Home » Eight Reasons to Engage in Good Behaviour (aka CSR)
Eight Reasons to Engage in Good Behaviour (aka CSR)
- Risk Management – companies that fail to identify and implement CSR strategies are engaging in risky behavior. In the electronic age, misdeeds can be mined in perpetuity. As well, anyone with as much as a cell phone can report on your business conduct at anytime. Show you know that not every stakeholder is a shareholder in your business and communicate accordingly.
- Operational Efficiency – CSR strategies provide an ethical frame of reference for how your people conduct business at home and around the globe. Take the guess work out of balancing market demands and supporting communities and people as a shared value. Putting an end to wasteful practices can save money, energy and reduce operational costs.
- Marketing Positioning – Showing leadership in CSR has never been more important. “Cause marketing,” “fair-trade,” “going green” consumers are picking on up what the best companies bring to market. A trusted brand is a good corporate citizen.
- Partnerships – “Globalization” has a bad reputation because too many companies don’t behave well in other countries – or behave the same. Having the right partners in local communities shows you understand what it takes to identify and implement CSR initiatives. Today persuading is as important as selling.
- Investor Relations – investors are more interested in what is said about a company than what the company says about itself. Lot’s of “good news” announcement from the public relations department can’t compete with real news in the media. Investors are increasingly interested in the CSR platform of a company in determining its overall value.
- Reputation Management – The media traffics in reputation. Companies are no longer known by their products alone – but by what their CEO says and how the company manages relationships around the world. How a company treats people and the planet are either good or bad for the bottom line.
- Employee Satisfaction – The best people want to work for the best companies. Today that means companies that show leadership in governance and ethical business practices. News reports on the best places to work, cite CSR initiatives as a major factor in hiring decisions, staff morale and retention.
- Media Relations – Reporters love the three “C”s conflict, controversy and contradictions. If you are not who you claim to be in your mission statement and news releases, that will be the consequences when things go wrong. Much depends on an organization’s day-to-day conduct.
