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StrategyDriven Corporate Cultures Article | An Overview of CSR Improvement

An Overview of CSR Improvement

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StrategyDriven Corporate Cultures Article | An Overview of CSR ImprovementThis overview on CSR improvement will give you an overview of how to improve your corporate responsibility practices. To do this, you’ll need to focus on four key areas: Measurability, Transparency, Collaboration, and Editability. By following these four points, you’ll be well on your way to CSR excellence. Moreover, you’ll understand how to measure, monitor, and evaluate your company’s progress.

Measurability

Measurability in CSR improvement is an essential issue for businesses today. CSR is a strategic practice that aims to hold organizations accountable for societal issues and their operations’ environmental impact. However, there are few measurable CSR outcomes or activities and even fewer governance measures. Yet, today, customers, employees, shareholders, and investors are demanding more focused action from companies. To meet these demands, companies must incorporate environmental and social responsibility criteria (ESG) into their core corporate strategies. This requires a rigorous governance framework, quantifiable targets, and measurable impact assessments.

Socially conscious businesses benefit external partners and investors. For example, public stock exchanges require companies to disclose their ESG (environmental, social, and governance) performance. This measurable reporting helps highlight a company’s ethical practices, risks, and opportunities. Measurability is a valuable strategy for improving CSR. It can be applied in any business sector and should be a central focus of CSR improvement.

Transparency

In today’s world, to improve customer relationships more consumers demand companies be more transparent about their business practices and how they treat their stakeholders. This is a positive trend that will continue. The growing number of transparency-conscious consumers is suitable for businesses and nonprofits because it builds trust and strengthens relationships. Transparency increases internal and external relationships while allowing stakeholders to make informed decisions. It also costs little to implement and can produce big rewards for your organization.

More transparent companies can also increase their profits. The number of S&P 500 companies publishing annual reports has risen from 20% to 72%, which is a significant increase in one year. Transparency in CSR can increase investor confidence, improve investment decisions, and create new market opportunities. Furthermore, if a company demonstrates its corporate social responsibility activities, it will create a virtuous cycle within the company.

Collaboration

Collaborating with other businesses can transform your business and help it improve its social impact. For example, collaboration can help eradicate hunger and promote access to preventive health care and education. Other benefits of partnerships include environmental protection, animal welfare, and climate action. For example, collaborations can help fund Olympic and Paralympic athletes or provide disaster relief to underserved populations. Regardless of the size of your company, it’s essential to focus on social and environmental issues when considering your collaboration strategies.

Collaboration with competitors and public sector bodies is another way to improve CSR. Companies are increasingly working with other companies in the same industry or sector and looking to collaborate with NGOs and other stakeholders to create positive change in the world. Collaboration between companies and nonprofits is one way to prove that you’re serious about social responsibility. Collaboration requires authenticity and the willingness to demonstrate results in real-time. Companies that live their values are building brands that people can trust.

Impact

If you are looking to measure the impact of your CSR improvement efforts, you need to consider the following:

A sense of purpose is essential for a company’s employees. Employees become more loyal and committed to the company by providing them with a sense of meaning. The impact of CSR on employee engagement is significant, and even small investments can bring substantial returns. For example, a Net Impact survey found that 72% of students said they want to work for a company that does good things. This can help employers attract and retain talented employees. They can attract and retain the best talent by increasing their CSR efforts.

Investing in CSR is more important than ever before. Younger investors are more likely to look into the impact of their investments. In addition, they are more interested in the social impact of their assets and the impact those investments have on society. For this reason, businesses that engage in destructive behavior may risk losing a significant share of their customer base. Therefore, increasing your company’s CSR initiatives is essential for business success. This article will introduce a systematic process for improving your CSR strategy.

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Quote

Leadership Inspirations – Socially Responsible Leader Branding

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StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Quote
 
“Transforming a brand into a socially responsible leader doesn’t happen overnight by simply writing new marketing and advertising strategies. It takes effort to identify a vision that your customers will find will find credible and aligned with their values.”

Simon Mainwaring
Social Media Expert and Advertising Creative Director for Mashable

IT Organizations Built to Last

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Over the past two decades, technology has advanced exponentially; and with that burgeoning growth, IT organizations have seen tremendous expansion. As the IT industry continues to evolve, the question becomes more relevant: how does one build an IT organization that is both impactful and lasting?

