Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Management are two critical concepts that companies must embrace to promote environmental sustainability and social responsibility. These concepts require companies to respond to their economic, social, and environmental obligations, ensuring that their operations do not harm the planet or society.
Corporate Social Responsibility is based on three pillars, Environment, Society, and Economy. Hence, the Triple Bottom Line approach. The triple bottom line is a business concept that advises companies to measure their social and environmental impact rather than focusing only on generating profit. This concept can be broken down into “three Ps”: profit, people, and the planet.
The first P, profit, propose that companies use their businesses to effect positive change in the world without hampering financial performance since, in many cases, adopting sustainability initiatives has proven to drive business success.
Businesses, historically being the greatest contributors to climate change, also have the potential to drive positive change, and this responsibility is not solely of the world's largest corporations. All businesses have opportunities to make changes that reduce their carbon footprint, such as using ethically sourced materials, cutting down on energy consumption, and streamlining shipping practices.
In the past, companies were focused on making money for the people who owned the company. Nowadays, most of them care about doing things that are good for everyone affected by their decisions, such as customers, employees, and the community. This is called "sustainability".
Some simple ways companies can serve society are by ensuring fair hiring practices or encouraging volunteerism in the workplace. Besides that, they can also form successful partnerships with nonprofit organizations that share common goals and values.
Sustainability means meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations. Sustainable Management involves gaining knowledge about environmental issues, responding to them, and setting environmental protection or restoration goals.
The UN World Commission on Environment and Development defines sustainability as the ability to "meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs".
A company has Sustainable Management when it seeks to gain knowledge about environmental issues, respond to them, and set environmental protection or restoration goals.
To ensure sustainable management in the office, companies can adopt various strategies such as waste management, workplace architecture, and energy economy. By raising awareness among employees about waste management and involving them in the final destination and regime of solid waste, companies can reduce their environmental footprint. In addition, by analysing the properties of land and climatic conditions, companies can ensure construction that respects the environment and local culture. Furthermore, by reducing energy consumption and using clean and renewable energy in the facilities, organizations can contribute to environmental sustainability.
Remote working is becoming more popular, and it can also promote sustainable management. By reducing employee commuting, companies can significantly reduce their carbon footprint. Similarly, by replacing paper with technology and reducing the use of disposable utensils, companies can contribute to environmental sustainability. Studies show that each employee working from home reduces energy consumption by at least 5,400 kWh per year.
Green Human Resources Management is another critical concept that companies must embrace to promote environmental sustainability. It involves using human resource management procedures to stimulate the use of assets within organisations to promote environmental sustainability. Companies can use various tools to adopt appropriate policies regarding recruitment, training and development, performance evaluation and reward systems. By hiring employees who are open to committing to the policies advocated and conducting training and awareness actions, companies can create a corporate culture focused on sustainable development. Green performance evaluation can also ensure that employees are given environmental responsibilities and goals to achieve.
nearSea Technologies has embraced socially responsible policies, such as a paper-free system, encouraging shared rides, remote working, and support to social causes such as the LGBTQ+ community, social, and humanitarian support associations. The company also conducts volunteer week planning, which shows its commitment to promoting environmental sustainability and social responsibility.
In conclusion, embracing Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Management can bring benefits to businesses, society, and the planet. Companies can reduce their costs, gain a competitive advantage, develop a positive image, increase visibility, and improve employee satisfaction, identification and retention by adopting socially responsible policies. Therefore, companies must embrace these concepts and aim to create a more sustainable future.
