How People Leaders Use CSR Platforms to Gain an Advantage

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is more than just giving back; it's a strategic tool for engaging employees, attracting talent, and building a strong brand, all of which contribute to driving growth. People and Employee Experience leaders are spearheading this movement, using CSR platforms to make a difference and gain a competitive edge.

A recent study by Deloitte found that 77% of millennials and 64% of Gen Xers consider a company's commitment to CSR when making a career decision. That's just one of the many examples illustrating the ROI of CSR.

As a result, People and Employee Experience leaders are increasingly turning to CSR platforms to help them manage their CSR programs more effectively and make a bigger impact. CSR platforms offer a range of features that help People leaders.

How People and Employee Experience leaders leverage CSR platforms:

1. Empower employee development and engagement: CSR platforms empower People teams and individual employees to create volunteer events where employees build bonds, learn new skills, and apply their expertise. This fosters a sense of purpose while also serving as a meaningful way to develop new skills and hone existing talents.
2. Show support during crises and disasters: CSR platforms enable People teams to quickly respond to crises, demonstrating company values and community support. This strengthens the company's reputation as a responsible and caring organization increasing employee and customer loyalty. 
3. Align CSR initiatives with employee values: Employees within an organization of any size support a large pool of diverse causes. Often one-size-fits-all programs are exclusionary to some employees. To combat that, People leaders can utilize platforms to expand CSR initiatives to include a broad range of causes, ensuring alignment with diverse employee values and causes. This fosters an inclusive and meaningful work environment.
4. Attract and retain top talent: Millennials and Gen Xers prioritize social responsibility when choosing employers. Platforms help People teams build robust CSR programs that are measured and easy to market. With impact reporting data is made broadly available, which points to the company's commitment to CSR and attracts top talent.
5. Build a solid brand reputation: Platforms facilitate transparent communication of CSR efforts to employees, customers, and the wider community. This builds trust, loyalty, and a positive brand reputation.
6. Empower ERG leaders and foster collaboration: CSR platforms empower often under-resourced ERG leaders to make a difference and help their communities. Whether through running donation campaigns and drives, organizing volunteer events, or creating digital experiences to tell the story around a specific cause, CSR platforms are an ERG leader's biggest asset empowering them to rally the entire company for the common good. Here's more on how you can maximize your ERG success and impact with a social impact platform.
7. Drive business growth: Platforms enable People to identify and partner with socially responsible suppliers and partners, opening doors for new market opportunities and driving sustainable growth.

Additional benefits:

• Save time and money: Automate manual tasks, freeing up People and Employee Experience teams' time for strategic initiatives.
• Improve communication and collaboration: Seamless communication with various departments, ensuring alignment with company goals.
• Make CSR programs scalable: Support for program growth and expansion as the company scales.

Steps to get started with a CSR platform:

1. Identify your needs: Assess current challenges and prioritize key features.
2. Research and compare platforms: Evaluate different platforms and their compatibility with your needs (don't forget Percent Pledge 😉)
3. Get buy-in from leadership: Secure support for the platform adoption and integration (here's a guide on how to win executive buy-in).
4. Roll out thoughtfully: Develop an engaging rollout plan, ensuring you offer incentives to giving and volunteering like matching donations or paid volunteer time off.
5. Utilize the platform’s full potential: Ensure your new CSR platform gives employees a choice on how they want to make an impact (giving and/or volunteering). Then utilize all of the platform's various offerings and by giving employees a choice, you will drive more engagement and results.