CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Many companies are aware of the term Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) but what does this actually mean. Very few organisations understand what this will mean and what effect this will have on their business.

CSR is all about “giving something back” about how businesses align their values and behaviours with the expectations and needs of stakeholders – not just their customers and investors, but also employees, suppliers, communities, regulators, special interest groups and society as a whole. In reality what CSR does is describe a company’s commitment to be accountable to its stakeholders.

CSR is all about how businesses manage the economic, social and environmental impact of their operations to maximise the benefits and minimise the downsides. By introducing an effective CSR programme into their procedures, organisations can:

• improve access to capital
• sharpen decision-making and reduce risk
• enhance brand image
• uncover previously hidden commercial opportunities, including new markets
• reduce costs
• attract, retain and motivate employees
• bring competitive advantage

Organisations need to build their own individual business case for CSR as this will vary greatly according to the type of business, however, all organisations will have the potential benefits to:

• Build the profile of the company resulting in higher exposure to clients
• Increase sales as Company will be seen as an ethical and caring organisation
• Attract and motivate employees
• Make savings through for example recycling or reductions in the use of utilities
• Becoming involved with CSR can be as simple as recycling printer cartridges or as complicated as organising full on charity fund raising events. There are so many ways that an organisation can give something back and at the same time benefit the company that it is becoming more and more essential in business to have a CSR policy written into the Company procedures.

Like the ISO quality standards, there is now a CSR accreditation and over the next few years it will be expected that all ethical companies will achieve this accreditation. With this in mind it is a good idea to start looking at your policies and procedures now to see where you can start to integrate a CSR policy into your company. If you need any help with getting started and want to know more then please contact

Business Goal Achievers

On 0844 351 1267

and we will be happy to help.