CSR: 7 Actions for a More Sustainable Company

In a world where environmental and social issues are becoming increasingly important, corporate sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) play an essential role. This is not just a trend, but a real lever for transformation for all organizations, whatever their size.

To commit your company to an effective and sustainable CSR approach, here are 7 concrete actions to put in place. First, define a clear mission statement that integrates the company's sustainable development objectives. Next, promote quality of life in the workplace by implementing initiatives that foster employee well-being. In addition, look after the health and safety of employees by introducing preventive measures and encouraging a healthy lifestyle.

These actions will enable your company to fully embrace its sustainable development strategy and make a positive contribution to society and the environment.

1. Establish a clear, measurable and sustainable corporate CSR strategy

For a corporate sustainability initiative to be effective, it must be based on a clearly defined strategy. This first step is crucial, and requires :

• Carry out an initial diagnosis: Map your activities to identify your company's positive and negative impacts on the environment (energy consumption, CO2 emissions, resource use), society (working conditions, relations with local communities) and the economy (value creation, business practices). This diagnosis can be carried out in-house or with the help of a specialized firm.
• Define precise, measurable objectives: Don't be content with vague intentions such as "reducing our environmental impact". Instead, set quantified objectives such as "reducing our energy consumption by 20% by 2025" or "achieving 40% female representation in management positions within 3 years". These objectives should reflect your corporate values and fit naturally with your strategic vision.
• Draw up a multi-year action plan: Detail the concrete initiatives you're going to implement to achieve your objectives, with a precise timetable and identified people in charge. For each action, define performance indicators (KPIs) that will enable you to track your progress, such as the percentage of waste recycled or the number of hours of training per employee.
• Involve management: Without the visible commitment of your top executives, your CSR approach is likely to be perceived as secondary. Management must support the project, allocate the necessary resources (budget, personnel) and set an example in its day-to-day decisions and behavior.

For example, Pernod Ricard has designed its "Good Times from a Good Place" strategy with quantified objectives in four areas: valuing people, preserving the planet, acting circularly and being responsible.

2. Reduce your carbon footprint

The ecological transition is at the heart of sustainable development in business. Reducing your carbon footprint is a priority action that can take different forms:

• Carry out a complete carbon footprint: This detailed assessment quantifies all the greenhouse gas emissions generated directly or indirectly by your activity. It covers your direct emissions (scope 1), emissions linked to your energy consumption (scope 2) and indirect emissions from your value chain (scope 3). The carbon footprint enables you to identify the areas that emit the most, and therefore the priority actions to be taken.
• Optimize your premises' energy consumption: carry out an energy audit to identify sources of waste. Improve the thermal insulation of your buildings, install LED lighting systems with presence detectors, replace your equipment with energy-efficient models, and install intelligent heating and air-conditioning control systems. These investments, though often costly initially, pay off in the medium term.
• Promote renewable energies: Install solar panels on your roofs or wind turbines on your land if possible. If you can't produce your own renewable energy, opt for a certified green energy supplier or buy certificates of origin guaranteeing that the equivalent of your consumption has been produced from renewable sources.
• Rethink your business mobility: Mobility often accounts for a significant proportion of a company's carbon emissions. Gradually replace your fleet with electric or hybrid vehicles, set up a car-sharing platform for your employees, offer bicycle mileage allowances, and develop telecommuting whenever possible. You can also optimize business travel by giving priority to videoconferencing over business trips.
• Raise your employees' awareness of eco-actions: Organize workshops and communication campaigns to encourage virtuous behavior on a daily basis: switching off appliances rather than leaving them on standby, limiting printing, correctly adjusting heating and air conditioning, etc. These small gestures, if adopted by all, can have a significant impact on your carbon footprint.

IKEA, for example, has committed to reducing its absolute carbon footprint by 70% by 2030 compared with 2016, notably by investing massively in renewable energies.

3. Adopt a responsible purchasing policy as part of your CSR approach

Your suppliers are a major lever for your CSR approach. By adopting a responsible purchasing policy, you extend your positive impact far beyond your own organization:

