The CSR Starter Pack

By: Vicki Bohlsen, President

All you have to do is Google corporate social responsibility, or “CSR,” and you will find so much information your head will spin. This wasn’t so much the case ten, even five, years ago.  More and more, companies are taking notice that it is not just possible – but, even, necessary – to make meaningful contributions to greater social good.

More than 88% of consumers think companies should try to achieve their business goals while improving society and the environment. – most recent Forbes’ survey

Five years ago when Bohlsen Group became B Corp certified, I heard two main concerns about incorporating CSR that I still hear from businesses and their leaders today. Won’t it hurt the bottom line and be expensive to implement a CSR plan? How in the world do we get started?

There are four stakeholder groups to consider when creating a CSR program: Employees, Customers, Community and Environment. Governance is a fifth tenet, but that is embedded in practices with the above.

I am going to give you a checklist so that you can see what to consider and, likely, realize that you are already on your way to formalizing a program for your organization! In future articles, I will go into more detail about ways you can consider exploring and expanding in specific stakeholder groups. 

Employees

__ Wages, Benefits and PTO. Do you have a competitive package compared to other companies, particularly those in the same industry?

__ Continuing Education. Do you put your employees’ growth and opportunities for learning as a top priority and, if so, how?

__ Volunteering. Do you encourage this amongst your team and, if so, how?

__ Feedback. Do you have a system in place where you give and receive feedback from your employees on a regular basis?

__ Transparency. What and how often do you update your team on goals and objectives, as well as progress and financial well-being?

__ Health & Wellness. What types of programs and/or activities has your company created to encourage both physical and mental well-being?

__ Diversity & Inclusion. Do you have a program to increase this within your organization?

Customers

__ Communication. Do you have a process that ensures a mutual understanding of what a customer can expect when working with your organization?

__ Feedback. Do you have a process in place to obtain feedback from customers?

__ Measurement. Do you have a process in place to report and measure the ROI (return on investment)?

__ Cost. Are you competitively priced for your industry and/or offer any discounts to specific customers for your product or services?

Community

__ Engagement. How do you engage with your community – volunteering, donations, board service, sponsorships, partnerships?

__ Vendors. Do you support local vendors unless not possible?

__ Community/Societal issues. Have you taken a position on any and, if so, what is the action item or give back?

Environment

__ Owned Workspace. What steps are you taking to incorporate sustainability into your work environment – energy efficiency, sustainable products and/or practices?

__ Leased Workspace. Although admittedly harder to have control over when leasing, what steps are you taking to incorporate energy efficiency and sustainability into your day-to-day?

__ Carbon footprint. Do you encourage activities that reduce this – commuting, taking public transportation, walking and biking to work, work from home days? 

__ Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Other than basic recycling, has your company taken any further steps towards sustainability in these areas?

More than ever – with an election around the corner and societal issues as they are – an organization’s CSR track record has direct bearing on brand reputation, attracting and keeping talent, and developing consumer loyalty. 

If you have checked at least one box in each of the four areas, you are well on your way to being able to draft and build upon a CSR program that will resonate both internally to your employees and externally to your other stakeholders.

Look out for future articles, where I will go into more detail on each of the four stakeholder groups and other important topics related to executing a comprehensive CSR program: Governance, Communication, Measurement and Marketing.