Corporate Social Responsibility and distributed teams in a post-COV19 economy
USC Marshall // Distributed findings
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a self-regulating business model that helps companies be socially responsible to themselves, their stakeholders, and the public, by engaging in CSR it means that through the normal course of business, a company is positively impacting the environment and society, like STARBUCKS environmental efforts for example.
In recent years this way of working has become increasingly important since CSR practices were referenced in the UK Corporate Governance Code and OUT-LAW’s Director’s Duties , and is also a recommended inclusion of a companies annual report as cited by The Association of Business Insurers.
As businesses begin to build in a post COV19 economy, CSR will most certainly play a bigger role in the strategic decisions they make and in their direction of travel, not to mention in the purchasing decisions by their customers.
In an age of growing transparency and care, socially responsible companies will compound their growth through the goodwill they receive from their team members, and their customers.
With offices set to play a smaller role in the day-to-day operations of most companies, and with most businesses seeking to operate with more flexible overheads and a remote workforce, now is the time to talk about how working with distributed teams can play a central role in businesses CSR strategies.
Environmental
- Since 2013 all UK quoted companies have been required to report on their greenhouse gas emissions as part of their annual directors report
- The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GGP) is a set of agreed standards that fortune 500 companies use to measure and manage their greenhouse gas emissions
- Working with distributed teams means less commuting, which means less greenhouse gas emissions
For a team of 100, the carbon saving per year is around 26,000kg (around 260kg of carbon per person) if a company uses a distributed workforce versus a centralised workforce.
Economic
- Working with centralised teams (teams based in one location) will only benefit the economy of that particular location, which leads to hotspots of economic prosperity (and larger, more densely populated cities)
- When businesses work with distributed teams, the economic benefits are dispersed more evenly over a larger economic area leading to more sustainable population density and healthier local economies
Societal
- Working with teams in a central location, means more densely packed population centres, longer and more crowded commutes, lower levels of air quality, and less time spent exercising, or with friends and family, these all impact society negatively and have all been proven to be contributors to reduced life expectancy.
- Distributed teams mean happier, healthier and longer living populations, making the CSR contribution of working with distributed teams hugely impactful.
Building in a post COVID19 world means not just building meaningful futures for your business or for your customers, it means building meaningful futures for your team and their communities too.
Working with distributed teams not only fulfils the core intent of all CSR programs, but benefits businesses much further, allowing them to work with flexible overheads, access a higher quality of talent, and access rare skillsets that are not available in most local markets.
If you’re thinking about CSR in your organisation and would like to learn more about the data or models used in this study, please get in touch using hello@distributed.co and a member of our team will set up a time to talk.
These insights and findings are some of the outputs of a 2020 collaboration between a USC Marshall MBA team and Distributed on the CSR benefits of working with distributed teams.
USC Marshall MBA team