Flip through any business magazine and you will find article upon article suggesting general guidelines for increasing workplace motivation, perfecting employee performance, and banishing mediocrity; and while this advice is well meaning, lasting IT organizations need to look deeper and must be founded on the following core principles:[wcm_restrict]

  • Innovate or Perish: An IT organization should never settle for ‘good;’ it is essential to stimulate change and enhancement ahead of the industry standard.

    Innovation begins with management; by fostering a culture that prioritizes innovation, creativity is incentivized among team members. Instead of allowing a negative “have-to” environment where employees feel pressure to perform, embrace a constructive ‘what-can-we-do’ approach where they feel free to be imaginative and forward-thinking.

    Investing in research and development helps to establish this culture and ensure the company will remain ahead of the curve. Recent data has shown the top 1,500 companies worldwide increased their R&D by 12 percent in 2011, as they have identified the need to maintain their edge in their respective industries.

    Customer centricity: It’s been proven that companies that prioritize their customers see greater business results and continually bring more innovative products to the market. By tuning in to customer needs, a company is able to define the market in ways they could not have identified had they only looked inward. In addition, listening to your customers in order to deliver their delight will help retain them. There are a variety of tools that aid in capturing customer insight. Online surveys, social media and voice-of-the-customer events all help to ensure that a fact-based understanding of customer needs drives the company forward.

    Customer centricity as a strategy reorients the entire business-operating model around the customer; it means understanding the customer’s point of view and respecting the customer’s interest. By doing this, it increases their overall satisfaction—and in the process, business profitability.

  • Managing Change: Because technology is constantly evolving, it is imperative that companies – especially IT organizations – adapt these new technologies and build an expertise around them. Presently, that means navigating through the implications of Big Data; building data warehouses and using business intelligence for decision-making; taking advantage and familiarizing oneself with cloud technologies; and also touching upon a new generation of employees, who may be more equipped to take advantage of social collaboration.

    IT companies, in particular, need to be deliberate in getting out in front of change or risk being surpassed by advancing technology. And employees – not just the IT team – must be adequately trained and educated on new technology in order to quickly adopt a new application and put it to use right away.

  • Promoting an Open Culture and Flexible Work Environment: Open communication between employer and employee is key to a successful organization; employees must feel well-informed at all times and comfortable enough to provide input. This open culture is empowering to employees and encourages them to share their opinions and ask questions that help them do their work best.

    A flexible work environment is sometimes dismissed in certain industries because of the idea that the employee is getting paid to be physically present. However, employers can create an environment in which flexible work can be successful. This may involve clearly stating goals and objectives relative to flexible schedules, providing the necessary tools and training, and ongoing support and feedback. This type of progressive workplace culture nurtures loyalty to the company – especially in younger employees.

  • Social Responsibility: Companies that take an active role in promoting their corporate social responsibility programs are viewed more favorably than those that do not have highly visible programs. A new study from Nielson found that fifty percent of global consumers surveyed are willing to pay more for goods and services from companies that have implemented programs to give back to society. Being socially responsible creates goodwill and a positive image for a brand, a good reputation is one of the most valuable assets to a company.

    Socially responsible companies have also been shown to develop greater employee pride. Studies have reported increased employee commitment, performance and job satisfaction.

  • Investment in People: Employees are the only assets that an IT organization has. It is commonly held that an optimal workforce includes the right people, at the right place, at the right time. A recent Harvard study found that 80 percent of employee turnover was due to bad hiring decisions; and the Department of Labor estimates it can cost an average of one-third of a new hire’s annual salary to replace that person. It is critical to dedicate the necessary resources and time to finding and recruiting these ‘right people;’ and then develop, manage and reward them accordingly.

    Because the IT industry is constantly evolving, organizations that focus on innovation, customer satisfaction, giving back to their surrounding community, and the productivity and happiness of their greatest asset – their employees, will not only survive, but thrive amid IT’s diverse and ever-changing landscape.

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About the Author

Ajay KaulAjay Kaul, managing partner at AgreeYa Solutions, brings over 25 years of experience in sales, staffing, and IT project management for clients throughout the world. As managing partner, Ajay has led AgreeYa through 15 years of success, leading the company in highly competitive and complex markets and driving significant profitable growth. Prior to founding AgreeYa, Ajay was responsible for managing engagements for Deloitte Consulting, serving private and public sector clients.