Corporate Social Responsibility, a performance lever ?

Our societies are in full transformation and new challenges need to be taken into account. Indeed, the role of a company is no longer limited to its trade. It must now engage in concrete actions in resonance with societal and environmental issues.

The objective is to create value for its stakeholders and its territory. But how to achieve it? How to work on all fronts ?

We will see in this article that CSR (Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility) is an excellent approach to follow to make sustainability and performance coincide with respect for people and the environment. It can be the leitmotif of an effective and responsible business strategy.

But first of all, let's remember what CSR is.

Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility (CSR) refers to companies taking into account the challenges of sustainable development in social, economic and environmental terms.

It is based on concrete objectives, structured by the ISO 26000 standard, consisting in developing and growing a company in a world that is more respectful of the environment and people, in a sustainable way. At the same time, it must comply with the laws in force and take into account the expectations of stakeholders and employees.

These objectives are therefore inseparable from the strategic and commercial policy of a company. On the contrary, it must guide the main orientations of the activity, by questioning the related social and environmental issues.

Remember that the commitment of any economic actor in favor of sustainable development is based on 3 pillars :

• Its economic responsibility,

• its social responsibility,

• Its environmental responsibility

On closer inspection, every business leader is directly involved in a sustainable development approach. Indeed, just in its operation, its reason for existing, through the taxes it pays and the law in force that it must respect, a company exercises economic and social responsibilities. As for the environmental dimension, beyond compliance with the environmental laws and regulations that govern any activity, it is reasonable to hope that the environmental action carried out by everyone in a private capacity will continue in the professional context.

It is not a question here of painting an idealistic vision of the entrepreneur. Of course, the above must be nuanced, sometimes strongly, depending on the place of activity, the existence (or not) of a regulatory framework, compliance with it or the level of awareness of social and environmental issues, for example. On the contrary, it is a question of remembering that the inherent economic and social characteristics of a company constitute fertile ground on which its manager(s) can rely to go further in the CSR approach.

CSR is in no way a gadget, nor, for the moment, a regulatory constraint for SMEs/VSEs. It is a commitment. As seen above, CSR is part of the foundations of the company and carries with it a large number of springs on which the performance of the company can be based. Let's try to see, with the help of a simple reading grid such as a company's strategy map, the many advantages that a company registered in a CSR approach carries within it.

Let us briefly recall that a company's strategy map is based on a model comprising four levels of interrelated objectives serving profitable growth (BSC model developed by D. Norton and R. Kaplan): financial performance is based on customer satisfaction, which itself is based on the operational excellence of processes, which depends on the skills and motivation of employees. So let's explore each of these levels. 1st level : people, your employees, first level of performance. Respect for human rights, proper application of labor law, respect for the privacy of employees, vigilance with regard to equal treatment and equal opportunity, constitute the minimum foundation of a responsible company.

Promoting gender equality in the company is a real lever for the activity, productivity and well-being of employees. According to a McKinsey study, companies with greater gender equality see their performance increase by 15% compared to the national average. Similarly, those with greater ethnic and cultural diversity would outperform by 35% on average. Open-mindedness and curiosity about others are differentiating qualities. Improving the performance of the organization, well-being at work and the company's societal and environmental commitment also contributes to improving its brand image, which is now more in line with the changes in our societies. In doing so, it is an interesting spring for attracting and perpetuating new talents.

The company can also contribute, on its own scale, to the good health of its employees and partners by promoting a balance between private and professional life, by encouraging the practice of sport, by offering healthy and diversified food in the canteen. These examples are all avenues working for well-being and fighting against absenteeism, in the same way as teleworking. When possible and concerted, teleworking is an ecological alternative that also contributes to the well-being of employees.

In addition to the attraction and loyalty already mentioned that it exerts among young talents, sensitive to the company's reputation, ethics and employer brand, a CSR approach makes it possible to unite its employees around common values, in an energizing climate of trust, able to make them more dynamic, creative and productive. Responsible working conditions, the establishment of quality social dialogue, the involvement of employee representative bodies are powerful levers for creating a good working atmosphere and a corporate culture around CSR issues.

These levers, however performance-enhancing they may be, must be combined with the essential elements of developing employee skills, training them and providing professional tools to facilitate collaboration and value creation. These three elements remain fundamental to creating and maintaining a dynamic of sustainability and performance.

