Corporate Social Responsibility, it starts with people

When reviewing trends in CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility it’s fascinating to me to see the steady, gradual but constant shift of the needle towards participation. The concept of meshing company ideals and direction that are steered toward reaching goals of the triple bottom line of people, planet and profit is relatively new and yet one by one companies are making the transition. The changes in just how businesses (as a whole) will operate within the next decade will rival the changes to the workplace that brought into place minimum wage, standard work weeks and health & safety standards. Its probably not a coincidence but each of those were related to same thing, investing in your employees which is also a key component of CSR.

The tide of progress can be a gradual thing however and until global standards for employee safety and good working conditions are in place worldwide the task remains incomplete. In the West we take pride in our employees and gauge that the overall satisfaction of workers will generate more quality and consistent work. If you are operate a business that has direct customer contact from your employees they represent your company every day in equal measure to the product or service you provide. Its also with employees that the true culture and values of your business exist and breathe so to speak.

Its through your employees that the satisfaction of supporting of community is expressed to friends, family and customers. Its even becoming a best practice to provide support to projects with people power, nothing speaks as eloquently toward involvement as a corporation donating the valuable time of their employees to assist in a project helping the community. It is employees that can give personality and direction to your company and its commitments. Engage them, find out what they value most, co-create a work environment that brings out the best on your organization. While many decisions are made behind closed doors its the participation of the entire company that will drive these ideas to fruition and success.

When you develop or enhance your CSR program communicate well and listen to your employees, nothing will carry your initiatives forward as rapidly as pride. Over twenty years ago when I first entered the workplace full time, the very concept of the company I worked for ‘making a difference’ was alien. Our goal was to make money pure and simple, while that is of course critical there was something missing. We purchased product from around the world, imported it to the UK and sold it at a healthy profit. A simple definition of course, but we didn’t invest any of that substantial profit into the communities we purchased from nor the communities we sold to. We didn’t sponsor any concerns in the communities in which we worked or lived. The quality of the product we sold (steel) has to meet exacting standards of quality in composition, the steel mills we purchased from were evaluated in one area only – price. With hindsight I can see just how much corporations have changed, we were happy back in 1987 but we didn’t know any differently. The difference we made was limited to our income, but I know now we could have changed so much more.

Corporate Social Responsibility does matter and makes a difference. It all begins with people and indeed ends with them too. Engage your entire organization and watch the benefits multiply.