Characteristics of socially responsible companies

Overview

A socially responsible company voluntarily acquires commitments with society so that it reverts to the community what it has contributed to the company. It is the responsibility of consumers to favor these companies over others since they take more care of their workers and therefore of the whole of society. But there are companies that carry out very colorful and specific actions that do not have a real commitment and only serve to win the sympathy of the consumer. Below you will see some commitments that so-called social responsibility companies acquire, so that you can distinguish them from simple specific marketing actions.

Transparency

A socially responsible company is characterized by the transparency of its information, especially in the internal data related to safety at work and occupational accidents, investments made, benefits obtained, number of dismissals and causes, origin of its raw materials and quality of its products evaluated by external organisms, etc.

Ethics

Every socially responsible company assumes a commitment to a code of ethics that must be actively implemented to avoid being a compilation of good intentions. This code must reflect aspects such as respect for human dignity in the broadest sense of the word or quality of life.

Environment

A fundamental pillar in the organizational culture to be able to consider a socially responsible company is its degree of commitment to the Environment. In addition to complying with international regulations in this regard, a socially responsible company not only complies with them, but also implements actions that compensate for the emissions or waste generated and impact on the improvement and care of nature.

Social commitment

A socially responsible company acquires a social commitment and seeks to be a benchmark for other companies. This is achieved by generating employment, producing quality products and complying with current regulations. It is also vital that you actively contribute to the development of the community and positively influence society. To do this, it will carry out actions such as monitoring the origin of the raw materials it uses and the conditions of the workers who produced them.

Training

It is desirable that every company implement training actions for its workers. On the one hand, it contributes to their professional recycling and therefore to an improvement in their competitiveness, which should revert to the quality of their products or services. Socially responsible companies go further and implement training actions that facilitate their most qualified workers to acquire new knowledge that allows them to access jobs in other areas of the same company.

Gender equality

Every socially responsible company must work actively so that real gender equality occurs in its organization. To do this, specific programs designed by the relevant agencies will be implemented, language will be taken care of and the male gender will not be favored over the female. Special care will be taken to access management positions, where women are scarce despite being very well prepared.

Discrimination

A socially responsible company must be a model to be followed by the rest of the organizations and a source of pride for the community in which it is established. For this reason, it must take an active fight against discrimination, paying special attention to areas such as “personnel selection”, or enabling facilities and jobs for the disabled.

Communication

A socially responsible company is aware of the importance of communication both externally (with the community in which it is established and with its consumers or clients), and internally (with its workers and shareholders). To this end, it implements measures that allow such communication to be fluid, in particular by facilitating the channels for proposals for suggestions and complaints.

Community

A large company with many workers established in a community has a great responsibility towards them and towards the community. The community contributes to the development of the company by giving it workers, accesses, consumers and in many cases, many other advantages such as tax aid or land transfers. A socially responsible company also invests in the community, for example by setting up a library or a park.

Future

Along the lines of the previous slide, a large company installed in a community where most workers and businesses depend on it has a great responsibility that it should be aware of and that is to think about the future. For this reason, large companies in this situation that adhere to the social responsibility code, implement programs that allow said community to survive in the event that the company must cease its activity.