Apr
23
2015
The Centre as a Responsible Business
Business Responsibility (also referred to as Corporate Social Responsibility) is best described by Lord Holme and Richard Watts in their publication Making Good Business Sense: “the continuing commitment to business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large”.
The above statement highlights the importance of Business Responsibility, and with this in mind, Business in the Community have organised the annual event of Responsible Business Week.
This year’s Responsible Business Week is taking place this week, from 20 to 26 April 2015. The aim of the week is for organisations to share what they do as a Responsible Business, so that they may learn from one another, and be able to do more for a fairer society and a more sustainable future.
The Centre is always happy to shout about how we work as a Responsible Business, and this activity runs through the core of our organisation:
- We are committed to providing the
London Living Wage to all employed staff and contractors. - Where possible we use Fairtrade products.
- We make ethical decisions over who we work with, products we purchase and suppliers we use, involving staff in these decisions.
- We use local suppliers as much as possible.
- We offer charity and not-for-profit discounts to our clients.
- We support local charities by selecting an annual Charity of the Year to receive free training – we ensure these are small charities who benefit even more from our support.
- We offer monthly health and wellbeing vouchers for staff and encourage relaxation in lunch breaks and not working outside of core hours.
- All staff have access to financial help with travel and childcare costs.
If this all sounds interesting to you and you would like to get involved, here’s some ideas:
- Engage your employees – thank them for their involvement in making you a responsible business, encourage them to tweet or blog about why they are proud to work for your organisation, and ensure all staff are fully engaged by making sure they understand the long-term vision for the company, involving them in helping to make decisions for the future.
- Take to social media to tell your audience your message – use the hashtags #RBWeek and #proudtoworkfor. You can also use the various social media channels to thank those involved in making you a responsible business – your employees, suppliers and customers.
- Involve the community – part of being a responsible business is about supporting your local community so why not ask them for their views on how you can improve on what you do, how you can give back to the local community, or ask for their support on social media – get them to shout about how great you are!
- Let people know what you’re doing – use this week to inform your audience about how you are a responsible business – get some positive feedback, write some blogs, tell authentic stories and ask for testimonials from your suppliers, clients, users or staff!
For more information on Responsible Business Week or how you can become a Responsible Business see: www.bitc.org.uk (Business in the Community) or www.orbuk.org.uk (Organisation for Responsible Businesses).
Some of the above information has been adapted from the BITC and ORB websites.
