Why is corporate sustainability important?

Corporate sustainability, also known as corporate social responsibility, has emerged as a hot topic in the business world. The days of companies doing whatever it took to beef up their bottom lines and line their shareholders pockets’ are waning away, and new attitudes are rising in their place.

Today, companies are more aware than ever of the community impacts of their activities. Consumers are also putting much more thought into where they choose to do business. Social responsibility is also impacting hiring trends, with a growing number of studies showing that employees are more likely to make deeper personal investments in enterprises that share their values.

Another way to look at corporate sustainability is to consider financial profits as just one part of a bigger picture. The triple bottom line model, which is being adopted by companies of all sizes, looks beyond the bucks to include the environmental and social impacts of their commercial activities. A new trend is emerging, in which businesses that strive for high levels of social responsibility experience a trickle-down effect that translates into boosted revenues and profits.

How can companies achieve higher levels of corporate sustainability?

Corporate sustainability is a complex topic, and there’s no single path to achieving higher levels of social and environmental responsibility. Specific strategies depend on the industry in which the enterprise participates. However, there are several elements that are common to most initiatives:

• Reducing waste and energy consumption. These are simple, straightforward values that a large majority of individual citizens have already adopted in their everyday lives. There’s no reason for businesses not to follow suit. For example, waste-reduction programs can often result in cost savings through increased efficiency.
• Being more transparent and responsive. Social media has had a major impact on customer relationship management, creating never-before-seen service models that place a premium on transparency and responsiveness, especially with regard to community-oriented concerns. Good relationships and a strong sense of connection lead to more sales.
• Active citizenship in the community. Businesses that act with a sense of responsibility towards the community in which they’re located tend to be viewed in a more positive light. This is especially important for small and independently owned businesses, which have more flexibility and agility than larger enterprises. Being visibly involved as a good community citizen is a powerful way to build positive reputation and referrals.
• Creating commuter management programs. Actively working to reduce pollution and traffic congestion projects positive values, both internally and externally. Commuter management programs also help build a happier, healthier workforce and attract employees who want to be part of an organization with a strong community focus. Not only that, but effective commuter management can also lead to lower parking-related facilities costs, a real win-win!

Commuter management can improve corporate sustainability by reducing overall emissions, as explained in this video on green business from CommuteCon 2017.

The RideAmigos platform is an ideal tool for businesses that want to put the power of smarter commuting in the hands of their employees. Get started with RideAmigos today!