small and medium-sized enterprises with the set of activities assessed by the employed as the most beneficial to them as well as desired and preferred by them.METHODOLOGY: The research was carried out in two stages. In the first stage, after choosing from selected social reports of Polish, mainly large enterprises, several dozen diverse activities undertaken by them in relation to employees, they were directed in the form of questions about their implementation in a group of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. Then, in a second stage, the employees of enterprises with the same operational scope were asked which of these initiatives were most important to them.FINDINGS: The comparison makes it possible, on the one hand, to specify the degree of compliance between the enterprises' operations and what employees consider important to them, and, on the other hand, to specify a general characteristic in terms of the type of operations most often considered important.PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Moreover, the results of the research present the scale of involvement of a selected group of Polish micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in the implementation of the basic assumptions of the CSR concept in relation to employees, and emphasise the importance of inquiries and discussions in the identification of activities desired by employees, which are part of the responsibility of enterprises towards this basic group of stakeholders.ORIGINALITY/VALUE: The article presents the results of primary research on the involvement of modern enterprises in the implementation of the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR).The project is financed within the framework of the program of the Minister of Science and Higher Education under the name “Regional Excellence Initiative” in the years 2019 - 2023; project number 001/RID/2018/19; the amount of financing PLN 10,684,000.00.peer-reviewe