So, what exactly is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and what’s the point?
CSR is about measuring your company’s impact on the society and environment, involving all of your stakeholders, and giving something back to the industries and communities you work in. It is also the acknowledgement by companies that they should be accountable not only for their financial performance, but for the impact of their activities on society and/or the environment.
CSR can benefit all companies through the reduction of waste and cost of energy consumption, being more attractive to potential employees, building positive relationships with local and government bodies and your local community. There is more about the tangible benefits of corporate social responsibility to your business from these useful Business Link pages.
CSR also presents great publicity opportunities. It would be fair to say that there is some cynicism surrounding the term CSR, by those who perhaps see it as just a PR stunt or jumping on the bandwagon by corporates wanting to appear more ‘green’ or socially inclusive. Yet, if you read about or talk to companies active in the field of CSR, they paint a very different picture.
Our client, Natures Way Foods, for example, have an extensive CSR scheme supporting local organisations with various community and environmental initiatives. It’s a worthwhile and effective programme which gives great benefits – and joy – to all those involved. To read more (and see the CSR logo we designed for them), visit http://www.natureswayfoods.com/community
Recently, another of our clients working through our rebranding process suggested that perhaps implementing a CSR scheme could be a project worth looking into and thus implementing as part of the brand launch. While there was a mixed response from colleagues as to what this might involve in terms of cost, man hours etc … it was great to see this at the forefront of management minds and becoming part of a company’s ethos.
In print, more and more of our clients specify the use of environmental accredited printers and recycled/FSC substrates. Alongside perhaps adopting your own CSR scheme, perhaps you should be thinking about green printing as well.
The world we are living in is ever changing and environmental and social issues are becoming more main stream than ever before. Corporate Social Responsibility is here to stay, are you ready to get with the programme?