Corporate Society responsibility (CSR)should not be one of the annual requirements a company should just do and move on.CSR should be incorporated in the business model, budget, and processes.
CSR has evolved and it’s no longer about gifting communities and appearing in the media. People now ask if the CSR exercise is sustainable and if the company is responsible in other practices like taxation, labour rights, utilisation of resources and environment. In fact the ISO standard is ISO 26000.It gives the best comprehensive approach to CSR practice.
CSR has evolved over the time depending on which programme. It is common to refer to CSR as Corporate Social Investment (CSI), corporate citizenship, sustainable responsible business (SRB), corporate social performance, Social responsibility, and right to invest. Most CSR programmes are categorised as sponsorships, charity, cause related, and philanthropy.
Encourage staff to participate. The success of CSR benefiting businesses starts with building an internal culture. Set aside dates and days. This month, Uganda Revenue Authority held a CSR day. Every branch went to their communities they serve.
Create rules on mandatory CSR voluntary staff involvement. Set hours staff should dedicate annually to CSR. CSR mostly involves community activities which help in team building. When teams are engaged, there is more efficiency in achieving other company goals. Think about the experience of a CSR day involving hospital cleaning or tree planting exercises. Staff that never used to talk will come back talking to each other.
Businesses can protect and build reputations through running strategic CSR programmes. When you do sustainable CSR programmes, you can still enter CSR awards that help profile your brand. This helps showcase your products and services. This also builds goodwill that is needed during crisis times. Communities that know your practice and love you can be forgiving. CSR should not affect your reputation. Businesses must continually vet CSR sponsorships proposals and other CSR programmes to avoid being associated with controversial programmes. Before you support an orphanage, make sure it is licensed otherwise your business operations can be dented for helping “humantrafficking”.
A businesses cannot benefit from CSR if they don’t define what social issues they want to address and those not to fund. Corporates bodies must design specific CSR programmes relevant to their industries to benefit. Environment conservation programmes can cut across all industries. There must be a list of themes to invest in or sponsor. If you set out to do programmes in education, health and environment, stick to that. Don’t jump onto CSR campaign proposals that can along the way.
Letters to My Younger Self: Robinah Siima — “Success Is Quieter, But Richer”CSR is able to help business reach out to its relevant stakeholders to listen to them. This in turn enhances community relations. CSR activities can impact on business operations. A business should link CSR programmes to their usual business promotions, products, and services. For example every product x you buy, 2% goes towards helping a certain children’s home. This drives sales and compassion.
Few businesses think about using CSR to support their products and services. CSR offers a platform to offer these for free to have everyone try. When you donate, make sure there is permanent branding. A water tank must have a sign giving details of a company that donated it. Same communities receiving donations can produce future would-be customers. Always avoid giving out products you don’t make unless it is unavoidable. Why should a water company provide music yet they can donate water to a charity marathon? Charity marathons offer opportunities for brand visibility and active selling. A business benefits a lot from company branded running kits given to participants. You can even do research on a new drink at a charity event you are sponsoring. You can collect feedback that will help your business.
Business can contribute to social reform. CSR must positively impact the business and community at the same time. CSR is not a thing for only big companies. Partner with other CSR programmes if your budget does not support. Businesses must have dedicated budgets and teams to manage CSR programmes. CSR programmes cannot be effective if not linked to the business Practices, innovativeness, and inclusiveness. If you are making soft drinks, you must be thinking about investing water recycling and waste treatment systems.
The writer is a PR and Organisational diagnosis specialist
nbaliboola@gmail.com
