9 minute read
Beverly Brooks Thompson The right thing to do
The right thing to do
Corporate social responsibility encompasses how your company and its employees interact with the community and, when done right, can appeal to a
new generation of talent. BY BEVERLY BROOKS THOMPSON
COLLIN RICHIE
Beverly Brooks Thompson
is a published academic and practitioner in the field of philanthropic leadership and currently serves as a managing director at Carter Global, an international philanthropic consulting firm. IN TODAY’S GLOBAL economy, corporate citizenship initiatives are no longer seen as just a “nice thing to do,” they are a business imperative within a company’s value chain. Corporate social responsibility, or CSR, is a core principle of strengthening corporate governance, according to the National Association of Corporate Directors.
Gone are the days when corporate social responsibility was seen primarily as an opportunity for risk mitigation, brand equity and reputation management. When done effectively, corporate citizenship is a serious investment of money, resources and time. It is also a demonstration to other C-suite leaders, partners, contractors, community leaders and broader stakeholders on the core values of the company and the firm’s performance in the environmental, social, and governance of business.
Since 1985, the Center for Corporate Citizenship within the Carroll School of Management at Boston College has been helping organizations align corporate citizenship objectives and business goals. It defines corporate citizenship as how a company exercises its rights, obligations, privileges, and overall corporate responsibility within local and global environments. As a value proposition, companies who optimize CSR as a sound business practice and transparently offer information on those practices to their customers and stakeholders see it as a competitive advantage to employee job satisfaction, risk reduction, improvement of financial performance and connecting money with mission.
Companies often make the mistake of thinking corporate responsibility starts and ends with being environmentally conscious. While this is no doubt an important element, the reality is that corporate responsibility covers much more ground, encompassing all the ways your company and its employees interact with the community. Companies of the future should be utilizing corporate philanthropy as a business strategy that can appeal to a new generation of employees.
• It helps you focus your giving
Picture for a moment a typical commercial construction company in just about any city across the nation. Odds are this builder’s ongoing construction projects prominently (and smartly) display the company logo around the sites in an effort to raise its community profile. But this type of visibility can also have the unintended consequence of making the company a high-profile target for individuals and organizations seeking charitable donations.
This hypothetical company most likely wants to contribute to important organizations and causes in the community—it’s socially responsible and a good business practice—but requests for contributions can quickly spiral out of control without proper planning.
It’s vital for a company of any size, public or private, to set some clear parameters about what it will and will not support—and those decisions start with a carefully crafted corporate responsibility plan. Branding expert Stafford Wood cites recent client requests for “aligning the company’s profit goals with a community mission as a key part of any branding strategy.”
Whether you’re a single-person operation or a fast-growing company with hundreds of employees, there are three reasons why developing a plan to make your giving and community outreach more impactful is so important:
Business leaders approach us all the time with a stack of requests for sponsorships and contributions and say, “Help me stop
the bleeding.” One of our first steps is to help them develop a plan that identifies what their interests and values are—the things important to them and their company.
The plan both helps them say “no” when necessary, without the guilt, while saying “yes” in a more strategic and impactful way. A responsibility plan doesn’t always necessarily mean you’ll spend any less money, but it can help you engage employees while giving to things you’re passionate about and are meaningful to your organization and your team.
It can help you drive your charitable donations to organizations that make sense from a business perspective. For example, a commercial builder whose business is primarily building hospitals and schools could choose to donate only to health care and educational organizations. Building those relationships makes sense for them over the long run, and Issue Date: Sept 2022 Ad proof it’s much easier to decline re- #1 • Please respond by e-mail or fax with your approval or minor revisions. quests outside of these parame• AD WILL RUN AS IS unless approval or final revisions are received within 24 hours from receipt of this proof. A shorter timeframe will apply for tight deadlines. • Additional revisions must be requested and may be subject to production fees. ters if the corporate responsibility policy is clear and transparent. Carefully check this ad for: CORRECT ADDRESS • CORRECT PHONE NUMBER • ANY TYPOS This ad design © Louisiana Business, Inc. 2022. All rights reserved. Phone 225-928-1700 • Fax 225-926-1329
• It’s a marketing and recruitment tool
Employees are much more likely to stay with your company if they feel empowered to make a difference. A clear CSR plan is a powerful way to remind your team members that they’re part of an organization with a mission to impact the community in a positive way.
