Why Your Business Needs To Socially Responsible

Social responsibility, what is it, and what does it mean for your business? Social responsibility is when companies make an effort to change their impact on the environment for the better via various methods, including philanthropy, making eco-friendly choices, using ethical labour practices, and preservation efforts, to name a few.

Insights suggest that over 70% of consumers want to know what efforts companies are making regarding social responsibility. In comparison, nearly 50% will pay attention to a brand’s activities in this regard and their practices before making a purchase.

So not only will engaging in social responsibility activities benefit the environment and the local community; for example, it can help you to boost your business, sales, and reputation too. With this in mind, the changes you make mustn’t be simply ” for show.” You need to be committed to your ventures and the changes you make to your way of working, such as reducing emissions from manufacturing processes, which are beneficial to both your aims and objectives relating to your business too.

Social Responsibilities and Businesses

In many cases, it is easier said than done to find the right changes to make to your business within your limits. While consumers want brands to step up and take responsibility, is there a line you shouldn’t cross where it is detrimental to what you do and unsustainable? That is for you to decide as a business owner, but any changes you make must be carried out thoroughly and carefully considered to ensure they are beneficial.

Benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility

There are many benefits to increasing your charitable efforts and making changes to meet the demands expected by society both on a personal and professional level; for businesses, these benefits can include the following.

Increased Sales and Reputation

As mentioned, more consumers want businesses to be open about what type of changes they are meaning and how they are helping the world around them. For those who feel passionately about this, it can be a deal breaker regarding whether or not they will do business with your company. Customers are vital to a company’s success, and focusing on what its customers want and following consumer trends can pay dividends in profits and your reputation.

If customers are invested in what you do and want to support you, then they will be vocal about this and share your business with others who can benefit from what you do. There is nothing better for a business reputation than word-of-mouth referrals and sales.

Not only this, those running local community initiatives can benefit from increased footfall from locals who want to pay it back by helping you support the area and using your services.

Increased Employee Motivation

Another effect of increasing your social responsibility efforts is that employees will sit up and notice what you are trying to achieve. Providing you go about this in the right way, you can improve motivation, and your ability to attract top talent in one fell swoop. 70% of employees in one survey indicated that they wouldn’t work for a company without a vital purpose. And while these figures show this applies more to the younger generations, e.g., younger millennials and gen z, as they are the incoming workforce as the boomers begin retiring, you need to focus on how you will attract and retain talent.

Another employee benefit is that those who are happy for the company they work for and whose values align with their own will likely put more effort into the work and increase productivity. In fact, 92% of employees who work for a reasonable employer would recommend them to others to partner with or work for.

How To Achieve Social Responsibility

Before making grand gestures and promising ideals you cannot keep up with, you need to look at what your company and how you can make changes. You also need to assess your capacity to carry through on your promises and be accountable for changes. Paying lip service won’t cut it, and if the public or even employees realise you aren’t doing as you are telling the world you are, you can expect some pretty hefty backlash, which will negatively impact your business.

The following points are ways to make changes to meet expectations and become a force for good.

Charitable Donations

Corporate charitable donations can come in the form of financial support, volunteering time and skills of yourself and employees, or donating products and services for free to help support those in need. For larger corporations scheduling volunteering days means you can get employees out of the office and support local charities and organisations to help give back. One good example is helping to carry out repairs and cleaning efforts in local youth clubs and community centres or helping to hand out meals on homeless food runs in city centres. 

Alternatively, companies that sell products can benefit from offering supplies and donations to those who would benefit. A great example of this is Arden Grange dog food, which supplies food and treats to Many Tears Dog Rescue in South Wales. These donations cover the costs of all animals’ food, meaning the charity can focus its financial resources elsewhere. The benefit of this is that the charity shares this with its followers and supporters. 

Dog owners who are passionate about doubting animal rescues will look more favourably on this dog food brand and consider buying from them due to their ongoing support, something they believe in. Alternatively, if you don’t have anything, you can invest in fundraising efforts to raise money, such as having employees enter the London Marathon and run for a good cause you support.

Go, Green,

Commuters have long been urged to follow greener alternatives where possible to help reduce their carbon footprint, and consumers indicate they would choose a greener company for purchase from over one who has no commitment to climate change and preserving the environment.

Going Green means you need to research how you can change how you operate to invoke more climate-friendly changes. From suppliers to the end result, you need to think eco friendly. This can be small things like using rainwater harvesting systems for water-based activities within your business (Mountain Rug Cleaning uses harvested rainwater when cleaning rugs to avoid using excessive water, something they are on their social media accounts when posting videos of the rug cleaning process,), or it can be making changes to the products you use such as going digital instead of using paper products, changing from plastic carrier bags to paper ones, using automatic lighting that reduces wasted energy and changing over to an electric fleet from tensional petrol and diesel cars and vans for example.

Shop Local

Supporting your local businesses can help you to increase your reputation locally, especially if that is how you do the bulk of your business. For example, if you run a restaurant, you can use local fresh meats, fish and produce to not only help other enterprises to keep money coming back into the area on a ground level. It also means using local services such as delivery drivers instead of reaching out to more prominent corporations, cleaning services, lawyers, accountants, and anything else that can benefit your business. By staying local and using the expertise of those around you can increase your reputation locally and have support from those in your area.

Inclusivity

Supporting LQBTQ+ issues isn’t something you do in June only. Sure, Pride Month is a great time to promote your efforts in supporting inclusivity but paying attention to these causal year-round will not only gain your visibility within the public perception of you but also for employees too. If those working for you or using your services know you are on board and making positive changes to support who they are and reduce stigma and discrimination, you can expect to find yourself becoming a sought-after employer with a happier workforce who feel comfortable living authentically with the support of who they work for.

Talk to charities and members of the LQBTQ+ communities to find out what it means to offer support, be an ally, and not discriminate against customers and employees. Know how to support those facing backlash for their lifestyle, live authentically, and eliminate hate and transphobia or homophobia from your company.

Lastly it is also ensuring that you do not discriminate against a person’s skin colour or religion and you are supportive of everyone who works for your company. This could be not forcing those who attend church to work on Sundays for example, allowing time in the day to pray and eliminating racism and supporting those experiencing it in anyway possible.

Mental Health

Many companies say they do but don’t follow through on trying to reduce burnout and support the mental health of employees. It isn’t enough to send out emails and pamphlets to tell employees what good mental health is and how to achieve it. You need to ensure you allow them to work on their mental health. This means paying attention to any concerns they have at work. Not increasing stress levels and workloads or brushing off employees’ issues pertaining to their mental health. It is supporting them on how they need to allow mental health days and not reprimanding them for saying they need to step back or take time off. Work with mental health professionals to ensure that you have the right support and policies in place to help employees take what they need to remain mentally healthy and well as much as possible.

Conclusion

Social responsibility isn’t just another buzzword that will pass you by in time. It is here to stay, and those companies who are taking the time and effort to support these causes and follow the trends in consumer behaviour will find it works in their favour in the long term in many different ways.