Take a moment to think about your closest friends. What is it about them that has made your friendships so enduring? Obviously, they are fun to be around and know you well, but they also probably have the same morals and values as you. There’s a reason why friends come and go over the years, but you still have a core of people that you turn to in times of joy and need; you trust them to do the right thing. It’s the same in business and is the reason why you should be writing a CSR policy.
What is a CSR Policy?
A CSR Policy outlines how your business is attempting to embrace corporate social responsibility. Its aim should be about how your company is trying to bring about positive changes within society and should encompass every part of your business. To put it bluntly, while it’s great to donate to charities every now and then, corporate social responsibility within a company needs to be far more wide-ranging. So, it should look at where you source your products, how you treat your employees, what the company does to reduce waste, and how it is trying to protect the environment (to name just a few things).
It’s also worth noting that CSR isn’t an easy PR win; while it will encourage customers to buy from you, it shouldn’t be cynical. So, for example, publicising that you are committed to reducing waste when you don’t pay your staff or suppliers a decent living wage won’t match up in the eyes of the consumer and could harm your reputation. Think of it along the same lines as a person who very publicly donates to charity but isn’t actually all that nice; it just doesn’t work.
Is having a CSR Policy important?
In a short answer, “yes”. Having a CSR Policy shows that a business cares and is probably an excellent company to deal with. Not only will it undoubtedly bring in my clients and customers, it will also help with staff recruitment and retention. A survey in 2017 by Deloitte discovered that 76% of millennials (that’s people in their 30s) regarded business as a force for positive social impact and that they would be more likely to stay working for a company that was focused on making a positive impact. A business with happy, long-standing staff will ultimately be more successful than one with a high turnover of employees.
Additionally, having a broad-ranging CSR Policy can ultimately save a business money while making a societal impact. If you consider making a simple change like reducing the amount of printing that a business does or trying to reduce the amount that goes to landfill, the positive impact on the purchase of supplies is easy to see. But, some companies pay to take away byproducts that can be repurposed and reused. One example that springs to mind are companies that collect cooking oils from caterers. These are then refined to be used to fuel their transport. Mcdonald’s has been doing this for years. Company cars are another great example. Simply replacing exiting company cars with hybrids or electric vehicles shows an outstanding commitment to the global community and ultimately saves on fuel costs.
Writing a CSR Policy.
Every business is different, and your CSR policy should be tailored and relevant; you can’t just download a CSR Policy and use that. It must be specific to your business. So the first thing to consider is what makes your company unique. Think about what is special about your business and how you can use that to make a difference in your community. An example could be a plumbing company that guarantees they’ll be at your home within an hour of an emergency callout. Great USP; how about if the van they travel in is electric? And those vans are charged through solar panels on the roof of the base of the plumbing company?
Also, remember that you can take it in small steps; you don’t have to do everything at once and try to stay true to your goals. You don’t want to fundamentally change your business; just alter its practices to make it more socially responsible.
Next up, have a chat with your employees. Do they have any ideas about how your business can be more corporately responsible? Speaking to staff about your plans will bring up some potentially excellent ideas, and it will also help them feel valued and respected, which is an element of CSR. While you’re doing this, take a look at some gold-standard CSR approaches. Toms is a great example, as is Lego.
Within your CSR Policy, you should also include benchmarks and time-specific outcomes that can be reassessed over at least the next five years. Of course, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and some CSR will take time to implement, but it’s much easier to stay on track if you include review dates.
Speak to companies that already implement CSR.
Sometimes, when you’re really close to a business, it can be challenging to see what positive changes you can make. That’s why it’s good to seek advice from companies that have already made the change to becoming more ethically and morally responsible. Getting an outsider’s perspective can also help to show what you are already doing well and what immediate changes you can make, and it can give insight into how long more far-reaching changes might take.
NAMA has always been committed to corporate social responsibility, and we practice what we preach to our clients. If you’d like to discover how implementing CSR can improve your company, we’re happy to chat with you.