CSR is playing an increasing role in the recruitment of top talent, particularly among millennial workers who overwhelmingly want to work for companies that are socially responsible and making a positive impact in the community. Three-quarters of millennials onsider a company’s social and environmental commitments when deciding where to work and nearly two-thirds won’t take a job if a potential employer doesn’t have strong CSR practices.
In today’s highly competitive environment for talent, the cost of recruitment, training, and retention demands a paradigm shift in thinking. Millennials and Gen Zers are hitting the workforce in huge numbers. Our employees are now considered “internal customers,” consumers and delivery operators of the corporate culture. Businesses strive for engaged team members who demonstrate loyalty to the organization. This is the same goal we have for our “external customers” or consumers of our products or services. We must now think of CSR as an employee retention strategy to engage our internal customers in the delivery of our corporate value system by giving them meaningful outlets and vehicles to engage and deliver that message.
A corporate responsibility plan shows prospective and current employees precisely where your values are as an organization. The data is clear: if your company does not have a strong statement of corporate responsibility, you are at a severe disadvantage when recruiting the young talent necessary to succeed over the long run.
• It keeps your employees engaged
A corporate responsibility plan
Julio Melara and his staff on celebrating 40 years of excellence. As Sigma commemorates our 35th anniversary, we are proud to have grown together in helping make this community a vibrant, progressive place to call home. We look forward to providing innovative infrastructure and development solutions to the Metro area for years to come.
IG S MA CONSULTING GRO UP 35
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Providing Engineering, Surveying and Project Delivery services to governmental, industrial, and private sector clients along the Gulf Coast since 1987.
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that focuses your charitable contributions on where your employees live, work and play can be an effective tool for employee engagement while also encouraging your team to make a meaningful contribution within their own community.
There are plenty of ways to use your plan to empower employees and help them feel more connected with their community Issue Date: Sept 2022 Ad proof outside of the office walls. For #4 • Please respond by e-mail or fax with your approval or minor revisions. example, an employee commit• AD WILL RUN AS IS unless approval or final revisions are received within 24 hours tee could determine what grants from receipt of this proof. A shorter timeframe will apply for tight deadlines. • Additional revisions must be requested and may be subject to production fees. you give to assist team members Carefully check this ad for: CORRECT ADDRESS • CORRECT PHONE NUMBER • ANY TYPOS This ad design © Louisiana Business, Inc. 2022. All rights reserved. Phone 225-928-1700 • Fax 225-926-1329
or outside organizations like youth sports teams. In the Capital Region, most companies create an emergency assistance fund for employees in need of help for serious medical or family emergencies. During the 2016 floods, many companies with branches in multiple locations, such as law firm Kean Miller, not only encouraged donations to local reputable organizations such as the Capital Area United Way—who was stepping in with volunteers and resources to help vulnerable residents—but also set up funds through the Baton Rouge Area Foundation’s Employees First program to help employees whose homes flooded. This commitment to both external and internal stakeholders in times of crisis is remembered long after the crisis and deepens brand loyalty.
Some companies compensate their employees for volunteer time, a great way to encourage your team to do outreach in the community. This can include paid time off to participate or as a measure for evaluation for organizations who receive funding. Are you currently evaluating employees’ participation on nonprofit boards, membership in professional associations, or their volunteer service to the community as a measure for promotion and advancement? Many organizations avoid sponsorships altogether and instead focus only on matching employee contributions in either money or service. They’re encouraging their employees to give, which not only empowers them in the decision-making, but also gives leadership a standard for how to budget as well as a powerful tool for mission measurement and employee evaluation.
Whatever route you choose, a well-constructed corporate responsibility plan encourages smarter and more strategic giving, builds brand loyalty, and serves as a critical tool in a hypercompetitive workforce market for recruitment and retention. It’s no longer just a nice thing to do. It’s a business imperative.
• It’s the right thing to do
All of us in business are members of our community first. What better way to give your life purpose and meaning than to focus on our community during business hours the same way you do in your personal life. Your customers want it, your employees need it, your investors value it, and, as a leader in our community, you have the ability to direct your resources—strategic resources, financial resources and your time—toward making the world a better place, right in the place where you and your family live.
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