CSR and sustainable development: all our advice

How to set up an effective and sustainable CSR strategy? Which sustainable development commitments should you choose? And how can you make your CSR policy credible in the eyes of stakeholders? Overview of CSR and sustainable development advice.

 

Tips for implementing your CSR approach

A CSR approach must be implemented in a structured way, following 6 key steps:

1. Conduct an audit
2. Appointing a CSR project manager
3. Establish an action plan
4. Engaging teams
5. Training employees
6. Communicate on your actions

All these steps are detailed in our article: ” Setting up a CSR approach “.

To ensure the smooth running of your social responsibility approach, it can be very beneficial to call on a CSR consultant, such as a CSR and sustainable development consulting firm or an interim CSR manager. These service providers can carry out CSR audits, train and federate teams, and manage the entire CSR approach.

 

Tips for choosing your CSR commitments

Corporate social responsibility is a very broad topic, and a long series of measures can be introduced as part of a social responsibility policy.

It is therefore essential for the company to carefully target the sustainable development issues on which it wishes to focus its efforts (ethical and social, environmental, economic, etc.).

The choice of CSR commitments is first made according to the sector of activity.

For example, for a company in the textile retail, one of the first measures may concern the ecological quality of products and the protection of the environment in the production chain.

A company specializing in digital technology may choose to use cleaner technologies.

It is therefore essential to take the time to carry out an inventory and an in-depth benchmark to analyse the practices most popular with the players in the field of activity in question.

Another essential factor to consider is the ROI of CSR practices. Indeed, implementing CSR measures can represent a certain cost, hence the importance of prioritizing actions that ensure the greatest return on investment (for example, the reduction of water or energy consumption).

On the other hand, it will be necessary to think about exchanging with the various stakeholders, both internal (employees, managers, etc.) and external to the company (customers, suppliers, local authorities, etc.). This will make it possible to target their expectations and best respond to their social, environmental and economic concerns.

CSR commitments will of course have to be aligned with the company’s values.

 

Tips for sustaining your CSR approach

One of the major challenges for most companies is to integrate their CSR policy into a continuous improvement process.

To ensure the sustainability of CSR actions, it will be particularly important to ensure the support of employees, to train them and to involve them in the reflection on sustainable development. Employees are indeed the keystone of a CSR approach, and their commitment will be essential to carry out sustainable actions.

In the long term, the objective is to integrate the new responsible values into the company’s culture, by gradually deploying increasingly important actions.

Here again, it is crucial to have regular dialogue with the various internal and external stakeholders of the company, to solicit feedback and better understand the expectations of stakeholders.

Finally, rigorous monitoring and regular analysis of the impact of actions, thanks to CSR performance indicators, is an essential step in sustaining your CSR strategy.

 

Tips for a credible CSR approach

Making your CSR policy credible in the eyes of customers, employees, partners and the general public inevitably requires transparent communication, whether internally or externally, on various channels (social networks, website, press, etc.).

The company will be able to share the actions carried out, commitments and future projects through reporting, balance sheets, CSR reports, etc.

However, be careful not to fall into greenwashing : sustainable development commitments must remain realistic, and actions must be reported honestly and without exaggeration.

To strengthen your credibility, it can also be interesting to obtain CSR certifications: the AFNOR label for gender equality and diversity, the LUCIE 26000 label, the B Corp label, etc.

 

Calling on an interim CSR manager

CSR is a relatively complex field, framed by a large number of principles, standards and regulations.

To ensure the smooth running of your CSR approach and the maintenance of your actions over the long term, it can be very strategic to call on an expert in social responsibility.

At WAYDEN, we are able to mobilise an interim CSR manager, with solid expertise in this field, and extensive knowledge of the various CSR standards, labels and practices. It will help you deploy a relevant, rewarding and impactful CSR strategy.