2nd level : operational excellence, processes. No operational excellence can truly be envisaged without relying on the development of skills or on good tools, including collaborative ones. How can developing an ethics charter contribute to operational performance? An ethics charter shared with employees, service providers and suppliers, guaranteeing, for example, compliance with payment deadlines or even fair commercial relations, will contribute to the emergence of a climate of trust, respect and loyalty between all stakeholders. of the company in addition to guaranteeing its proper functioning. Similarly, a company seeking to preserve its resources and reduce its carbon footprint is more inclined to reorganize its processes and open up to collaboration. By rethinking its design or production processes, it will seek to innovate, to be more efficient while better respecting the environment. Implementing an efficient environmental management system (based for example on the ISO 14001 standard) also allows the company to reduce its costs at several levels: energy bills, circular economy, waste recovery, management of raw materials and logistics. A survey carried out by the British Assessment Bureau reveals that the implementation of ISO 14001 certification has a positive effect on the competitiveness of companies. Eight out of ten companies surveyed say they have made additional financial benefits thanks to the implementation of environmental certification.

These benefits are linked on the one hand to new markets made accessible by certification, but also to the improvement of processes and the use of resources in the company. These better-thought-out processes and easier access to innovation can be used to improve product quality, customer service and added value. By taking a fresh look at its products or services, the company can differentiate itself from its competitors, anticipate emerging market expectations and meet customer interest in environmental and social issues. In fact, an eco-design approach makes it possible to transform the company's environmental expenses into investments and development opportunities. This way of observing one's environment, of paying attention to one's resources in general leads to the development of a culture of identification, analysis and control of risks. The company will then be able to anticipate new market constraints by taking them into account as soon as the product is manufactured, thus constituting a guarantee of sustainability for the company.

3rd level : your customers, their satisfaction. Here again, as an echo of that which employees place in their company, customer trust is an important driving force: by treating the consumer with respect, by demonstrating transparency, the company will establish this relationship of trust and loyalty with its customers and thus improve its brand identity. It's a great way to build customer loyalty. Avoiding being closely or indirectly associated with the bad practices of an unscrupulous partner, removing child labor from suppliers, fighting corruption, being fiscally responsible are all elements which, otherwise, can have a very negative impact on a company's brand image and sales. Similarly, by seeking to improve the repairability and facilitate the maintenance of its products, to fight against planned obsolescence, the company is part of a recycling and sustainability approach highly sought after by today's customers.

Finally, considering a sales model that focuses more on the functional economy, i.e. selling a service, such as rental, around equipment rather than the equipment itself, makes it possible to explore new economic approaches that are also part of a CSR approach. 4th level : CSR is also a lever for the company's financial performance. A study by France Strategy dating from 2016 specifies that the different dimensions of CSR all have a positive link with the economic performance of the company, measured by profit or gross operating surplus. In total, the performance gap between companies that introduce CSR practices and those that do not is on average 13%.

According to this same report, we find that on each of the CSR dimensions, the performance gap is around 5% for the customer relationship, 8% for the environmental dimension, 9% for the supplier relationship and 20% for the social dimension and human resources. These data are not static and would need to be refreshed and contextualized with regard to today's economic, social and environmental environment. We have discussed the social dimensions and the customer relationship, now let's look at the environmental aspects. The company is one of the key players in preserving the environment and supporting the energy transition. By reducing its environmental impact, it will also reduce its operating costs. There is no shortage of actions to be taken...

Before even considering investing, reducing the generation of waste is an obvious first area for improvement: print less or even little or not at all. Paper remains the most widely used office consumable and represents approximately 75% of the weight of office waste in France. According to ADEME, an employee consumes an average of 70 to 85 kg of paper per year in the course of their activity, i.e. half of the paper consumed in France.

IIt is also quite possible today to buy second-hand office equipment, often cheaper. Telephones and computers are made of rare materials that pollute during their extraction. In France, the reconditioning sector is flourishing, and makes it possible to obtain second-hand electronic devices in very good condition. On the transport front, optimizing the vehicle fleet by switching to electric vehicles is an effective way to get rid of fossil fuels. Encouraging carbon-free or low-carbon travel, promoting the use of collaborative videoconferencing software to limit business travel, are other frequently used tools. On the energy saving front, it is worth pointing out that French offices would consume 55,000gWh of electricity each year, representing approximately 3.8% of France's total emissions. According to ADEME, heating accounts for approximately 51% of a company's energy expenditure: Renovating and insulating its buildings, not overheating offices, relying on low-consumption technologies are all ways to reduce its energy consumption energy.

IIt is also recommended to adopt sustainable, more ecological and often more profitable building standards, such as the British BREEAM label, LEED certification, or the French HQE standard. These standards all aim for greater durability, substantial energy savings (from 30% to 70%), lower water consumption, increased comfort and indoor air quality and offer better value to the resale. To conclude, we can say that implementing a CSR approach in your company allows you to pursue a double objective: that of registering your company in sustainable development contributing to meeting environmental and societal challenges; and in doing so, the company naturally positions itself in a virtuous circle allowing it to activate several performance levers. It can thus take advantage of a great dynamic relying first and foremost on the well-being, skills and performance of its employees, propelling it into areas of better listening to its market, collaboration and innovation at the service of its customers.