Well I do hope that you thoroughly enjoyed your Christmas break. The start of a new year certainly is a great opportunity to take a fresh look at your organisation’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities.
Before Christmas, I detailed the elements that could be used to base an effective CSR Policy. In this issue of the CSR chronicles, I will be guiding you through the important topic of promoting good governance within your organisation.
Although there are a variety of ways this can be achieved, it is first vital that a senior CSR representative is appointed, to be responsible for coordinating and overseeing all the necessary activities. These obviously being previously agreed with the senior management team.
Senior management buy-in is itself also vital, as any activity will need to be communicated and then integrated into the business, which can only effectively happen with a top-down approach.
Whilst individual components of good governance may vary depending on the business, conducting business activities in compliance with legislation and ethical requirements, plus opposing bribery and corruption, remain fundamental.
It may be deemed prudent to develop a strategy or plan to help track activities and introduce monitoring mechanisms to establish progress against predetermined objectives or targets, but only if appropriate.
As with all the CSR elements, achieving good governance relies heavily on the full participation of each and every employee. With this in mind, I will return in February to discuss the next CSR element; looking after your employees.
