CSR - How to get started?

Are your customers asking you to have a better established CSR management system, but you don't know where to start? This toolkit will give you all the keys to see things more clearly.

‍

I - State of play

Before embarking body and soul on actions that seem relevant to you, it is necessary to diagnose the level of maturity and “performance” of your company on the subject.

‍

1. Create a materiality matrix

According to the AA100 standard, which refers to stakeholder consultation, materiality analysis is a methodology that aims to determine the relevance and scope of a CSR issue.

Illustrated by the materiality matrix, it aims to highlight the most important CSR issues for stakeholders internal and external to the company.

It can be materialized in the following way:

By bringing to light The organization's priority CSR issues, it then makes it possible to prioritize the actions to be implemented and to determine the indicators to follow to measure business progress. As a result, the materiality matrix serves as a base for the implementation of a CSR strategy.

‍

2. Make a complete diagnosis with the B Corp BIA:

B Corp is one of the most renowned generalist CSR labels, but also one of the most demanding. Companies that want to obtain the valuable label must first complete the B impact assessment, a tool for diagnosing and evaluating their sustainability practices, and then have their responses audited by an approved expert. Only companies with a final score of more than 80 points get B Corp status.

Through just over 200 questions, the BIA deals with 5 main categories: governance, employees, community, environment and customers. There are over 60 versions of the BIA, depending on the sector and the size of the company.

By creating your free account on the B Impact Assessment site, and by answering the questionnaire by reporting on your organization's practices, you will be in a position to identify your overall level of CSR maturity (and in particular how you stand in relation to the 80-point mark), but also to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your organization on these topics.

‍

‍ II - Progress on specific dimensions ‍

‍

Environment

1. Raise awareness among its teams about environmental and climate issues

Raising employee awareness about environmental issues results in greater employee engagement on the subject.

To raise awareness among your teams on these topics, you have two options:

• Create in-house training. We recommend that you base yourself on topics that you know about or that seem affordable to popularize.
• Participate in one or more recognized training courses or workshops on this subject. Here are two examples of awareness workshops you can set up: ‍

> The Climate Fresco:

Based on IPCC reports, the Climate Fresco is a neutral tool that aims to popularize global warming. Widely used, it has already been deployed more than 1 million times since its creation.

Its strength is that it is a game of collective intelligence and not a training whose method is “top-down”. It is not intended to provide solutions, but to explain the causes and consequences of global warming.

> The two-ton workshop:

This workshop takes its name from the objective to be met, per inhabitant, in order to comply with the Paris Agreements*, namely a maximum of two tons of CO2 equivalent per year and per inhabitant in 2050.

This workshop provides possible solutions to achieve this objective and is therefore complementary to the Climate Fresco, which is more focused on the cause-and-effect relationships of climate change.

> The “Climate and Biodiversity Basics” training:

Free training offered by the CNED, it was designed by experts on the subject Jean Jouzel, paleo-climatologist and Valérie Masson-Delmotte, co-chair of the IPCC working group. Composed of 5 modules, each lasting between 1 hour and 1.5 hours, this training entitled “The ABBA of climate and biodiversity” will deal with the definition of climate change, the causes of climate change and solutions to mitigate them, consequences of climate change and solutions to adapt, biodiversity, but also collective and individual choices to achieve carbon neutrality.

2. Carry out your greenhouse gas emissions inventory

According to “The basic principles of carbon accounting” by Arnaud Brohé, “a GHG emissions inventory is a document listing and quantifying emissions for an entity (State, community, company or association) during a given period (generally one year) or for a product based on the analysis of its climate impact throughout its life cycle (from design to end-of-life waste treatment). This inventory makes it possible to identify the emission items and to deduce the most important ones from them in order to help the entity that carries it out to act on them as a priority.” One of its applications is the carbon balance* . *

Carbon emission inventories are divided into 3 perimeters, called “scope”. Scopes 1 and 2 concern the activities of the company. Scope 3, for its part, refers to activities up and down the value chain, i.e. the activities of suppliers and customers.

In France, a decree dating from July 2022 requires all companies with more than 500 employees to carry out a scope 3 carbon footprint. If they do not respect it, she risks a fine of €10,000 and €20,000 in the event of a repeat offense.

Carrying out a greenhouse gas emissions inventory can be quite technical to set up. If no one has been trained in these subjects, we recommend that you use one of these providers:

> Carbon 4:

A leading firm on the subject, Carbone 4 was co-founded by the creator of the carbon balance Jean-Marc Jancovici. Carbon balances are of very high quality, but more expensive than the market average.

> Plan A:

Plan A is a platform dedicated to carbon accounting and the decarbonization of businesses. The software has modules for collecting data, visualizing emissions, defining reduction objectives and managing reduction actions. Plan is one of the European leaders in carbon accounting software.

> Intermission:

A consulting firm, Entracte is distinguished by its holistic and comprehensive approach to support companies in their CSR initiatives. To do this, Entracte has more than one string to its bow: it can achieve:

• CSR audits
• Greenhouse Gas Balances
• extra-financial reports
• training and awareness-raising
• Seminars

But also participate in obtaining labels and certifications.

