Let’s talk about CSR, baby!
Let’s be honest: being the bad guys is only cool in action movies. Real life is much more complicated, especially if you own a business and you’re constantly striving to improve it. We’re convinced that social responsibility plays a pivotal role when it comes to success, especially in finding motivated employees, in delivering popular products and in creating a satisfactory experience for your customers. What’s corporate social responsibility anyway? According to Investopedia, CSR is “a self-regulating business model that helps a company be socially accountable—to itself, its stakeholders, and the public.” Even a very small business can have a positive influence on our society and there are several ways to engage in CSR, such as the reduction of carbon footprints, the improvement of labour policies, the participation in fairtrade and charitable giving, and eco-friendly corporate policies and investments.
Why do millennials play such a relevant role when it comes to CSR?
CSR is important for your company and you should care about it because customers do it as well, especially the younger generations. Nowadays, the majority of consumers are tech-savvy and will search for a company’s record and philosophy. Moreover, they use social media to talk about their preferences and share their experiences, both positive and negative.
Multiple reports have shown that socially responsible companies are very important for the so-called “millennials”, people born between 1980 and 2000, who generally believe that companies should look for solutions to improve society and share their initiatives with the public. For this reason, your business should showcase sustainable projects to target millennials and positively influence their choice as consumers. A good CSR is also crucial when it comes to motivated and purpose-driven employees: according to the Six-Month Research Update to the 2014 Millennial Impact Report, a company’s cause work begins to influence most millennials during their job interview. Additionally, what matters most to them is what the company actually sells and distributes and its work culture, environment and attention to diversity. They also tend to believe that a company with a strong social responsibility will treat them well, too.
Other good reasons to implement CSR in your business
Millennials’ engagement is not the only reason to improve your CSR. Companies should improve their corporate social responsibility because it can lead to innovative products and solutions, such as Patagonia’s new solution for its durable water repellent (DWR) problem. DWR is a chemical treatment used to waterproof jackets which works very well, but its by-products are toxic and pollute the environment. Patagonia, an American outdoor clothing company, has come to a temporary solution, which has already been adopted by other outdoor businesses: they “switched from a C8 fluorocarbon-based treatment to a shorter-chain C6 treatment, also fluorocarbon-based, but with by-products that break down faster in the environment and with less potential toxicity over time to humans, wildlife and fish.” Without sustainable goals and efforts they would have never created ingenious and eco-friendlier items.
Furthermore, another reason to engage in sustainability is to use it as a tool to cut costs, such as less packaging or less energy. Companies can save much money through energy monitoring metres, following the example of General Mills, an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded consumer foods, which saved $600,000 in this way. Sustainability can also drive the growth of your company and it can help you positively engage with your customers, since your message is about something good and your goal is the improvement of our society and the environment.
Implementing CSR in your company will make your employees, your customers and Mother Nature happy. What are you waiting for?
First steps for a successful implement of CSR
- Understand the company’s business and corporate strategy. How does the company work? What are its values? How does its corporate culture affect employees and customers? What are the driving factors?
- Sustainability must be a holistic component of the company and make sense for the business and its stakeholders.
- Believe in your cause. Sustainability ambitions must become part of the company’s DNA to reach their full potential. Flat hierarchies and motivated employees help!
- Keep employees motivated and engaged. Your team will be far more willing to participate in the sustainability agenda when they feel they are an important part of it.
- Stay flexible and adaptable because there will always be unpredictable challenges and mistakes on a new path.
- Set a budget for corporate social initiatives. You need to know the costs involved and benefit your community in a financially responsible way.
- Do your research to figure out which initiatives you should implement in your company. Other businesses have already created successful actions which you can take as an example, such as LinkedIn’s “InDay”: LinkedIn employees dedicate one Friday a month to social responsible activities like community services.
- Support local communities and buy from local supplies.
- Go green: reduce your power and electricity output, ask your staff to turn off their computers when they’re not using them, ensure everyone turns the lights off after leaving a room, unplug electronic devices when you leave your office. Every little change can make a difference!
- Create recycling points around the workplace.
- Organize eco-friendly transport methods for your staff. Give your employees an incentive to cycle, encourage them to organize shared transport and take the train to work, help with the cost of a bike or of their train fares.