Corporate Social Responsibility

You may believe your business subsists in seclusion, you are right, however this is only relevant to your one main objective; making money. Your staff rely on your business as their livelihood. Customers, suppliers and the local community are all affected by you and what you do. Your products and method of production also have an impact on the environment.

Corporate Social Responsibility Introduction

You may believe your business subsists in seclusion, you are right, however this is only relevant to your one main objective; making money. Your staff rely on your business as their livelihood. Customers, suppliers and the local community are all affected by you and what you do. Your products and method of production also have an impact on the environment.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) includes all of these key focal areas. CSR does not mean splashing out and embarking on expensive, elaborate publicity projects but merely taking a responsible approach, and using a few simple steps relevant to all businesses however large or small you may be.

We would like to offer you some key advice on how to utilize the advantages of CSR ultimately increasing revenue and building on your ever flourishing reputation.

 Corporate Social Responsibility and your business

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) can influence almost every aspect of your business, and every person you encounter

+ You need to carefully consider which supplier you choose to work with and how to deal with them. For example, working with suppliers who choose to pollute the environment will damage your business’s reputation.

+ You should evaluate the treatment of your employees and try to do more for your staff than merely meet minimum legal requirements. 

+ You need to think about your local community and whether your business can influence local residents in a positive way. 

+ You should assess in what ways your business is harmful to the environment, and in turn deliberate methods to reduce excess waste and pollution.

If you apply all of the above to your business, you will not miss out on any profits. In fact, CSR will help improve your overall business performance. By forward planning, you will find it much easier to adjust when new laws and restrictions are set. You will benefit from eluding unnecessary outgoings such as wasted energy or paying landfill tax on your excess waste. However, consumer demand never ceasing to increase will ensure a successful business.

The business benefits of corporate social responsibility

Corporate social responsibility is not just about doing the right thing. You can reap direct business rewards.

Earning a reputation as a responsible business will put you in another league to other businesses within your industry. Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of ethical trade and therefore, are now conscientiously purchasing goods from these companies over less socially responsible companies. Businesses are also becoming more vigilant in choosing suppliers demonstrating responsible policies as to not jeopardize their own reputation.

Some customers don’t just prefer to use responsible companies’ but base their lives around using these products. For example, sales of “environmentally friendly” products are forever on the increase even selling at a premium price. Ben & Jerry’s ice cream was first launched into fame due to their responsible business approach. The company has developed rapidly while continuing to focus on CSR.

Cutting back on your waste and emissions is not solely to help save the environment but can dramatically reduce your outgoings too. It is fairly easy to reduce additional costs in this area, such as utility bills and waste disposal costs resulting in immediate cash benefits.

More benefits”¦

+ If you have a decent reputation, staff recruitment will be much easier.

+ Employees will want to work with you for longer, eliminating disruption of recruitment, and reducing expenditure on new staff training. 

+ Employees should have incentives inevitably increasing motivation resulting in greater efficiency. 

+ CSR guarantees compliance of all regulatory requirements and laws. 

+ Involving your business with the local community will create awareness and generate positive press coverage. 

+ Ensure that you develop a good relationship with you local authorities as this will make doing business much easier if they are on your side. 

+ Understanding how much of an impact your business has on the general public will make your life much easier coming up with new profitable initiatives. 

+ CSR can unleash the competitiveness within you, which reduces the risk of a sudden tainted reputation (and sales). Investors acknowledge this characteristic in businesses and are much more likely to finance you.

Understand the impact of your business

Your business influences a wide variety of people ”“ employees, customers, suppliers and the local community. However you have a lasting and damaging impact on the environment.

There are many easy ways to increase energy efficiency; even turning off the lights when they aren’t being used creates an impact on a much broader scale. Reduction on water consumption can also marginally decrease bills.

Excess waste is also a contributor to unnecessary costs, especially with new laws in place. Just reducing the amount of paper wasted each week by recycling immediately cuts costs. If you plan ahead and incorporate your new eco friendly strategy in with your design and production processes you can save even more.

Taking a responsible attitude toward the environment as well as acting upon it can increase income too. A growing number of consumers prefer to use products from responsible companies. Here are a few ways to reduce environmental impact of your business to enhance your reputation:

+ Create recyclable products

+ Sensible sourcing (e.g. use materials that can be recycled and sustainable timber)

+ Reduce packaging to an absolute minimum

+ Buying from other local companies, reducing fuel consumption and harmful emissions

+ Creating an efficient (and fuel efficient) distribution network

+ Working with suppliers and distributors who share the same responsible outlook and choose to take the same environmentally friendly measures as your business

Deal responsibly with customers and suppliers

By treating your customers and suppliers in a responsible manner, your business can obtain substantial benefits.

