Corporate social responsibility is one of the key tenets of building a sustainable business in today’s world. Investing in carbon capture technology is great. Building a circular economy with your business is wonderful. It all means nothing, however, if the people along the way aren’t also supported. No one can ask those along the supply chain to live more eco-friendly or sustainably when they can’t even afford to keep a roof over their heads or food in their stomachs. They do what they need to.

As a sustainable business, you need to do more than invest in eco-friendly initiatives. You need to take care of others, first. While you can and should invest in community outreach programs, that comes second. First you need to invest in your employees in-house and along your supply chain.

Ready to get started? Here are top tips to implement CSR tenets into your workplace management:

1.   Give Your Employees the Support They Need

The most impactful way you can improve the quality of life of your employees and win over loyalty all in the same breath is to give your staff what they need, not silly trinkets designed to distract.

For example, if you operate a large office you can set up an on-site day-care. This can be entirely free, or if the cost is too high, it can be subsidized. Childcare costs are killing family budgets. If you offer subsidized, on-site care for your staff they’ll have more money at home even without a raise, and, most importantly, you’re helping decrease employee turnover by up to 60%, and reducing absences by 30%.

This is just one example. You can also:

·       Offer mental health days on top of sick days

·       Offer flexible working schedules

·       Subsidize at-home care options like cleaners

·       Provide training to help staff improve their skillset

·       And more

Not everyone will need every benefit. To help keep the cost of these low, offer each employee a selection of options. This way you can better allocate resources and give staff equal access to services that support their individual lifestyles.

2.   Invest in Mental Health Initiatives

Mental health is very important – and it’s also declining. A global study has been tracking mental health, and wellbeing has fallen. This was initially due to the pandemic, but numbers haven’t bounced up back the way they should.

There is great strife in the world, and even in developed countries, the cost of living crisis is having its toll.

Businesses absolutely have control over their staff’s mental health. Sometimes improving their workforce’s wellbeing is as simple as giving them raises that slightly exceed inflation rates, so that their buying power remains the same.

In other cases, it means using AI to improve mental health at work. Understanding the impact of your social responsibility efforts goes a long way, so tracking KPIs related to health and wellbeing can help you understand where to focus investment.

3.   Regularly Audit Your Supply Chain

It’s a lot harder to take care of those who work for you under contracts, especially the further away they are from your office. The best way, then, to make sure that those along your supply chain are well cared for is to audit your supply chain. You can either send your own people to audit working conditions, or use a third-party organization. This way, you can find the warehouses or other companies that aren’t providing safe, healthy working conditions for their staff.

You can’t save everyone, of course, but you can put pressure on workplaces to make improvements, or put your money elsewhere.

4.   Provide Living Wages to All Workers

The best way to win over the loyalty of staff and start putting together a team of real go-getters that go above and beyond for your business is to provide a living wage, as a standard. This wage means what you pay is above the minimum that employees need to live where they are. The living wage is always higher than the minimum wage.

Now, if you have an office and full-time staff, you likely already meet this requirement. In that case, look beyond to your supply chain. Ensure that everyone’s incomes meet the minimum living wage in their area.

5.   Invest in Development Programs

Everyone working for your business needs to have a future with your business. The good news is you benefit, too, from more highly trained and educated team members bringing in new ways of doing business, new ideas, and new tools. All you need is to sponsor enrolment in training programs. This can and should happen at every stage of the supply chain.