Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is how companies around the world make a positive impact on the community around them. Learn reasons why CSR is relevant to a company’s growth.

These days, companies have been showing more interest in exercising their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

CSR or Corporate Social Responsibility is the company engagement with the community to conduct the environmental, social and economic effects activities that enrich the community. Essentially, it is a means for companies to “give back to the community”.

Below are 3 reasons why CSR is relevant to a company’s growth.

#1. Encourages Social Responsibility Within the Organization

Social responsibility is the accountability of an individual or organizations to act in a manner that contributes positively to the development of the environment or surrounding community. By doing so, their actions support the long-term growth of society.

CSR, or corporate social responsibility, is the social responsibility of businesses to ensure that their operations do no harm but rather bring benefit to the environment and surrounding community.

While the goal of social responsibility is to ensure that an individual or a social organization does not harm, but rather benefits society and the community, the goal of corporate social responsibility is to ensure that the business corporation benefits as well.

At the same time, individuals within the organization get to exercise their social responsibility when participating in CSR activities. Employee volunteering is a necessary component of any CSR program. It can certainly make or break it. Providing employees with this opportunity to carry out and derive satisfaction from social responsibility activities is a less obvious aspect of Employee Value Proposition (EVP), which are the benefits an employee reaps from being employed by a company. A satisfied employee is an employee who is more likely to have positive thoughts and feelings about their continued employment.

To put CSR into motion, businesses engage in philanthropic activities, volunteer initiatives, environmental protection programs (including the implementation of green business policies), and ethical labor practices (treating employees fairly and ethically).

As a result of this desire to “give back to the community”, businesses demonstrate accountability to its own stakeholders, employees, customers, as well as the public. This creates an environment of collaboration, thereby creating trust. In return, this raises productivity and corporate income.

#2. Improves Your Company Brand Value

When we think about company and corporate branding, the first thing that comes to mind is the use of a logo, a tagline, and a name that is exclusive to that organization. A company’s brand, according to experts, is its promise. It reflects what the company can offer its consumers in terms of goods and services, as well as what they can expect from those products and services. It sums up their customers’ impressions of them. After all, branding has only one goal: to give a corporation, industry, organization, product, or service a name and image.

There is a relationship between the company branding and the company’s CSR initiatives. With well-placed CSR initiatives which are carried out successfully, a company’s reputation is enhanced. In turn, this effectively brings more value to the company’s brand.

Brilliant CSR initiatives brings positive press for companies. The media plays an important role in informing the broader audience of the company’s good works. For all intents and purposes, successful CSR promotes the business.

The right CSR initiative can set a company above a competitor, but only when they can managed the CSR properly. Marketing, publicity, execution, and above all the true benefit the community can receive from the CSR. 

#3. Opens New Opportunities

Many companies are now using CSR as a method to gain the confidence of their stakeholders and consumers. This is because CSR is a form of corporate self-regulation.

While businesses do pledge to follow the law and uphold ethical principles in their operations, CSR allows them to put their words into action. When this action is publicized on a greater scale, this reach can amplify the number of potential customers for the company.

Simply put, CSR may be used as part of a company’s marketing or social marketing strategy, in particular for activities involving raising funds and awareness for a particular cause.

However, companies should not design CSR specifically to suit the narrow dimensions of marketing and social marketing. Such actions while could allow more content to be shared out to a wide audience, may end up sounding artificial and insincere.

Focus instead on the value you truly want to and can bring to the environment and surrounding community. Make your intention transparent. Then and only then should marketing be brought into the picture. Future employees and potential customers abound when they note the genuine sincerity of your actions.

Conclusion

CSR is a good culture for a company to implement in their system. Through CSR, companies do gain benefits while also giving back to the community. It is definitely a win-win all around for companies to take their CSR initiatives seriously.

Which CSRs did you find memorable and have had a positive influence on your perception of the company?

 

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