Want a change? Then, be the change.

Do you remember, at the beginning of COVID-19’s lockdown, thousands of images shared on social media showing, for example, the water of Venice incredibly clean? We saw flora and fauna reconquering spaces that, without the human presence, changed their landscaping completely.

If there’s something we learned after 2020, it is the impact humans have on the ecosystems and our responsibility to the world. That’s why one of the words of 2021 is CSR.

But what is CSR?

CSR stands for Corporate Social Responsibility. Even though it sounds like corporate decisions are out of our control, what we do as employees on a day-to-day basis has a direct impact, since CSR looks beyond the company profits and focuses on benefiting the greater community.

Some forms of CSR are expected and known. There was once a time when thinking ahead to include recycling within your company’s core values meant you would be winning awards for being environmentally conscious. Now, recycling is the norm, and over 80% of office waste is recyclable. Doing other things such as installing energy-saving light bulbs or using alternative energy sources are huge factors in showing the public that your company is taking CSR seriously.

On the business side, CSR is now a moral obligation. It helps engage customers and clients and improves brand perception. On the personal side, it creates employees’ awareness and a sense of belonging to the organization, improving their engagement and performance.

This 50-50 approach, from the company and its employees, means that we shouldn’t be sitting waiting on what our employer offers to us, CSR-wise. We should also be proposing ideas of what to do. Because no one knows the communities more than the employees, the spirit of CSR should come from all places without limitations on what we can or cannot do.

Recycling is now the norm, but are we just recycling paper? Can’t we also recycle old technology, maybe refurbish it, and donate it to different institutions? Are we just taking care of the plants in our office, or are we maybe reforesting a space, helping with tree planting, and caring for that space? Is it just the homeless person we see on the street who we want to help by giving them some spare cents? Or can we engage other coworkers and collaborate to reach more people?

Being a good citizen is a commitment to society and our entourage. Encourage people to get involved in social initiatives to preserve nature, make a difference in their community, and create a better world in general. With small actions, starting in our workplace, we can make a significant change, like a domino effect. We demonstrate solidarity and stand for it, through all our processes and actions.

As we see, CSR is not only a company behavior. It is a testimony of what organization, collaboration, and empathy can do for a community, our community. Let’s try to keep those early 2020 images in mind, find that topic that drives us, and start making the change the world needs to see.

This 2021, let’s choose to be CSR.