In addition, you can benefit from ADEME assistance to carry out this carbon assessment.

Indeed, ADEME can finance your carbon footprint up to 80% and with a ceiling of €5,000, if you are an SME with less than 250 employees and whose annual figure does not exceed 50 million euros.

3. To go further, understand Life Cycle Analysis (LCA):

According to ADEME, life cycle analysis is the most advanced tool in terms of global and multi-criteria assessment of environmental impacts. This standardized method makes it possible to measure the quantifiable effects of products or services on the environment.

As the name suggests, it focuses on evaluating the entire life cycle from resource extraction to product or service disposal. LCA not only quantifies greenhouse gas emissions but also energy consumption, water consumption, and other environmental impacts. It makes it possible to identify the most problematic steps and to guide decisions towards more sustainable solutions.

4. Respond to the CDP questionnaire

Founded in 2000, the Carbon Disclosure Project is an international non-profit organization that fulfills the mission of a global system for declaring the environmental performance of companies, local authorities or public authorities.

It measures climate impacts, on water and on forests. Organizations can freely disclose their environmental strategy and respond to CDP questionnaires, including reporting on their greenhouse gas emissions, the implementation of measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the awareness of their employees on climate risks.

Responding to the CDP questionnaire will give you structure in the way you approach the management of your organization's GHG emissions and will also allow you to identify possible gaps or areas for improvement.

‍

Social

1. Raise awareness among its teams about the issues of diversity, equity and inclusion (fresco)

As with raising awareness about environmental issues, the objective is not only to train them but also to make them more committed to these topics.

Again, you have two options:

• Create your training in-house. On cognitive biases in stereotypes for example.
• Take external training such as:
• The MOOC “Integrating disability sustainably into your company”: this e-learning divided into 4 parts deals with the prejudices that one may have about disability, legal obligations in the field of disability, the recruitment and integration of a disabled worker, or even ways to support an employee facing health difficulties at work.
• Diversity fresco: this collaborative workshop makes it possible to become aware of discrimination, and the cognitive biases that may exist within an organization,

In addition, it is also possible to create your own in-house training on topics such as the role of cognitive biases in stereotypes.

‍ 2. Set up a satisfaction survey system

Setting up a satisfaction survey system may seem a bit boring and yet has many advantages.

In fact, according to a study by the Gallup organization, companies measuring employee satisfaction would have on average 21% higher productivity compared to those that do not.

In addition, setting up a satisfaction survey would allow for greater employee engagement, approximately 18% higher according to a study conducted by Aon Hewitt. In addition, by ensuring employee satisfaction, there is inevitably a greater retention of talent and therefore a reduction in recruitment costs. Finally, the establishment of a satisfaction survey would allow a reduction in absenteeism and an increase in customer satisfaction.

Here are some examples of solutions that can facilitate satisfaction surveys within your company:

• Peakon
• Lattice
• Leapsome

‍

Ethics

1. Mapping the ethical risks that weigh on the company ‍

The aim of ethical risk mapping is to highlight the main ethical risks to which an organization is, or may be exposed.

To establish this mapping, the organization must first draw up a list of proven or potential risks, then assess them according to two axes:

• the potential impact on the organization if the risk occurs
• The probability of this happening

Below is a matrix that you can use as a guide to measure the intensity of your CSR challenges:

Mapping allows better ethical risk management, as it summarizes and prioritizes in a clear way the risks that the company may face. It thus allows an organization to better orient its strategy in full knowledge of reality.

It is also an effective communication tool, whether internally or externally, which increases the trust of stakeholders.

‍

III - Formalize your approach

While taking action is an absolute priority, it is also important to formalize your sustainability approach and strategy. This will allow you to define a clear framework, set goals, and put in place processes that will allow you to ensure that your business is making continuous progress on these topics.

Below are three things you can do to structure your process.

‍

1. Write your policies

Generally defined as the set of guidelines chosen by a company to conduct its business, a policy aims to highlight the commitments and principles of an organization relating to a given subject.

A comprehensive policy consists of the following elements:

• The company's context on the subject
• The principles of organization
• qualitative commitments and quantitative objectives
• the mechanisms put in place to achieve its goals
• governance and review mechanisms

To find out more, we offer you a guide on creating an environmental policy. Although specific, some general principles can be applied to any type of policy.

2. Choose your indicators and set up reporting

To be certain that we are making progress, it is essential to measure. Indicators need to be determined for this.

To find out more, we've written a guide on this topic. Through this guide, we offer you a selection of 100 indicators to help you see more clearly.

3. Communicating without greenwashing

According to ADEME, greenwashing refers to “allegations that may mislead the public about the real ecological quality of a product or service or about the reality of an organization's sustainable development approach, regardless of how it is disseminated”.

At Ditto, we recommend:

• communicate on numerical, concrete and specific data
• use quality and verified data
• focus on transparency
• In case of doubt about a data, wait and analyze

To find out more, here is an article dedicated to this subject.