You may often hear about corporate social responsibility (CSR). Some people tend to mistake CSR as something solely meant for big businesses. Well, it is inaccurate to think corporate social responsibility is for the big shots only. Any business, no matter how small, can reap great results from prioritizing its corporate social responsibility. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is defined as a business or company’s sense of responsibility towards the community and environment in which it operates. An example of corporate social responsibility is by facilitating educational programs for the underprivileged e.g. scholarships. Let us discuss why corporate social responsibility is important for your small business.
4 Basic Types Of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
We are not going to dwell much on this but this is to paint the picture for you. The first type of CSR is when you seek to fulfill your economic responsibilities. Virtually all healthy businesses do this by simply being profitable. The second type is CSR which entails your business adhering to some legal responsibility. For instance, it can be adhering to some regulatory stipulations. The third type of CSR is when you seek to fulfill an ethical responsibility.
This is wide-ranging because it refers to doing anything that is considered fair and just. The fourth type of CSR is philanthropic in nature. This is when your business demonstrates benevolent altruism with the intention of increasing the wellbeing of community. This is often done via charitable giving. The thrust for any small business should be to engage in all these 4 types of CSR. Let us now explore why CSR is important for your small business:
Positively Impacted Communities Benefit Business In Return
This is the core thrust of CSR and the foremost reason why it is important. That goes without saying really. Interestingly, when you benefit communities, they in turn benefit your business. Impacted communities will naturally feel a sense of indebtedness to your small business. Thus they will always find ways to positively contribute to your business. At the very least they will support your business by being loyal customers. They will also initiatively commit to boosting social proofs and word of mouth for your small business.
Increased Employee Engagement
When you are engaged in CSR, employees are typically a major part of that. This ends up giving your employees a sense of purpose. This in turn primes them to become even more dedicated to their job roles. This is because they know their responsibilities will feed into your CSR efforts directly or indirectly. All these dynamics will result in increased productivity, revenue, and profits. You will also find employee turnover and absenteeism being reduced or curtailed altogether. That is why it is important for your small business to be actively involved in CSR activities.
Increased Business Opportunities
This is just an umbrella to refer to the many opportunities CSR births for your small business. You will realize more investment opportunities. This is because many people or entities prefer to invest in small businesses engaged in CSR initiatives. You will also find more and more people or entities interested in partnering with your small business. You will also find some even citing interest to support you in your CSR initiatives, financially or materially. You will also draw the attention of institutions such as government, civil society, and so on. All these aspects will bring limitless business opportunities to your small business. This will all simply be due to your commitment to CSR; that is why your small business needs to do it.
Brand Visibility And Authority
When it comes to your brand aspects, CSR will do so much for your small business. One of the major reasons this happens is because CSR brings media attention. The media is usually interested and keen on covering stories of businesses doing CSR. You will easily get coverage that will in turn boost brand awareness. This means you will realize results you may otherwise not realize by rolling out generic marketing campaigns. Lead generation will be so much easier from the press coverage you will get when doing your CSR drives.
Attract Wholesome Human Resources
More and more people are looking to work with or for businesses that stand for worthy causes. Being big on CSR is one of such worthy causes. This means if your small business prioritizes CSR you tend to attract and also retain top talent. Ultimately this will feed into that aspect of increased employee engagement. There are some studies that have shown that over 80 percent of workers highly consider CSR involvement when considering employers. These are the kind of people who are typically wholesome and are bound to be productive when hired.
These are some of the reasons why your small business must prioritize CSR. Do not think that CSR is just for the big businesses. You can benefit just as much or more despite being a small business. Bear in mind that you do not necessarily to start by spending much. You can always start small and gradually scale up the size of your CSR initiatives. Once you are up and running it is highly likely you will even get partners and support. Do not forget your CSR initiatives must align with your business vision, goals and strategies. This will help ensure that your CSR efforts look and feel genuinely authentic.
