By Amr Banaja, SEDCO Holding Group
The question often asked: How can CSR become relevant within the organization?
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Clarity on Goals:
When setting up a corporate strategy function, make sure your goals are clear. In the short run, this will help align the stakeholders, and in the long run it’ll help you see the progress.
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Alignment From the
Top: Due to operational costs, the CSR practitioner will face hurdles if the CEO and board of the company are unaware of the long-term value of CSR.
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Stated Values: To ensure that CSR is a part of a company’s DNA, it needs to be embedded in the stated values of the organization. Stated values answer questions about the safety of the workplace and the environment.
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Embedding the Value of CSR Within the Organization: This requires several steps.
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Make sure your top leadership clearly articulates the company’s commitment to corporate citizenship.
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Make sure you have the right structure for executive officers to manage and monitor the company’s citizenship strategy and performance.
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Engage your stakeholders.
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Develop comprehensive CSR reports.
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Link compensation to attainment of CSR goals and targets.
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Strong Corporate Governance: Corporate governance calls on corporate boards and managements to actively engage stakeholders to face today’s economic, social and environmental issues, both short and long term.
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Stay Connected: Most young consumers and employees today are socially conscious and think that companies should support the environment and community. They are likely to maintain their relationships with responsible brands.
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Aim to Create Collective
Impact: Coordinate your efforts so that each stakeholder can participate without overlap or repetition. Make sure there is constant communication between the various stakeholders, along with easily shareable and measurable performance indicators.
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Never Give Up: By the year 2100, the world population is expected to double reaching over 14 billion. It is our duty to act responsibly to sustain what we have today for the future generations, so never give up.
CSR Literature
By Sohila El Saadany
“The Purpose Economy: How Your Desire for Impact, Personal Growth and Community is Changing the World”
Aaron Hurst, Founder of Taproot Organization, argues that developments across the country may seem unrelated, but will result in a pattern of growth that drives the economy forward.
“Making Change Stick” (Harvard Business Review Studies)
Consisting of solution-oriented guides, the book engages readers and helps them improve their problem-solving skills and tackle unfamiliar territory in the vast business arena.
“Corporate Social Responsibility: Doing the Most Good for Your Company and Your Cause”
Companies are expected to give back to society through charities, so this book delves deep into why this is not only useful for communities but for the business itself.
“Social Responsibility and Business Ethics”
This comprehensive book in Arabic, explains the importance of ethics to business growth.
These can be found at Jarir, amazon.com and neelwafurat.com.
