The ABC of CSR

THE LATEST LEARNING AND BEST PRACTICE KNOW HOW

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1Set your baseline Calculate the carbon footprint of your business activities. For example, if working in a corporate office environment, you might establish the amount of carbon emitted because of the heating, lighting, ventilation and other equipment in the building. This gives you a baseline from which you can make demonstrable improvements.

2Consider procurement How we procure goods and services has a major impact on the success of a CSR programme. Engaging suppliers is the first step toward a more responsible supply chain. Create forums for your organisation and suppliers to discuss better ways of working and share best practices. This may feel like you’re CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY giving away business secrets but meeting CSR goals needs a collaborative approach. The ABC of CSR Key to procurement is understanding the next FM's corporate social responsiblity input may generation of sustainable need reassessment post-pandemic. Rod Glenn and/or renewable energy breaks the basics down in this five point primer technologies. As technology advances, buildings will be able to produce renewable energy, create healthier environments, and help cool the atmosphere. FMs need to understand how these systems are operated and maintained, and the benefits they bring in a future where the easy fixes are no longer enough to meet stricter CSR and sustainable goals.

3Consider how hybrid

working may alter needs

Reduced office occupancy resulting from hybrid working creates potential for offices to be occupied inefficiently and for energy to be used when it doesn’t need to be. FMs can add value by helping clients implement clean and safe

ROD GLENN is health, safety, environment, quality and CSR director at SPIE UK hot desking arrangements, accompanied by automated light, heating and ventilation controls. In doing so, FMs can have a profound impact on returning offices to the social, collaborative spaces we have missed whilst having a significant bearing on energy expenditure. 4Act ethically People realise that good CSR practices are indicative of a well run and resilient business.

Placing ethics at the core of your business practices is an opportunity for upstream and downstream value creation. For instance, collaborating with your supply chain to create more sustainable products for use across the estates that you manage helps customers meet their objectives, and positions you to attain higher value that has a positive impact on your bottom line. It also puts your supplier in a position where they have more valuable products for which they have a market – a win-win scenario.

5Work in partnership Achieving CSR goals involves many stakeholders, from senior managers and employees on the customer side, the broader supply chain of the organisation you’re working with, and everyone in your own organisation and supply chain. This is complex, but a fantastic opportunity for FMs to drive economic and social change.

Never has there been greater awareness of our relationship with the environment, the impact the spaces we inhabit have on our health, and the positive effects of productive collaboration, whilst having time for ourselves. In many ways FMs find themselves at the confluence of many of these changes, and it’s up to the industry to play its part in overcoming these challenges.