The ROI of CSR

To continue on the topic of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices within businesses, I would like to discuss the benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). A particular GreenBiz article by Ellen Weinreb titled "The ROI of CSR: How one company generated a $600 million return," demonstrates the incredible advantages that effective CSR management adds to all three aspects of a company's triple bottom line.

People
Companies with CSR programs experience lower turnover rates along with increased productivity and performance from their employees. Workers who feel good about their organization's values are more willing to go "above and beyond" to produce more high-quality work.

Planet
CSR programs can also benefit the planet, as demonstrated by IBM. IBM's Corporate Service Program "enables employees to share their professional skills with a company in a developing country." This program is not only attractive to talented individuals, but also increases retention rates while providing needed services to developing countries.

Profit
CSR programs are also capable of saving a company significant amounts of money. By implementing their Corporate Service Program, IBM "cites a $600 million return on its $200 million investment." Beyond that, "[f]or each employee that is retained, companies can save up to 90 to 200 percent of that employee’s salary." Investing in CSR programs are clearly worthwhile!

Weinreb's article also talks about a report by IO Sustainability and Babson College called ProjectROI. This report "provides hard evidence of the financial and business returns of CSR investments and, more important, discusses the company practices that can unleash them." I encourage you to go check out the key practices and findings!