CSR and it’s changing importance in the post Covid digital age
Today with companies becoming more distributed and digital transforming how we interact, the role of CSR in companies is changing and increasing in importance. What was a companies local community now becomes something much more guided by the increased distribution of their workforce alongside their established supplier relationships from before.
Now don’t get me wrong, the old CSR problems of clothing brands selling dresses for 7p on Black Friday and oil companies destroying large swathes of natural lands still persists. In this piece however I’m going to focus on the changing dynamic that Covid has brought to the space and the subtle challenges it will have on companies, particularly in the service sector.
What is my carbon footprint now?
The first big change is the reduced importance of the office for companies, as more people work from home. This brings into focus new questions around what a companies carbon footprint now is? When your employees are being kept warm throughout the working day not by their office but their own home this creates a new requirement on business. The first step must be to understand what that new footprint actually is, something that will involve Sustainability managers to start to really engage with employees around these important issues.
This is a great opportunity for companies and their employees to work together to transform the sustainability of where we live and work whilst re-purposing our old office spaces.
At MyResonance we provide companies with the ability to understand workers carbon footprint whilst working from home and support them in meaningful change.
How are you doing?
Secondly with the reduction of in person interactions, ensuring that employees mental and physical wellbeing becomes even more difficult for business to assess. And we all know the deteriorating health of an employee base isn’t just bad for employees but it’s really not good for business.
For managers with a little bit of common sense and empathy it was possible for them to keep check on their team (although the tell tale signs of mental health issues can still require some training to spot). Now however, we are facing a mental health epidemic of huge proportions and less face to face interactions to really understand how people are doing.
Where people live alone this can be seriously bad news.
Business have a great responsibility in today's world given the massive role they play in peoples lives. This will mean a hugely expanded role around wellbeing whilst ensuring that they do not have access to sensitive information about an employee.
At MyResonance we help companies promote action that has direct positive effects on employees mental and physical wellbeing helping create happier, more productive workforces.
A big opportunity for progress
At MyResonance we believe this provides a huge opportunity for business and their workforce to come together to build a better future. At the same time creating successful and profitable brands for those companies committed to the path. Companies can create a new partnership with employees and be judged by a new truly collective contribution.
This can create for the first time a capitalist society that serves not just shareholders but all stakeholders allowing us all to flourish.
If you’re interested in taking your company on a this CSR transition then drop us a line at luke@myresonance.io.
