Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is now an integral part of the professional world. But what concrete actions should be developed to reflect a company's CSR approach? How can we make the most of our efforts to address global social, environmental and economic concerns? And who should be involved internally? In this article, you'll find all our best practices and several examples of concrete CSR initiatives to develop within your company. Now it's your turn!
CSR and CSR actions: a few explanations
Before getting to the heart of the matter, let's clarify a few important terms:
- For companies, CSR means integrating social, environmental, economic and governance considerations into their activities and interactions with their stakeholders. In other words, CSR implies that companies go beyond their legal obligations by taking into account the impact of their decisions on society and the environment.
- CSR actions are the concrete initiatives that translate our CSR strategy into action. See some examples below.
A few examples of CSR actions within the company
Environment:
- Reduced CO2 emissions and carbon footprint.
- Setting up recycling and waste reduction programs.
- Use of renewable energy sources.
Social:
- Promoting equal opportunity and diversity.
- Training and skills development programs.
- Support for regional communities and philanthropic initiatives.
Economical:
- Responsible purchasing policy.
- Fair relations with suppliers.
- Investments in sustainable projects.
Governance:
- Implementation of good governance and transparency policies.
- Fight against corruption and unfair commercial practices.
- Stakeholder involvement in decision-making.
How to draw up an effective CSR action plan?
All these actions speak to you and you can't wait to put them in place? Before you take the plunge, make sure you draw up an effective action plan, to put every chance of positive results on your side. Here are 4 steps to get you started:
1. Carry out an initial CSR assessment and diagnosis
The first step is to carry out a complete diagnosis of the company's current situation in terms of social responsibility. This analysis enables us to identify existing practices, strengths and areas for improvement. It is crucial to assess the social impact of the company's activities.
To do this, the company can use tools like the SWOT matrix (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) to understand its positioning and define priority issues. You can also identify the CSR issues specific to your business sector to understand how to position yourself in this environment. Don't hesitate to involve internal stakeholders (employees, management) and external stakeholders (customers, suppliers, communities) to gather their expectations and perceptions and move forward together in this important project for the company.
Read also: intercontrat, an opportunity to get involved with associations!
2. Define CSR objectives
Once the diagnosis has been carried out and the stakeholders involved, it is important to define clear, precise and measurable CSR objectives. These must be aligned with the company's overall strategy, and cover a wide range of areas such as reducing the carbon footprint, improving working conditions, promoting diversity and community involvement. They must be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound) to enable effective monitoring and regular review of progress. In terms of duration, we recommend setting objectives over 3 or 5 years. This is the time needed to implement actions and analyze the first satisfactory effects. Regular progress reviews with teams are obviously necessary to adjust actions.
3. Develop and implement an action plan
To achieve the desired objectives, the company needs to draw up a detailed roadmap with concrete measures. Each action must be optimally defined, with responsibilities assigned to the right people, deadlines for completion and, if necessary, the necessary resources to be allocated (human, financial, material). It is also essential to set performance indicators to measure the impact of actions and monitor progress.
One of the keys to the successful implementation of an action plan is communicating about it internally, and even raising awareness and training employees about the stakes of CSR for the company. It's essential to involve every employee in the actions, by explaining the approach, the results expected from each and every employee, and the means to achieve them. Make sure you also communicate your CSR commitments to any external stakeholders, especially if they are directly or indirectly involved in the actions.
You can also set up a CSR team or committee (with members from different teams) to oversee implementation and ensure coordination between the various actions and people involved. This is an interesting idea for drawing on a variety of in-house expertise and building a close-knit group around the approach.
4. Monitor and evaluate results
Monitoring and evaluation are crucial steps in ensuring the effectiveness of a CSR action plan. The key performance indicators (KPIs) defined above will enable us to measure the results achieved against the expectations set. Regular reports must be drawn up to analyze progress, identify any gaps and adjust actions accordingly. Once again, transparency is essential: the company must communicate the results of its CSR initiatives to stakeholders through annual CSR reports, press releases and information meetings. Evaluation results can be used to adjust and improve CSR actions on an ongoing basis.
5 concrete CSR actions to implement at your company
Let's take a look at the concrete applications of CSR that can be developed within a company in 2024, by looking at 5 essential actions such as reducing our carbon footprint, implementing a responsible purchasing policy or mobilizing our employees in support of local associations.
1. Reduce your carbon footprint
These days, it's impossible to ignore! Reducing our carbon footprint is an essential CSR action for companies today. Greenhouse gas emissions contribute to climate change, a major global challenge. Companies can (and must!) take steps to reduce their carbon emissions. To do so, they must first assess their carbon footprint, then identify the main sources of emissions, and finally implement strategies to reduce them.
Understanding where consumption is highest is the first step to reducing your carbon footprint. To achieve this, the corporate carbon footprint is the ideal tool to activate. Depending on the company's size, it can be carried out by a specialized consultancy firm, or by a SaaS solution such as Carbo or Greenly. It should be noted that this type of assessment is now compulsory in France for companies with over 500 employees (250 in the French overseas territories), as part of the CSRD.
