Businesses are increasingly prioritising their corporate social responsibility, with many implementing a range of policies that benefit their employees, their supply chains, their customers and the environment.
While it is said that these kinds of initiatives are becoming necessary for businesses to compete and survive, it obviously benefits the wider population and is mostly being welcomed with open arms.
However, having an exemplary corporate social responsibility policy isn’t entirely altruistic. It can also deliver substantial benefits for the organisation. Here I’m going to share three real-life examples of companies who have reaped reward by embracing corporate social responsibility.
Unilever
When Unilever launched their Sustainable Living plan in 2010 they set out to increase the size of the business, while reducing their environmental impact. By transforming the way each of the brands in the Sustainable Living initiative operates they have seen them grow more than 50% faster than the other brands owed by the company. The increase in these brands alone accounted for 60% of the whole organisation’s growth in 2016.
OLIO
The business purpose of OLIO, the food sharing app, is one that encapsulates the principles of corporate social responsibility and it is something that international markets have devoured. Since their launch in the UK in 2015, they have now expanded to 49 different countries.
Admittedly, being able to serve a purpose so closely aligned with the ethics behind corporate social responsibility isn’t something that all businesses can do, but I feel that this example particularly highlights the public’s demand and appreciation of this way of thinking.
Bank of America
Businesses are sometimes criticised for solving the problems that they create, but Bank of America has turned this on its head with their corporate social responsibility. They encourage their employees to take paid leave so that they can volunteer in the community, as well as donating a staggering amount of money to a variety of charities and causes. This figure stood at nearly $200 million in 2017.
The projects they support tend to help people in low-income communities achieve economic mobility, and in doing so they improve the business climate in these areas. In turn, benefiting the bank in the long term.
Sustainable shareholder value
These three examples show how companies can create significant long-term shareholder value by taking corporate social responsibility seriously – by “doing the right thing”. This stands in sharp contract to the more traditional approach of focusing on short term gains, often at the expense of the environment and local communities.
If you’d like to discover how we can help you seamlessly implement your corporate social responsibility policy at every step of your supply chain, get in touch for a no obligation chat.
