CSR is the contribution of companies to sustainable development. It means that companies take into account societal, environmental and economic factors in their strategy and their production. This concept which was not one of the main priorities for companies in the early 2000s, is now at the forefront. No doubt your company needs to refer to it as part of its commercial approach and not just to meet legal requirements. To date in France (?), only companies listed on the Cac 40 followed by those with more than 500 employees are required to communicate on their CSR ( NRE Law of 2001 and the Grenelle 2 low of 2010).
There is a chance that you may be leading CSR actions in your organisation.
The 7 pillars of CSR:
So if you have not yet carried out an analysis of the situation (voluntarily or at the request of a client) a place to start is by listing your company’s practices according to the 7 following pillars:
- The governance of the Organization
- Human rights
- Relations and working conditions
- The environment
- Consistency of practices
- Consumer issues
- Communities and local development
For this several diagnostic tools are available ( for example LUCIE, alembic RS label).
The Global Compact:
To demonstrate commitment to CSR, companies can join the Global Compact in a simple way and free basis. It is the largest international initiative of voluntary commitment to sustainable development stating 10 principles, based on human rights, international labour standards, the environment and the fight against corruption. With this membership, companies enter a cycle of continuous improvement as each year they commit to carry out a reporting “COP Communication on Progress” and to progress by taking new actions.
Implementing indicators with annual monitoring is also a way of visualising progress and identifying potential areas for improvement.
The recent news in December 2016 has added new topics on the subject of CSR with the French Sapin 2 Law on transparency, to fight against corruption and modernisation of economic life. Large companies will be obliged to prevent and detect the risks of corruption.
The objective of such an approach is not to be a constraint but an opportunity for growth and differentiation in relation to the competition. One can even mention the positive impression that will be generated to commercial partners, financiers, suppliers and employees with new generations having expectations broader than the “work” objective.