Well, I say, have you heard…

It really isn’t that hard to get started with a social responsibility programme of one sort or another. This is especially true for smaller or medium sized businesses as a decision can be made quickly, acted upon and, simply, dealt with.

It’s actually a lot simpler than many consultants would have you believe.

And it needn’t cost the earth. In fact, it may help move us towards saving it.

The trick, and it’s hardly a complicated one, is to get the conversation started. Start talking about what you have in mind. Focus on issues that are relevant to your business, issues that you and your staff can connect with and, importantly, that you can share a story about.

Stories bring issues to life.

Pull a core leadership team together and get the conversation started. Have someone ‘champion’ the cause, move the conversation forward and remember, it’s really not that hard to simply make a decision and do something. Your advantage is your size. The Titanic couldn’t avoid the iceberg but you can.

You might want to hone in on environmental issues that you know you ‘could do better on’ such as waste management or energy saving; or maybe what fires the group up is a community issue, such as helping the homeless in your neighbourhood or something entirely different that your whole workforce can ‘gather’ around.

The more real it is, the more galvanised the team will become.. so consider something that’s actually affected a member of your team: a physical or mental health issue, a human rights tragedy that could (and should) have been avoided, a charity that addresses a cause that’s ‘close to home’.  It can be anything , so long as there’s a connection, a story that acts as the glue between your business, your staff, and your customers. When you have this you’re out of the blocks. Now just get on with it and do some good.

Nobody is asking us to be perfect, they just want to know that we’re making an effort and they’ll reward us for our behaviour.