Partner feature
Acting responsibly
W
hen Corporate Social Responsibility first came to the attention of the business community, it was arguably a ‘nice to have’ rather
than something that could and should be at the core of business strategy and culture. In today’s climate CSR should be an important
element of strategic planning as it adds value not just from a public relations viewpoint but also from a stakeholder perspective. CSR is a commitment by a business to
behave in an ethical, social and environmentally responsible way, and to have a positive impact on the local and global environment. CSR is a way to stand out from the crowd
and reinforces a business’ core values and provides alternative methods of communicating, providing free publicity and additional PR which raises a business’ profile, therefore contributing to increased shareholder value and brand awareness. A range of studies have shown that customers,
employees and investors tend to favour businesses that are perceived to be socially and environmentally responsible. The organisation becomes more attractive to potential employees, can help to obtain competitive advantage and can enhance your organisational reputation with your supply chain and customers. Introducing a CSR policy into a business can
help people across the organisation understand the policy and become involved with it. Writing a CSR policy begins with an assessment of every aspect of your business and its operations and must be communicated throughout the organisation and on your website so it can be clearly seen by all. HardingEvans understands the importance of
CSR and have incorporated it into our everyday business both through employee/organisational engagement in community projects and by changing our business practices to become more environmentally friendly. We actively support the Welsh Innovation
Centre for Enterprise and its members, providing legal and business expertise through our role as mentor. Welsh ICE is a social enterprise dedicated
to growing developing enterprises and micro- businesses, which offers fledgling entrepreneurs financial support and expert business advice
38 THEbusiness QUARTER
through a network of corporate and charitable partners at its base in Caerphilly. We sponsor many local awards, for the
second year running we have a HardingEvans category in the Young Enterprise Area Final Awards ‘The Best Company Report’, encouraging and inspiring young people is very important to the growth of Welsh businesses and we are very proud to be part of this. We are also part of the consortium which
drives forward the annual Leading Wales Awards, the only awards of their kind in Wales, to identify, recognise and celebrate real leaders who are making a difference. The judges seek nominees whose leadership is making a real difference in Wales, impacting positively on moving forward their community, business or organisation. Joy Phillips, Practice Director at HardingEvans
said: “Supporting business people whether they are entrepreneurial young people or experienced leaders in organisations is something that the practice feels passionately about. Many of us have made good careers thanks not only to our own efforts but also the support we have had from mentors who have helped us shape our business values. The contribution we make to assist in achieving or recognising business and leadership excellence is something that we are extremely proud of.” Part of the HardingEvans CSR policy is to
support a local charity each year, this year we are proud to announce our chosen charity is Bobath Children’s Therapy Centre Wales which is a registered charity that provides specialist therapy to children throughout Wales who have cerebral palsy. Bobath therapists are state-registered and
work together as a team to combine these disciplines to give each child the skills to explore their world, communicate their needs, maximise their potential and so improve their quality of life. HardingEvans chose this charity for the
‘amazing work’ it does for children with cerebral palsy, providing specialist Bobath therapy to children from all over Wales. Bobath therapists work together combining three disciplines, physiotherapy, speech and language therapy and occupational therapy to deliver a specialist service to children who are referred to them by their consultant paediatricians. We identify charities which we would like to
support on an annual basis and most will have some existing connection with the firm, either as they have a personal connection with a staff member or, as in the case of Bobath, they have first-hand experience of the expertise within our clinical negligence department. The selection process includes
input from staff and the firm’s Social Committee takes a lead role in planning the programme of funding raising, so that we benefit not only from having raised monies for the charity, but also the improved staff motivation that the various team activities associated with funding raising brings. From an environmental
perspective, we have changed some of our working practices. For example we have invested significant amounts of money in technology that has enabled us to reduce the number of printers utilised within the firm and the amount of paper used internally to reduce our carbon footprint. Do you have a CSR policy? If not
think about one today, it could give you that competitive edge you are looking for.
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