Since the beginning of the new decade, enormous changes have happened and impacted businesses and the corporate world. In 2020, consumers pushed the private sector toward corporate social responsibility. What’s corporate social responsibility, or CSR for short? Corporate social responsibility is a business model whereby the owners and leaders do more than operate for profits. For instance, they seek to meet social responsibility goals, as well. That could mean anything from promoting volunteer opportunities, becoming a B Corporation, or ensuring socially ethical practices.
As many of you who follow me know, I’m a social entrepreneur, and social good has mattered for a long time. For me, it started with the Indian Ocean tsunami, which devastated the lives of millions when it happened. Move forward to today, at our shoe drive fundraising social enterprise, my team and I achieve three goals aside from developing a profitable business.
First, we help organizations, including nonprofits, schools, and others in need of funds to raise money without asking for money because we issue the checks. They collect gently worn, used and new shoes. Second, we help the planet because we create an opportunity for communities to repurpose good shoes. And third, we support micro-entrepreneurs’ work in developing nations seeking a hand-up and not a hand-out of poverty. In short, that’s social responsibility in action.
Why Social Good Matters for Your Business
Well, you could say to me, Wayne, that’s all well and good. But, what does that matter for my business? I’m here to tell you that it does. For instance, it’ doesn’t take a genius to understand that the world is seeking social good and justice. In recent years, the public is much more activist than in recent decades. It created the Me Too movement, Black Lives Matter, and of course, climate change protests. All of this activism gets supported mainly because of technology that allows messages to spread in an instant worldwide. But, it also has to do with younger generations, raised with technology, who want to protect their futures and push for change.
From a consumer perspective of your products or services, people want to patronize companies that care about social responsibility. Given a choice between two businesses with similar products, most customers want to go to a socially responsible company. Moreover, caring about our local and global communities’ welfare allows your business to increase brand visibility. In other words, it differentiates you from your competitors. Further, as it relates to team dynamics and people who work for you, today’s teams care about social responsibility.
How You Can Incorporate CSR Into Your Company
Now that you know that social responsibility is right for your business, community, and profits, you may wonder how to incorporate it. So, let’s take a look at some of the ways you could easily do it for your company.
- Create a leadership development program that educates and informs your managers about social responsibility.
- In a world of technology and bots, don’t forget humans. By this, I mean that concerning your human resources, you want to have humans involved. Although we use AI to stack and rank applications, human eyes and management pass over every resume in our team.
- Develop a volunteer program for your employees that allows them to do community service hours at a nonprofit.
- Prioritize the environment and ensure your company is socially responsible. For example, cut down on the paper. Find energy efficiencies, etc.
- Think of nonprofits that you could support in your community for social good. Consider partnering with them with a page on your website or giving them a small percentage of your profits.
- Depending on the size of your company, consider becoming a B Corporation. This certification is usually suitable for businesses with revenues over $1 million.
- Partner with a company that gives you a chance to do good in the community. For instance, the Sneakers4Good program doesn’t cost you or anyone anything. And it’s a chance to get more people to know you. Full disclosure, this is another of my social enterprises.
These seven ideas are only a handful of thoughts you could use to become a socially responsible company. The reality is that our world and consumers care about social good. And as younger generations gain more purchasing power, that will only become more pronounced. So, think about your company’s goals and objectives. It doesn’t take a lot to become a socially responsible business. All it takes is a bit of vision, leadership, and commitment to doing the right thing.
© 2020 Wayne Elsey. All Rights Reserved.