Corporate Social Responsibility – How do you it?
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is often spoken about in medium-size enterprise and the corporate environment. But what is it? We need to know what corporate social responsibility is. CSR is a term that describes the trend of companies committing in some way to “give back” to society. The true motivations behind corporate social responsibility are mixed and include:
- To gain a competitive advantage
- To attract socially conscious consumers
- To align with a CEO’s or Business Leaders desires
- To bolster business and marketing strategies
- To attract talent
- To increase employee retention
While CSR is deemed important and holds legal standing within companies law, it is often treated as a lip service, a tick box exercise if you will.
The difficulty lies in the obligation and commitment to protecting the community, environment and still make sure your organisation is making money and fulfilling its fiduciary duties.
Should it be this hard to care and maintain the impact of responsibility in the communities businesses serve?
The short answer is no, it shouldn’t but needless to say, it can be. Charity, community support and environmental change shouldn’t be expenses and token gestures, they should be sustainable, impactful and profitable or business as usual programmes or indeed policies, a culture within a business.
This is where Nanogreen has challenged the status quo and reinvented the CSR model..how? Well, Nanogreen was started in 2014, almost seven years in business. The purpose was to provide sustainable, environmental cleaning to an industry, based mostly, on harsh chemicals and disregard for environmental impact; one time wash clothes, water wastage and non-biodegradable and harsh products.
This was the first step in providing businesses with options, using enzyme-based products, biological and natural methods of cleaning and neutralisation of bacteria, as well as the increase in our recycled products and reduction of waste. Objective one of Corporate Social Responsibility – check!
Not only was this sustainable, but it was also providing excellent results.
Jump to 2019 and Nanogreen was covering the environmental impact, we had fundraised locally looking after local charities, sponsored local events and took part in a charity “Big Sleep Out” supporting the homeless.
But there was still more that could have been done, but what was it, why were we still paying lip service to something that was a massive part of our culture, core values and even covered life experiences of our founder and owner?
The answer came by way of an “employers day” at a local charity, “Could Nanogreen pop down for the day to help give a variety of visitors a view of what careers might be available to them…”. That was the call that changed everything!
Our founder Craig took the day to “set up shop” outside the front of a local organisation that specialised in working with youths and the homeless. This was it; this was the day where the opportunity to reinvent corporate social responsibility reared.
Craig spent the day showing these young people, some without an education, no “prospects”, some didn’t even know where they were sleeping that day – you could call them the furthest from employment!
What happened? Well, that day Nanogreen brought opportunity and enlightenment to those that didn’t think it was possible.
That week we recruited our first employee who was homeless and recovering from addiction…this was CSR in action. Job security, the ability to pay rent, order food and the basic human right of paying tax!
Since that day Nanogreen has 1 in 5 employees who were previously homeless, recovering from addiction or who have mental health issues.
So why are we telling you this? What’s the point? The truth is we can help you with your organisation’s corporate social responsibility.
Not only can we help other organisations take the leap to provide employment to some of our most vulnerable citizens, but we can also help your organisation fulfil its corporate social responsibility (CSR), simply by working with us.
By partnering with Nanogreen as your preferred cleaning contractor we will be able to continue to recruit with our local authority and charity partners including the Richmond Fellowship, as well as continue to train, develop and provide further opportunities.
You can find out more about our work via our website or keep an eye out on our social media platforms.
If you would like to talk to us about our CSR then please get in touch via email [email protected] or by calling 01793 700277.
Nanogreen: Reinventing Corporate Social Responsibility, For a Fairer, Cleaner Society!
