Principles and Practices for Corporate Responsibility

By attending this CSR course, you will consider the principles and practices of corporate responsibility, looking at how it has evolved from philanthropic and religious roots into an enterprise-wide philosophy and a call to action for sustainability. It will consider why adopting a sustainable approach makes business sense for companies today, how it applies to different sectors, and why organizations need to take account of their various stakeholders when developing a sustainability plan.

The course will wrap with a summary of the key learning points, followed by an action planning exercise with a view to apply the acquired knowledge and skills immediately upon your return to work. Post-course support is also available in relation to the implementation of your action plan, up to six (6) months following course completion.

Agenda

Evolution of Corporate Social Responsibility

From CSR to Sustainability

Beyond philanthropy and charitable giving

Criticisms of CSR

Business Drivers for Sustainability & Responsibility

Why is sustainability good for business?

The Language of Sustainability

Sectoral issues in sustainability

Planning for sustainable business practices

Engaging Stakeholders to Build a Sustainable Plan

The Materiality assessment – what are the key issues?

How do we impact our stakeholders?

Stakeholder engagement

Developing and implementing a sustainability plan

Measuring Stakeholder Impact

The CSR Project – how it contributes to corporate sustainability

what projects are taking place?

what is the value of such projects?

is sustainability and CSR the same thing?

Course Review

Summary and recap of key learning objectives

Action Planning

Target Audience

This CSR course is suitable for a wide range of professionals but will be of real value to:

• Community Relations managers and executives
• Health, Safety and Environmental managers and officers
• Risk managers and professionals
• Legal and compliance managers and professionals
• Managers and staff who wish to develop business practices to help their organizations act in a responsible way.
• Managers and staff concerned with influencing or implementing corporate strategies that consider environmental, social and governance issues.
• Managers and staff responsible for CSR projects.
• Managers and staff who plan and implement corporate policies in relation to community relations, environmental protection, health and safety, procurement and the supply chain.
• Any member of the organization who is tasked with developing sustainability or corporate responsibility initiatives or strategies.
• Executives tasked with delivering business results while at the same time protecting and enhancing their company’s reputation for responsible behaviour.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this CSR course, you will have:

• Developed an understanding of what sustainability means for organizations.
• Unpicked the different elements relating to "people, planet and profit".
• Learned techniques to engage with stakeholders.
• Discussed approaches to prioritize action around material issues.
• Created the skeleton of a sustainability plan.
• Developed an Action Plan to be implemented at your workplace using the knowledge and skills acquired through the course.