The six pieces of the CSR cake

Being a leader instead of just a manager means that you could be able not only to get maximum benefits but to guide your company towards a sustainable growth. If you respect these six points, you can achieve both happiness and success. Don't be afraid of putting in practise your CSR strategy and start building a better world from today!

1. Respect and protect Human Rights

 

• Design and implement a Code of Conduct to prevent or mitigate adverse human rights impacts.
• Non-Discrimination: Indigenous Rights; ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities; women; children; persons with disabilities; and migrant workers and their families.
• Protect economic, social and cultural rights of local community.
• Non-complicity in Human Rights abuse with business partners, entities in its value chain and any other entity directly linked to its business operations, products or services (i.e. Child & forced labour).

2. Environmental efficiency

 

• Establish and maintain an environmental strategy: contingency plans for prevention, Certifications, educational programs for workers and consumers. Contribute to the development of environmentally meaningful and economically efficient public policy.
• Improve corporate environmental performance: emissions (direct/ indirect: transport) and a better effluents and waste management.
• Efficient resource utilisation (energy, water, paper, toner…) and recycling, substitution or reduction of use of toxic substances.
• Strategies on biodiversity: protect natural habitats.

 

3. Fair Labor Practices

 

• Principle of equality of opportunity and treatment in employment: non-discrimination by race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction, social origin, or other status. Work-life balance programs.
• Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining.
• Continuous training, education and skills development.
• Foster Rights, health and safety in the workplace.

 

4. Good Corporate Governance & Accountability

 

• Internal controls, ethics and compliance programmes.
• Fair operating practices: Anti-corruption & transparent accounting.
• Openness and dialogue with employees and relevant stakeholders.
• Disclosure information regarding governance and improve employee’s awareness of company policies.

 

5. Product/Service Responsibility

 

• Protection of the Customer’s health and safety: promote consumer’s education.
• Marketing fair Practices: provide accurate, verifiable and clear info (i.e. labeling).
• Customer Privacy.
• Consumer support, complaint and dispute resolution.

6. Social investment and community development

 

• Education and culture investment.  
• Employment and wealth creation. 
• Diffusion of technologies and know-how: develop ties with local institutions.
• Encourage local capacity building.

 

 

 

It is still difficult to measure how much being socially responsible can help your business achieve sustainable growth but what is certain is that it is worth trying new strategies to make our lives happier and more purposeful. As Albert Einstein once said "Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts".

 

 

 

Original article, translated in Spanish, published in Socialnest/Blog.

 

 

 

Sources:

 

· OECD GUIDELINES FOR MULTINATIONAL ENTERPRISES 2011.

 

· Global Reporting Initiative (GRI G4 Guidelines).

 

· The International Organization for Standardization (ISO 26000).

 

· United Nations Framework for Business and Human Rights ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy’.