AAI CEO Joy Lewis discusses the need for a fresh take on Corporate Social Responsibility.
AAI is a champion of inclusive employment and graduate recruitment, and very much involved in the new and changing nature of CSR.
There’s an emerging generation of talent and customers citing ‘social impact’ as a contributing factor when deciding which employers or companies to buy from. So, it’s more important than ever to support and partner with purpose-driven organisations on authentic and innovative CSR activities.*
The days of bake sales or giving a bit of money to a charity with no tangible outcomes are just not cutting it with investors and boards.
CSR for the sake of it, as an afterthought or as a box-ticking exercise is seen as just that.
A company’s social impact agenda has to be intrinsically tied to its business values and workplace culture.
You may think your business is doing well in that regard, but I ask you this:
How is this activity being felt by your board, your investors, your staff, your customers and your potential customers?
All of these stakeholders are looking for something to believe in, alongside your principal service offering. Something that will differentiate you from the competition. Something they can be proud to be a part of. Your social impact can make or break someone’s choice to buy from you, work with you, or invest in you.
In response to this growing appetite in the market, we’ve designed 3 tailored projects to support CSR based on our knowledge of community issues around gender and racial diversity, disability and supporting the third/voluntary sector.
The response to these projects has been extremely encouraging and we welcome private sector partners of all sizes who want to put some of their profit towards measurable social impact.
Worried about the bottom line?
We’ve partnered with The Social Value Portal, a digital measurement tool that assesses how your money is being spent, and what real impact you’re making.
Using this tool, AAI can report on the ROI of your CSR KPIs!
Sound good?
Talk to me about how you could improve staff morale, give investors peace of mind and attract and retain this new generation of discerning employees and customers.
*Reference http://www.themillennialimpact.com/sites/default/files/reports/Phase1Report_MIR2017_060217.pdf
