Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is not a phrase that I like. In fact, I would like to take the ‘Corporate’ out of Corporate Social Responsibility altogether.

However, in the absence of any other meaningful phrase, when I refer to CSR, I mean being a responsible business whether your company is large or small.

CSR isn’t just the right thing to do, it makes business sense. In the current challenging climate, you will be better placed to survive and thrive if you have strong ethical values.

Are SME’s Missing Out on CSR?

Traditionally it has only been the large ‘corporate’ companies with a structured approach to CSR working with organisations such as Business in the Community or HR consultants.

Many Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) could be missing an opportunity, not because they are not operating a responsible business but because they don’t think about it holistically or shout about it.

Companies that go the extra mile to think about their employees, the environment, their community and supply chain activities are well placed to differentiate their business, create a skilled and inclusive workforce and improve their profile, reputation and staff retention rates.

Lead by Example

If you truly want to put CSR high on your agenda from the outset, it should form one of your core values, and part of the ethos running throughout your whole organisation.

Business owners and managers should lead by example when “doing your bit” for the community and encourage your staff to do the same. In the words of Business in the Community –  you need to inspire, engage and challenge everyone to mobilise a collective strength as a force for good in society.

Top Tips for SMEs

It’s not that difficult to integrate responsible business practices into your company, here are my top ten tips.

1. Make it fun – if you want to create a fundraising event or activity make it a memorable and enjoyable experience for all involved. Or set targets e.g. have a prize for the team that generates the least waste each month.
2. Make it simple – getting staff to contribute to dress-down days, fancy dress events, cake bakes, and photo competitions all make it easy for staff who don’t want to jump out of planes or run a marathon.
3. Make it second nature – introduce ‘Pennies from Pay’, maybe make it compulsory. This scheme rounds down monthly salaries turning unmissed pennies into a sizeable annual charity contribution. Once a week encourage staff not to get takeaway coffees or lunches (reducing waste) and donate their money to your chosen charity.
4. Look beyond the obvious – it can be rewarding to seek out local groups and activities in jeopardy through lack of funds. You could become their lifeline.
5. Make it bottom up – encourage staff to come up with ideas and let them run fundraising campaigns for the causes which interest them.
6. Lead by example – as a business owner support local businesses or national causes through taking an active part on boards and committees. This creates new partnerships and opportunities you don’t get sitting behind a desk.
7. Find that passion – seek out worthy causes that fit your objectives or interests or the community where you live or work. Passionate people get more people involved and raise more money.
8. Build it in – if you get the chance think about building in energy efficiency in lighting, heating, equipment and processes. Consider the impact of recycling and waste reduction at every stage of your business. Think about how you can help behavioural and cultural change with refurbishing or reselling equipment, flexible working and green travel policies and ensuring suppliers operate sustainable policies
9. Reward and invest in staff – match fundraising by staff to double the impact, subsidise staff social events to ensure staff feel valued and provide ongoing training and development for all levels of staff. This keeps people motivated and results in a much lower staff turnover, which saves resources.
10. Raise awareness – ensure your staff know your mission and values – from induction and regular communication to putting a copy on the back of your loo doors!

Making a Difference

Developing good CSR policies and showing your empathy and understanding is important, whether you are communicating with your staff, customers, investors or suppliers.

In the longer term, setting up and maintaining an effective CSR campaign helps with everything from improving your profile to winning contracts and even recruiting and retaining staff. Providing of course you tell the world about it through your website, news releases, newsletters, blogs and social media profiles and posts!

If you want help with making the most of your CSR policies please contact me. [email protected]