What is CSR?
CSR stands for corporate social responsibility. It’s a strategy companies use to support the environment, their local community, or society at large. Corporate social responsibility can include charitable donations, ethical business practices, or employee volunteer programs.
There’s no single right way to do it. Your CSR strategy should reflect your company’s values and goals and the passions of your employees. But one thing holds true across every industry: corporate social responsibility matters. If you don’t have a CSR strategy yet, now is the time to build one.
Why Corporate Social Responsibility Matters
Consumers and employees both prefer companies that care, and there’s data to prove it.
- In a survey of 5,000 adults, “79% would consider a company’s mission and purpose before applying.” Glassdoor
- When it comes to consumer priorities, 77% say they “are motivated to purchase from companies committed to making the world a better place.” Harvard Business Review
- From a Columbia Business School study of a large Latin American bank: “employees who took part in the CSR activity were approximately 50% less likely to leave the firm than those who did not take part in it.” Forbes
A strong CSR strategy lets a business put its values into action and show that its leadership cares about their community and the world.
The business outcomes of a strong and authentic corporate social responsibility program include better reputation, more loyal customers, and higher employee morale.
How To Improve Your CSR Strategy
Start with your company’s identity. A tech company might build STEM education kits for underserved students. A healthcare company might volunteer at a local clinic or assemble prosthetics for people with limb loss. Your CSR strategy should feel like a natural extension of what your company already stands for.
It should also reflect what your employees genuinely want. If your CSR initiative is brand-new, start by simply asking employees. A survey can provide baseline data to get you started.
If your program is more established, then the data on employee interests might be at your fingertips. Which volunteer events have the most sign-ups? What nonprofits receive the highest volume of payroll gifts? A CSR platform, like Generus, can surface these insights for you quickly and make it easier to evolve your program to reflect your employees’ interests.
Incorporating CSR into Employee Engagement
Corporate social responsibility initiatives also strengthen your teams and trust, often more effectively than traditional teambuilding activities. Working toward a shared cause builds stronger bonds between coworkers, especially when the cause means something to them personally. Colleagues without obvious functional cross-over bond over shared passions, and that relationship-building creates trust, opens doors for collaboration, and supports business performance.
Including give-back programs in remote employee engagement can be especially effective. This segment is notoriously hard to engage. The novelty of a video-call happy hour or trivia game wore off years ago. But virtual volunteering activities, like assembling skateboards for kids or making warm hats for homeless veterans, change that. Remote employees get a purposeful group activity that may have previously been inaccessible to them.
Companies Known for Strong CSR Programs
Get ideas and feel inspired by these 10 companies with established volunteer, giving, and sustainability programs.
- Wayfair, see their Corporate Responsibility Report
- Trane Technologies, see their Sustainability Report
- Unilever, see their Sustainability Report
- Delta Airlines, see their Community Engagement Report
- Goodwin Proctor, see their Pro Bono highlights
- Bank of America, see their Impact Report
- Wells Fargo, see their Responsibility & Impact hub
- Cox Enterprises, see their Collective Impact Report
- H-E-B, see their Helping Here program
- NASDAQ, see their Purpose@Work program
How Generus Can Support Your CSR Initiative
Generus offers interactive, turnkey volunteer experiences and the technology necessary to support a whole program. When combined, this provides the insight to shape future activities, help employees connect through shared interests, and improve overall company culture.
Interested in working with Generus to support your CSR program? Reach out to us today!
