I have two teenagers. My last text exchange with them went something like this…
Me: What time will you be home?
Teen: TBH, IDK. LMK WT works 4U. TTYL.
Me: Is that supposed to be English? I don’t understand what you are saying.
Teen: STBY ROFL
What?! It’s infuriating, but it also reminds me of the 80’s public service announcement where the dad catches the son using drugs and the boy says, “I learned it from watching you!”
How much of our work-related conversation is industry gobbledygook? There are So. Many. Acronyms! We simultaneously throw them around like badges of honor and pretend we understand them when we don’t.
Among top business acronyms these days are CSR and ESG. So, what do they mean?
CSR stands for Corporate Social Responsibility. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the way businesses contribute to the well-being of their communities. CSR takes many forms including charitable giving, environmental sustainability efforts, and volunteering, and it isn’t just for big corporations.
Remember the pizza place that sponsored your 4th grade little league team or the canned food drive your company had last November? How about when real cups showed up in your break room instead of disposable ones? That can all be a part of CSR – even if no one called it that.
CSR’s first cousin is ESG. ESG stands for Environmental, Social and Governance. Today’s socially conscious investors are looking at more than balance sheets when deciding where to put their money. They want to see that a company is utilizing energy efficiently, fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion, providing accurate and transparent reporting, and generally being a good corporate citizen.
Why should I care?
The way you show up in your community helps shape your company’s brand and defines how customers, investors, and potential employees see you. You may be doing a lot of great things already, but do you have a clear vision of the impact that you are trying to make, and are you effectively sharing that with your stakeholders? A good CSR and/or ESG strategy can do this for you. Give it a try.
As my teen would say, GLHF! (I’m told that means good luck and have fun.)
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