Intro
Corporate social responsibility, or CSR, is the way a company takes responsibility for its actions and their impact on employees, stakeholders, and communities. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development defines CSR as the continuing commitment by businesses to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of workforces and their families as well as the community and the society at large. Under the premise, it suggests how companies should conduct their businesses such as how they manage their impacts on the environment and how they treat their employees. However, simply donate money to charity does not mean your company has conducted the whole CSR. Companies' operations have to earn the trust of consumers and investors by meeting their expectations of ethical and responsible behavior.
How can you apply sustainability, ethics, and corporate responsibility principles in your workplace?
Before digging into how to do it, I tend to think the "why" first. Why CSR makes business sense if it means higher costs? I think the idea is to attract better-skilled people to work for them. And then, by treating them responsibly, costly employee turnover will be minimized. It also helps a company differentiate itself. If even your employees do not trust the products they are producing, why do you think your customers do? In addition, if a company adopts improved environmental practices, it will show the public that it cares about the planet they rely on and maintaining customer loyalty. For instance, Costco offers COVID-19 in its pharmacies firmly committed to helping protect the health and safety of its members and employees, and to serving the communities. Now, how do think about the behavior? Costly? Or, worth it? I think it will reverse some bad images and improve the positive reputation. And, its share price has told us the result.
After the COVID-19 Vaccine Updates on May 13, 2021, the share price of Costco Wholesale Corporation(COST: NASDAQ) has increased from 331.14 per share to 378.27 per share, it gains approximately 14%. The public company has got the public's supports.
i. Set A SMART Goal and The Code of Conduct
Now, back to the topic, how companies do it? Adopting a business code of conduct or ethics is a great start. The code of ethics will outline the culture of how their employees conduct on issues and customer services. Set a clear social and environmental goal can help it even better.
ii. Workplace Health and Safety Programs
A clear workplace health and safety program can be a reliable system to protect your employees, prevent accidents, increase the efficiency of a company's operation.
ii. Protect The Environment
CSR is not just a paper or a report. It's more than that. For instance, Nespresso is committed to doing business responsibly, looking for ways to make a difference wherever they can. By adding the capsules recycling to your coffee ritual, the coffee capsules won’t just taste good. Now, Nespresso capsule recycling program includes 39 countries.
iv. The Suppliers Should Be Part of This
Ensure all the suppliers have met the expectations of responsible behaviors such as fair pricing, better working conditions of their employees, or more.
Look back at the entire Course. How will what you learned to change the way you work or your future aspirations?
Look back to the course, topics like cultures, globalization, communication, the risks, and CSR this week, have given me a better program putting inside my mind. I think I will start a business in the future and what I learned in this course will be very useful. For instance, my father's pork processing factory will conduct a better code of ethics and safety rules. The suppliers will all need to be tested on their pork.
Reference
7 tips for corporate social responsibility. BDC.ca. (2020, September 12). https://www.bdc.ca/en/articles-tools/business-strategy-planning/manage-business/corporate-responsibility-7-key-steps.
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