Is corporate social responsibility a one-time activity for your company?

If the answer is ‘yes’, you’re missing out an opportunity to increase goodwill for your brand and attract new customers for your business.

Social responsibility has witnessed an increased importance among companies over the last few years. As per a recent PWC Global CEO Survey, 64% of CEOs now consider CSR as an integral part of their business strategy. Whether it's by empowering women, helping the environment, or trying to end poverty, more and more companies are incorporating social responsibility into their overall business strategy. There are many reasons why a company might engage in social responsibility, few of them are outlined below for ready reference.

Improves Company’s Brand Image

The public perception of a company is vital for customers and shareholders. Being socially responsible bolster a company’s image and builds its brand image. By being active in community, a company projects a positive image for not only being profitable but for also being socially aware.

Expands Customer Base

Having a social responsibility policy strengthens & impacts the buying decisions of customers. Building relationships with customers is the cornerstone for any business. For example - a bank that offers loans to marginalized section of the society, will be viewed positively by the community and it might boost the sales for the company.

Creates A Differential

When corporates are involved with the community, it generates a trust among the community for them and a differential is created making the company stand out. For example, Tesla Inc. reduced the gap between the corporate world and social responsibility by offering electric-powered cars and products that are environment friendly.

Coca-Cola in 2010, started by 20 initiative to empower 5 million women entrepreneurs across the company’s value chain by 2020.

In a nutshell, both company and community benefit from CSR initiatives. India is a country which with its inequalities, operate in first, second and third world simultaneously. The government is obviously doing its share but organizations have a larger responsibility because their success depends on the society they operate in. The CSR and sustainability strategy should be drawn in congruence with the company's business goals.

CSR can only be driven when people working at the ground level recognize it and the community that is targeted accepts it.

Fiinovation works towards empowering youth through skill development and education.

A leading private sector health insurance company in India entered into a strategic partnership with Fiinovation Pvt. ltd, a global Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) consulting firm, and Pinnacle Skills India, an NGO that works towards empowering youth through skill development and education.

The programme's key objective is to provide skill development opportunities to women from financially disadvantaged communities in 36 districts across 8 states of India. Under this collaboration, Fiinovation and Pinnacle Skills will extend their services to facilitate the corporation's social welfare project for training the youth to take up the roles of General Duty Assistants (GDA).

The project's mandate includes community mobilisation through awareness activities, setting-up training centres for skill development, and ensuring employment opportunities. The complete CSR portfolio will be managed and monitored by Fiinovation team. Pinnacle Skills India took the responsibility to arrange for 'On-Job Training' of the beneficiaries, in hospitals, and multi-speciality clinics.

Upon completion of the training, the beneficiaries will be duly assessed and issued certificates by National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and Sector Skill Council and provided with job placements as GDAs.

Speaking on the launch, Dr. Soumitro Chakraborty, CEO of Fiinovation stressed on the need and importance of women empowerment and their skill development. He stated, "There is a serious decline in women workforce participation due to lack of opportunities, safety and other social stigmas. We want to contribute towards making a social and economic change."
"Percentage of working women has declined over time. With 36% of women being employed in 2005-06, the number has decreased to 24% in 2015-16. This decline must be a major concern for economy and society at large. Owing to the high gender inequality at the workplace, there is an urgent need that calls for an overhaul. It goes without saying that we need to shift focus towards education, skill development and employment opportunities for women, more aggressively than before.