Growing a business comes with many challenges. Managing finances and building a bigger team are important, but there’s another key aspect to think about: social responsibility.
As your business expands, it can affect the environment and how diverse and fair your hiring practices are. For example, growing quickly might increase your carbon footprint, or hiring many people at once could make it harder to focus on diversity and inclusion.
To balance business growth with being responsible, you need to plan a business strategy carefully and make sure your company’s growth does not harm your commitment to social responsibility.
Define Specific Company Goals
Having goals that support both your company’s social responsibility and its profits is very helpful. This ensures that your business stays on track and meets its objectives. Regularly checking these goals is important to make sure they are still relevant and achievable.
For example, you might set goals like:
- Increasing charitable donations by 20% next year.
- Reducing your carbon footprint by 10% over the next three years.
- Offering paid leave to all employees who have been with the company for more than a year.
Once you set these goals, you need to check if they fit with your profit targets and budget. Your business’s purpose is the reason it exists, what it does, and who it serves. This purpose should align with your values, guide your actions, and help you build trust with customers and employees.
Form Strategic Partnerships
If your company has a mission like ending homelessness, you could partner with a nonprofit organization that wants to prevent it by helping people find and keep jobs. You will fulfill a societal need as well as potentially fill a talent gap at your company.
Your employees need to be empowered. You could give them a day off on election day, paid time off for volunteering, or a charitable contribution budget once a year.
Consider Restoration Initiatives
2020-2030 is the World Decade of Restoration, as declared by the UN. All businesses can play a role in this initiative. Balance is at the heart of this. Does your industry make an effort to integrate restoration into production, processes, and practices? The shift from extraction to restoration is healthy for the planet and for business strategy.
Embracing a strategy of responsibility through sustainability, innovation, and ecological stewardship, your industry can drive positive change, enhance business strategy and resilience, and contribute to a greener future.
Begin Exploring Sustainable Business Practices
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A leader can make a real difference by learning how to create sustainable business strategy and practices. Although it can be a complex subject that not everyone knows deeply, there are many ways to gain this knowledge.
One option is taking an online course focused on sustainability, which can help you understand key concepts. Additionally, connecting with professionals who have experience in this field is a great way to learn.
Collaborating with businesses that already focus on sustainability is also helpful, as they can provide guidance and insight. By making these efforts, you will find practical steps to meet your business’s social responsibility goals, benefiting both the company and the environment. Sustainable practices can create lasting, positive impacts on communities and the planet.
Focus on Sustainable Hosting
As of 2024, there are 193 million active websites, each of which produces around 100 lbs. of carbon annually. This is roughly equivalent to a car driving 250 miles. If the internet were a country, it would be the fourth-biggest polluter globally in 2024.
Around 3.7% of emissions are currently attributed to digital services. This number is expected to grow in the coming years as we become increasingly reliant on the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence. AI technology is expected to contribute $5 trillion in economic value to various sectors and industries in 2025.
Thanks to the efforts of sustainable web hosting providers, data center energy use has largely leveled off between 2010 and 2020, even though workloads have increased tenfold over the same period. Help their efforts by choosing green hosting for your company’s needs.
Seek Supply Chain Transparency
If your company sources individual elements or raw materials from outside vendors, do you know where they come from? Working with companies that follow fair labor practices, such as embracing fair trade agreements, can profoundly impact your business’s social footprint.
A 2017 survey of 623 companies revealed that just 6% had achieved full supply chain transparency, even though they had listed it as one of their top priorities.
In late 2023, 55% of companies in the production sphere named improving supply chain transparency as their top priority. For companies with fewer than 2,500 employees, this priority dropped from 77% in 2022 to 38% in 2023.
55% of companies with 2,500 to 5,000 employees pointed to improving supply chain agility and resilience as their main focus in 2023, up from 30% in 2022. 48% said they were under mounting pressure to improve supply chain sustainability.
Finally, companies revealed the main challenges they faced in meeting sustainability goals. 36% named lack of funding as the main issue. 40% said they had difficulty with scaling initiatives, and 54% complained about limited control over their partners’ and suppliers’ sustainability standards.
Reduce Natural Resource Consumption and Carbon Emissions
You might reconsider packaging or change your production process to reduce plastic waste. In 2023, 29% of sustainability initiatives focused on natural resource management, followed by water and renewable energy usage with 27% each. Electrification held the biggest share, with 40%.
One approach is to install smart sensors in facilities so electric power, heating, and cooling switch off automatically when they aren’t needed. By moving goods production closer to the end users, you can significantly reduce transport-related emissions. Onsite wind or solar power installations will fulfill some of your business’s electric power needs.
Determine the Social Responsibilities at your Business’s Core
Identify the right moments to act on your social responsibilities. Corporate growth goes hand in hand with fulfilling these responsibilities. They are a key element of your brand and something customers are increasingly expecting.
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Include the Needs of all Your Stakeholders
To ensure your business strategy is both successful and socially responsible, you should work closely with your stakeholders. Stakeholders are people and groups that have an interest or influence on your business strategy. These include your customers, employees, suppliers, investors, government regulators, and the local community.
You need to regularly communicate and cooperate with them, listen to their ideas and concerns, and involve them in making decisions and solving problems. This will help you build strong relationships and trust with them, improve your reputation, and create shared benefits for everyone involved.
It’s also necessary to clarify your business’s purpose. It should consider the needs of all stakeholders, such as employees, customers, shareholders, and the community. Leadership involves balancing these needs without sacrificing social responsibility.
Develop New Ideas and Address Challenges
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Focus on innovation and problem-solving to make sure your business is both successful and socially responsible. These are the main forces behind business growth and long-term success. Keep finding new ways to provide value for your customers, employees, and stakeholders.
It’s also essential to tackle social and environmental issues that can affect your business strategy and the community. Creating a culture of innovation within your company is key. Encourage creativity and experimentation among your team. Using technology and data can also help you discover better solutions.
By focusing on these areas, you will improve your business’s ability to compete, work more efficiently, and contribute positively to society and the environment.
Enable Employees to Participate Easily on Your Business Strategy
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies should be supported by a company’s employees. There are different ways this can happen like employees volunteering their time or donating money to charities. Employees can also share their thoughts and ideas about how the company can be more socially responsible.
Many businesses use intranets where employees can submit their ideas directly. This helps the company keep track of the best suggestions. For example, a suggestion box or a regular survey can allow employees to share their ideas.
When employees are involved in CSR initiatives, they feel connected to the company’s mission. This boosts their pride and productivity, which can help the company become more successful while balancing its social responsibilities.
Final Thoughts
Balancing business growth with social responsibility is essential for long-term success. Setting clear, achievable goals helps ensure that your company’s expansion does not undermine its commitment to positive social and environmental practices.
Involving employees, fostering innovation, and regularly reviewing your strategies are key steps in integrating social responsibility into your business operations. By creating a well-defined purpose that aligns with your values and addresses both profit and social impact, your business can thrive while making a meaningful difference in the world.
