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CSR in the hospitality business needn’t cost the earth James Barr, Business Development Director and John Nyoti, General manager at TheWesley, a social enterprise hotel, throw down the gauntlet to the hospitality industry for a more ethical approach to business
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overnments lay down policies and frameworks for governance, but businesses can change societies, attitudes, behaviours and lifestyles of generations. Steve Jobs once said ‘the best businesses even identify what the consumer wants before they even know themselves’.
Credit: NOAA/NASA GOES Project Source: http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view_detail.php?id=2429 http://veimages.gsfc.nasa.gov//2429/globe_east_540.jpg
A wider scope With wealth creation comes so much more – perceptions, aspirations, tastes, hopes and dreams can all be changed. It also brings influence and responsibility. In the digital age in which we live, there is a much greater awareness of the gravity of the issues facing the world today, and the need to act. Within this context, the corporate responsibility and accountability of hospitality companies are increasingly under the microscope. TheWesley, an ethical hospitality brand that we created, was the result of our passion for a sustainable approach to business. Our vision is: to create wealth and jobs, ethically and without leaving any damage in our wake; to bring employees into the company who would normally not be given the opportunity; to create and maximise new opportunities, focusing on the longer term and not just pursuing financial gain at all costs; to make financial gains ethically and reinvest fairly and sensibly in the hospitality business sector. Profit for purpose A business with social and environmental objectives allows surpluses to be reinvested for those purposes or into the community, rather than maximising short-term profit. The social enterprise model is an example of this. But any socially
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responsible business places its ethos at the heart of its core business strategy, driven by a social and environmental mission while focusing on the stakeholders. My experience of 20 years in the hospitality and travel industries has taught me that the underlying philosophy behind this sector needs to change. Cheap air travel is unlikely to be sustainable over a long period. Hotels can be notoriously wasteful with their resources, and they are often negligent in the disposal of waste. Restaurants should focus on their roots and explore the provenance of their ingredients and food and stop using processed food as short cuts by providing simple food to suit the seasons and local environment. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) should no longer be an afterthought, but rather a powerful force for businesses. It makes an inspirational difference when focusing on the bottom line. A socially responsible business delivers a triple bottom line, using profit (or trading) for people and planet. Profit, of course, is critical because it enables social objectives to be fulfilled, and in no way does this CSR philosophy underplay the importance of strong financial performance. According to Tim Smit of the Eden Project, this is ‘a new way of doing business which will, in due course, come to be seen as the way most businesses should operate. It is a movement that gives capitalism a social heart’.
The power of three The triple bottom line is most significant and powerful. Rather than the usual profit criteria delivered at the annual