Once the sources of emissions have been identified, it's time to take action. There are a number of ways to reduce a company's footprint, such as investing in cleaner technologies, improving the energy efficiency of its operations, encouraging the use of more sustainable transport for employees, or adopting waste reduction policies. What's more, more and more companies are choosing to invest in renewable energies (using green energy suppliers such as ekWateur, Enercoop or Mint Energie) to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels.
Significantly reducing a company's carbon footprintsaves money, reduces its environmental impact and meets growing consumer expectations for environmentally-friendly products and services. So this action deserves its top spot on our list!
2. Raising employee awareness of CSR issues
At Wenabi, our credo is to understand in order to act! To involve as many employees as possible in the movement towards impact, it is first essential to raise their awareness of CSR and the causes directly supported by the company (the environment, youth, gender equality, health, inclusion in the workplace...).
This can be achieved through a number of internal communication initiatives:
- Organize interactive workshops to discuss CSR issues, share best practices and encourage reflection, for example by involving associations working in the field.
- Develop communication media, such as newsletters, intranet articles or posters, to disseminate key information on the topic.
- Create CSR working groups or committees made up of employee volunteers to work on CSR initiatives.
- Involve managers so that they lead by example and encourage their teams to train and/or get involved.
- Encourage employees to share their personal CSR experiences, both on and off the job, to create a dialogue and inspire other colleagues. Make sure you recognize this commitment throughout the year.
Make sure you offer different levels of awareness, so as to get everyone on board, whether they're already CSR experts or just starting out. Combining several communication actions is essential to get everyone on board!
3. Implement a responsible purchasing policy
Promoting responsible purchasing within a company generally involves defining a list of criteria, including environmental, social and ethical standards, against which current and future suppliers can be assessed. Suppliers are then selected according to these precise criteria.
What if, to go even further, we also included second-hand in our responsible purchasing policy? Sustainability, financial savings, social responsibility... there are many reasons to give priority to second-hand goods for corporate purchases. Whether it's furniture, IT equipment or company cars, many items of physical expenditure can be replaced by second-hand goods. And that's what a responsible purchasing policy is all about: reducing new purchases.
In the same vein, it's also possible to implement a policy of donating equipment no longer in use to charities, for example. With the democratization of telecommuting, a dozen or so spaces are systematically left vacant in your offices? Why not make them available to a nonprofit company looking for premises in which to expand?
When it comes to second-hand goods and material donations, the possibilities are endless. And they're not only good for the economy and the environment, they're also good for the associations. Think about it!
Also read: Employee commitment to solidarity: CSR experts from committed companies explain!
4. Aim for a CSR label
Have you already implemented a number of CSR initiatives and would like to demonstrate the scope of your work? Then why not try for official certification? It will enable you to assess and demonstrate your company's commitment to sustainable and responsible practices.
Do you want to get started, but are at a loss when it comes to the various CSR standards and labels available? Here are a few to choose from, based on their relevance to your company:
- ISO 14001 : This international standard focuses on environmental management. It establishes criteria for setting up an effective environmental management system.
- ISO 26000: This is an international standard that provides guidelines for corporate social responsibility, covering areas such as human rights, the environment, labor relations, consumers, management, and so on.
- Label Lucie 26000: A practical and pragmatic application of the ISO 26000 standard for organizations.
- GRI (Global Reporting Initiative): The GRI provides guidelines for the preparation of sustainability reports, helping companies to account for their economic, environmental and social performance in a transparent way.
- B Corp : B Corp certification is awarded to companies that meet strict social and environmental performance standards. Certification is based on a global assessment of the company.
Even if certification still seems too ambitious for the company, finding out about the different sections assessed by the labels can be a good step towards identifying relevant areas to focus on in the future. The initial assessment will enable you to identify the areas in which you already excel, and those where improvements are needed. A first step towards certification!
5. Involving employees in local associations
We can't stress enough that community involvement is a key aspect of CSR. Companies have a role to play in supporting the communities in which they operate, and this has a real impact on theemployee experience. This can be done through donations, skills sponsorship, employee volunteering projects or partnerships with local organizations. The best way to help them effectively is to meet them in the field and identify together the needs and the means to meet them, by mobilizing the company's teams and stakeholders. The aim is to forge a genuine, long-term partnership with them.
Read also: everything you need to know to get involved with nonprofit and 10 examples of skills sponsorship projects you can carry out with your company.
By getting actively involved in the community, companies strengthen their local ties, promote a positive image and contribute to solving societal problems. For the sake of coherence and broader impact, community involvement projects should ideally be associated with causes already supported by the company, such as social emergencies, for example, by accompanying a nonprofit to help the homeless.
Looking for a tool that lets you manage all your CSR initiatives? Discover Wenabi by requesting a demo of the platform that connects companies and associations for the common good!
.svg)
.svg)