Customers

A responsible business treats customers openly and fairly, for example:

+ Brochures and leaflets should be written in simple English, presented clearly stating no false or misleading information, without hiding anything in the “small print”. 

+ You need to be honest and open about your products and services. Tell the customers exactly what they want to know, if you can elaborate on anything, do and be sure to include how socially responsible your business is operating.

+ Do not use any pressure selling techniques or take advantage of vulnerable customers such as the elderly 

+ If a problem should arise, you need to acknowledge the issue and take action immediately.

If you treat your customers with welcoming respect, you can rely on their loyalty for long term benefits. Acknowledging customers comments can also help you improve the products and services you have to offer.

Suppliers

You need to take many factors into consideration when looking for a supplier as an important part of CSR. For example, you might know of some local suppliers and use them much more frequently to reduce fuel costs and harmful emissions. This is one way of involving your local community with an added bonus of reducing energy consumption.

More established companies often audit their suppliers to guarantee working practices are working responsibly. You do not have to go to these lengths; you can simply ask them how they feel about certain aspects within CSR.

You should also treat your suppliers fairly, especially smaller businesses that are kept afloat because of your company. For example, paying your supplier on time can make the world of difference to them. Likewise, you should not exploit your position by taking advantage of a business that relies on your fairness and honesty. You may gain short term benefits at your suppliers’ expense however you will be lucky to salvage your relationship with them after taking such actions, ultimately putting both your company and your supplier in a worse position.

Work with the Community

Involving your local community with your business offers a broad variety of business rewards. Many businesses often tend rely on local customers as their main source of sales. Maintaining a solid relationship with local authorities will help boost your reputation as well as making your business life that bit easier. For example, local authorities would be more likely to offer any contracts to businesses with a history of community involvement.

You can involve your community in a number of ways, such as supporting a local charity or sponsoring a local event relevant to your product or service resulting in positive publicity. This route allows you to apply your expertise plus interacting with the public on a more personal level. For example, some restaurants distribute food to local homeless shelters whilst builders share excess labour materials to community based projects. Always scout through local papers for any news or events that you can involve your business for direct benefits, e.g. generating substantial publicity or improving the neighborhood surrounding your premises.

A large number of businesses often involve their staff with community based projects. For example, employees may have the freedom to choose the charity they wish to support. Some businesses encourage their staff to take part in voluntary community activities. You should still pay employees for any time taken off work to involve your business with the community. As well as improving community relations, this will also motivate your staff and develop their skills.

Business in the Community (BITC) has created the Community Mark standard to encourage businesses to reap all possible benefits community involvement offers. 

Measure the effectiveness of your corporate social responsibility

In business, success can be measured using numerous techniques and methods however there are some aspects within a business which are less easy to monitor, these often get overlooked, do not make this mistake with CSR.

CSR working to its full potential can reduce costs as well as improve sales but monitoring the effectiveness of CSR by solely focusing on financial measures and results can neglect its true value. CSR can also do wonders for your reputation, improve customer loyalty and motivate employees.

You should dedicate a certain amount of time within your busy work schedule to consider new and exciting CSR initiatives and how you would measure success for each activity. For example, customer loyalty should, in theory, increase levels of repeat purchasing. Similarly, improved motivation should lead to increased staff attendance increasing staff turnover.

Identifying and measuring indicators of success

+ You can benchmark your business against your immediate competition 

+ Some of the UK’s biggest companies publish CSR reports online 

+ The Community Mark standard allows you to measure community involvement

Note: Measurements usually only show the immediate impact of CSR. Your greatest benefit will only show in time, your reputation.

Exploit corporate social responsibility

Get the most out of CSR activities; you can achieve maximum exposure through publicity, build a strong relationship with local press and aim to have at least one piece every month, CSR lends itself to good news stories. Customers, suppliers and the local community need to know who you are and what you do.

Publicity along these lines can be a vital part of using CSR to win contracts. Consumers choose to purchase goods from companies they know and respect. CSR can be used to its full potential when targeting ethical companies, the public sector and not-for-profit organisations.

CSR should be seen as part of an ongoing process, continuously increasing the long-term value of your business. You should ensure that everything you do will enhance your reputation and encourage customers and other possible stakeholders to become more involved with you. A business that buys recycled products but fails to involve the community and exploits its customers ”“ has not paid enough attention to the importance of CSR therefore achieving nothing.

Effective CSR singles your company out from other competitors. Even with vast competition, a genuine dedication to CSR can put your business in a league of its own. For example, John Lewis department stores are renowned as a business that is owned by its employees. Its adherence to CSR filters through into customer service, sales and profits. As well as influencing your actions, CSR can inspire new products and services that reflect your values. In the long run, all the hard work and graft you have put into your business can amount to a powerful brand ”“ and a triumphant business.

By Emily Tullett