What is the primary purpose of a social audit - SHRM-SCP Prep
Question
What is the primary purpose of a social audit?
Answers
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Explanation
Correct Answer: B. To serve as a self-evaluation focused on understanding, measuring, and improving the organization's social performance.
The primary purpose of a social audit is to function as a self-evaluation tool that helps an organization understand, measure, and enhance its social performance. This includes assessing practices related to employee relations, community engagement, human rights, diversity, and sustainability. Unlike financial audits, social audits are qualitative and process-oriented, often voluntary, and are used to align internal practices with stated social responsibility values and improve overall social impact.
Why the Other Choices Are Incorrect :
- A. To measure the organization's impact on the external environment and quantify the overall impact of its sustainability efforts: This is too narrow and better describes an environmental impact assessment or sustainability report, not a social audit. Social audits focus more broadly on internal policies, stakeholder relationships, and social responsibility, not just environmental outcomes.
- C. To provide a solid benchmark for the financial impact of the organization's corporate social responsibility efforts: This refers more to a cost-benefit analysis or CSR ROI assessment. A social audit is not primarily concerned with financial benchmarks but with ethical and social accountability.
- D. To produce a document to convince regulators and shareholders that the company is socially responsible: This is a byproduct—not the main purpose—of a social audit. A social audit is meant for internal reflection and improvement, not to function as a public relations or regulatory compliance tool.
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