• Establish a responsible purchasing charter: This document formalizes your requirements of your suppliers in terms of environmental (energy savings, waste reduction), social (respect for human rights, working conditions) and ethical (anti-corruption, transparency) impacts. It serves as a basis for selecting your business partners and assessing their CSR performance.
• Favoring local suppliers: By choosing suppliers located close to your sites, you reduce transport distances and the associated CO2 emissions. You also contribute to the economic development of your region, creating shared value. For each purchasing category, identify local suppliers capable of meeting your needs, and include geographical proximity in your selection criteria.
• Include CSR clauses in your contracts: Include specific CSR requirements in your tenders and contracts, such as the use of recycled materials, compliance with certain environmental standards, or a commitment not to use child labor. These clauses can include penalties for non-compliance, or bonuses for outperformance.
• Favor eco-designed products: Look for products designed to minimize their environmental impact throughout their life cycle: sustainable raw materials, energy-efficient manufacturing processes, recyclable packaging, etc. Give preference to products bearing recognized environmental labels (European Ecolabel, FSC, PEFC) or fair trade labels that guarantee fair remuneration for producers.
• Regularly audit your suppliers: Don't be content with your suppliers' declarations on their CSR practices. Set up a program of on-site audits to verify the reality of their commitments and identify areas for improvement. These audits can be carried out by your own teams or by independent organizations, particularly for strategic suppliers or those located in high-risk countries.

L'Oréal has developed a program to evaluate its suppliers according to CSR criteria, demanding continuous and measurable improvements.

4. Promoting diversity and inclusion for sustainable development in the workplace

Sustainable corporate development necessarily includes a social dimension, particularly in terms of diversity and inclusion:

• Implement a non-discriminatory recruitment policy: Review your recruitment processes to eliminate unconscious biases that may disadvantage certain candidates. Use anonymous CVs, train your recruiters in non-discrimination, diversify your sourcing channels to reach a variety of profiles, and set numerical targets for diversity in your recruitment. Make sure your job offers are inclusive, with no gendered terms or potentially discriminatory criteria.
• Train your managers to manage diversity: Organize specific training courses to make your managers aware of the challenges of diversity and give them the tools to manage diverse teams effectively. These courses should address the fight against stereotypes, the prevention of discrimination, the resolution of conflicts linked to cultural differences, and the enhancement of complementarities within teams.
• Ensure equal pay: Regularly analyze your compensation policy to detect and correct unjustified pay gaps between men and women or between different groups of employees. Set up objective processes for determining raises and promotions, based on clear and transparent criteria. Publish your professional equality index and communicate your actions in favor of pay equity.
• Promote the integration of people with disabilities: adapt your premises and workstations to make them accessible, forge partnerships with organizations specializing in the professional integration of people with disabilities, and raise awareness among your teams to encourage their integration. In addition to complying with your legal obligations, promote the specific skills that these employees can bring to your organization.
• Create an inclusive work environment: Implement policies and practices that enable everyone to feel respected and valued, whatever their differences (origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, etc.). This can mean setting up prayer areas, adapting working hours to accommodate religious holidays, organizing events to celebrate cultural diversity, or creating internal networks dedicated to different communities.

Sodexo, for example, has set a global target of 40% women among its senior managers by 2025, and has launched several internal networks dedicated to different dimensions of diversity.

5. Implementing a circular economy for sustainable development objectives

The circular economy is a fundamental component of corporate sustainability.

It allows you to rethink your modes of production and consumption to limit the waste of resources:

• Design durable, repairable and recyclable products: Adopt an eco-design approach right from the product development phase. Choose durable and, if possible, recycled materials, design products that can be easily disassembled to facilitate repair, avoid irreversible assemblies that prevent end-of-life recycling, and limit the number of different materials used. Also consider modularity, which allows you to replace only defective parts rather than the whole product.
• Optimize resource use: Analyze your production processes to identify sources of waste and implement corrective measures. Optimize your consumption of raw materials, water and energy. For example, recover rainwater for your non-food needs, install closed-circuit systems to reuse process water, or recover waste heat from certain equipment. Reduce waste at source, too, by working on packaging and production offcuts.
• Set up a waste sorting and recovery system: Identify all types of waste generated by your business and set up an appropriate selective sorting system. Find the most appropriate recycling channel for each category of waste: in-house re-use, donations to associations, resale to specialized recyclers, composting for bio-waste, etc. Train your employees in good sorting practices and regularly monitor your recovery rates.
• Develop reuse and reconditioning: Set up systems to take back your used products, recondition them and resell them on the second-hand market. This approach enables you to tap new sources of revenue while reducing your environmental impact. You can also consider switching from a sales model to a rental model for your products (economy of functionality), which naturally encourages you to design them to last longer.
• Educate your customers: Inform your customers about the proper use of your products to maximize their lifespan (care guides, user tips), about repair options when they are damaged, and about their end-of-life (sorting instructions, collection points for recycling). You can also encourage them to adopt more responsible behavior through loyalty programs that reward virtuous gestures, such as returning empty packaging.

Patagonia has developed its "Worn Wear" program, which encourages the repair and resale of its used clothing, thus extending its life and reducing its overall environmental impact.

