All about CSR: Definition and Challenges

Sustainable development, diversity, inclusion, and the fight against inequality all fall within the corporate CSR framework. The concept remains the same whether we talk about corporate social or corporate social responsibility.

CSR states that a company cannot be disconnected from its immediate environment and should play a positive role in the community, for its community and consider the environmental, societal, and social impact of its decisions. A subject that has never been as important as it is today when the ecological issue is omnipresent in the public debate.

What is CSR?

It is an approach that allows a company to implement projects and initiatives that align with social and environmental concerns. A CSR policy will ensure that a company positively impacts society while being economically viable.
All companies can implement a CSR approach, regardless of size, legal form, or activity.

For this, a legislative and regulatory framework was strengthened in 2019 with the entry into force of the PACTE law. This law concerns many subjects, such as innovation or business creation, but aims to share better the value created by companies with employees. It allows companies better to consider social and environmental issues in their strategy.
Greenwashing is the enemy of CSR.

To avoid falling into the trap of communication elements, ISO 26000 is an international standard that defines the scope of CSR around seven central themes:

• The governance of the organization.
• Human rights.
• Workplace relations and conditions.
• The environment.
• Fair practices.
• Consumer issues.
• Communities and local development.

The significant challenges of CSR for companies

Diverse and adaptable, corporate social responsibility concerns many subjects with crucial issues. It is mainly the case for:

• Economic issues: CSR impacts the organizational strategy regarding risk anticipation, responsible purchasing, respect, and a good business relationship with its suppliers and subcontractors.
• Environmental issues: this allows the company to audit its good practices, the consequences of its activities on the environment, the life cycle of its products and services, waste management, etc. CSR then allows the implementation of a clear and shared action plan to reduce its impact and improve its results.
• Social issues result in better working conditions to enhance the well-being and motivation of employees within the framework of an open and valuable social dialogue. It is also an opportunity to emphasize values such as equality, non-discrimination, and fair compensation within the company, particularly between men and women.
• Governance issues are an integrated approach to carrying out a committed policy. These issues imply the creation of a dedicated committee and the implementation of non-financial indicators and tools to measure performance and the achievement of CSR objectives.
• Community issues: the company can give back its time, money, and resources in a disinterested way to its local or regional community. For example, a company based in a given region can commit to helping develop or finance local initiatives, associations, and educational projects, create a foundation, engage in sponsorship, etc.

How to work in CSR?

Working in CSR requires training in consulting and change management. Indeed, CSR can be decreed at the executive level of a management committee. In that case, it needs vital players in-house to move the lines, create working groups, rely on multidisciplinarity, and launch projects.

These leaders must have excellent knowledge of the business world, project management, and the specificities of CSR in the context of ecological transition and energy sobriety.

A specialization in sustainable development and/or corporate social responsibility and innovation is one of management schools’ preferred courses of study. Students acquire a dual skill set, both managerial and focused on the CSR issues facing all organizations.

Once graduated, it is possible to work as a consultant for a specialized firm, as a freelancer, or within a company. Often a large group or a small or medium-sized enterprise, to meet regulatory requirements in terms of CSR and sustainable development, to develop new initiatives, and to integrate these issues into product and service offerings.

Corporate social responsibility is a sector on the move that attracts many employees in search of meaning who want to invent a better future. The work carried out can then have a lasting impact on society while directly or indirectly benefiting the company.