6. Engage and train your employees

The success of a CSR approach depends to a large extent on the involvement of your employees, who must become true ambassadors for sustainable development within the company:

• Communicate regularly on your CSR strategy: Share your vision, objectives and CSR actions with all your employees through various internal communication channels (newsletter, intranet, team meetings, posters). Present progress and results regularly to maintain momentum and show that everyone's efforts are contributing to real change. Give priority to transparent communication that acknowledges both successes and difficulties.
• Train all employees in CSR issues: Organize general awareness-raising sessions on sustainable development issues, followed by more specific training sessions tailored to different professions. For example, train buyers in the principles of responsible purchasing, marketing teams in responsible communications, designers in eco-design, and so on. This training must be regularly updated to take account of regulatory changes and new practices.
• Organize participative workshops: Involve your employees in the development and implementation of your CSR approach through co-construction workshops, thematic working groups or innovation challenges. These opportunities for participation allow you to gather new ideas, often highly operational because they come from the field, and reinforce team commitment to the project. You can also set up a suggestion box dedicated to CSR initiatives, or a participatory budget to finance projects proposed by your employees.
• Valuing virtuous behavior: Create a recognition system to spotlight employees who are particularly committed to your CSR approach. This can take the form of trophies, bonuses, time dedicated to CSR projects, or simply recognition at team meetings. This recognition encourages good practices and creates positive emulation within teams. You can also appoint "CSR ambassadors" in each department, responsible for relaying messages and spearheading local initiatives.
• Incorporate CSR objectives into annual appraisals: To truly anchor CSR in your corporate culture, incorporate CSR criteria into your employee performance appraisals, especially for managers. These criteria may concern their contribution to the company's CSR objectives, their ability to mobilize their team around these issues, or their personal behavior in terms of sustainable development. You can also link part of variable remuneration to the achievement of collective or individual CSR objectives.

Danone has launched "One Planet. One Health", a vision that engages all employees through training programs and collaborative innovation.

7. Communicate development strategy transparently

Transparent communication on your CSR actions enables you to promote your efforts while avoiding the pitfall of " greenwashing ":

• Publish an annual CSR report: Each year, produce a document detailing your CSR strategy, objectives, actions and results. This report should present quantified and verifiable data, show the evolution of your performance over time, and address both your successes and areas for improvement. To structure this report, you can draw on international benchmarks such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) or the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• Certify your approach: Submit your CSR approach for assessment by independent bodies to attest to its credibility. For example, you can get support in implementing the ISO 26000 standard (guidelines on social responsibility), obtain B Corp certification, which evaluates your company's overall social and environmental impact, or have your CSR performance assessed by specialized agencies such as EcoVadis. These certifications reinforce the legitimacy of your CSR communications.
• Share your best practices, but also your difficulties: Adopt a humble and honest stance in your CSR communications. Don't limit yourself to boasting about your successes, but also share the obstacles you've encountered, the projects that haven't worked out as planned, and your areas for improvement. This transparency strengthens your credibility and shows that you are committed to a sincere process of continuous improvement, not to a superficial communications operation.
• Involve your stakeholders: Regularly consult your stakeholders (customers, suppliers, employees, local communities, NGOs) to gather their expectations and perceptions of your CSR approach. You can organize stakeholder panels, surveys or discussion forums. Incorporate their feedback into your CSR strategy and communications. This participatory approach enriches your approach and ensures that it meets the real expectations of your ecosystem.
• Measure the impact of your approach: Over and above the resources deployed, measure the real impact of your CSR actions on the environment, society and the economy. Define relevant indicators for each dimension (tons of CO2 avoided, liters of water saved, number of jobs created, etc.) and implement reliable measurement tools. Have these data verified by an independent body to guarantee their reliability. This impact measurement enables you to demonstrate the real value of your CSR approach and guide your future actions.

Every year, Unilever publishes a detailed report on its progress in sustainable development, with precise data on both its successes and its challenges.

Conclusion

Corporate sustainability is not limited to a few isolated actions, but must be part of a profound transformation of your business model. These 7 actions form a solid basis for building an effective, value-creating CSR approach.

Don't forget that CSR is a process of continuous improvement: the key is to start, then progress step by step. By integrating these actions into your overall strategy, you will not only contribute to the preservation of our planet and social well-being, but also strengthen your company's resilience and competitiveness over the long term.

Sustainable development is no longer an option, but a necessity for companies wishing to thrive in tomorrow's world. Sustainable development policies enable the renewal of resources and promote gender equality, highlighting the importance of a holistic approach to ensuring a sustainable future for all.