Online, some employees share their opinion of their company just as they would for a restaurant. This new form of rating is shaking things up and forcing companies to think, among other things, about how effective their CSR initiatives are, with their employer brand in mind. In 2019, Clémentine Hazeran created the participatory website Rate A Company, which gives everyone the opportunity to assess and learn about companies’ good practices. She explains what is at stake when companies communicate about their social and environmental initiatives.
What does CSR mean for companies?
The premise of CSR in the 1950s showed that by mistreating natural resources, mankind would quickly find itself without raw materials to produce with, sawing off the branch it was sitting on. Companies then noticed that by paying their employees more, those employees were more productive, more loyal and sometimes became the brand’s first ambassadors and customers. These principles have been lost in recent decades, leaving staff searching for meaning in their work. The new generations say they are less materialistic than their predecessors, being informed about issues on a global scale. CSR therefore carries this dual challenge of loyalty and competitiveness.
The most talented candidates, those who will have the choice, will go to companies that are more respectful, more “human”, and more consistent with the values they convey through their actions and their public statements.
Has CSR really become a top criterion for candidates?
I find that CSR is poorly understood in France! Not enough business leaders see the economic value of respecting society and the environment. Candidates are young graduates who travel, educate themselves on social media and keep up with global issues. The notions of a “search for meaning” and corporate reputation are becoming increasingly important to them. The most talented candidates, those who will have the choice, will go to companies that are more respectful, more “human”, and more consistent with the values they convey through their actions and their public statements. In my view, this is the counterweight to recent decades in which the employee was “dehumanised” and seen solely as a unit of production within the company.
Communicating on these topics is often tricky for companies. Why should they take the lead?
Indeed, small and medium-sized French companies say little about their social and environmental initiatives. Only the very large multinationals are starting to grasp the importance of projecting a virtuous image to attract the talent they are looking for. But as mindsets change, they will have to invest more and take ownership of these subjects if they do not want to lose their competitive advantage with better-informed customers and want to keep attracting talent. A responsible image, consistent with their actions, is a guarantee of attractiveness and commercial success. It is therefore in their interest to be the ones initiating the conversation about their CSR practices, so as to control the outcome.
What needs does company rating meet?
Rating has been in the spirit of the times for several years and has brought real improvements to the retail and hospitality sectors. We have simply given it a more contemporary dimension by adding social and environmental criteria to the economic ones. Everyone can assess specific criteria according to their experience with the company, whether as a customer, employee, partner, subcontractor, sales representative or observer. We want to encourage companies not only to pamper their customers, but also to respect every link that contributes to their success. This responds to society’s aspirations for transparency and more horizontal ways of working. The other innovation of the Rate A Company website is the idea of ranking the best companies according to customisable criteria, so that every company can be recognised in some field. The aim is not to discourage them, quite the opposite: it is to reveal their strengths to the general public and to their future candidates or customers, and to push them to become responsible faster.
READ THE ONLINE VERSION, republished in December 2019 following changes to the APEC platform
Read the other articles about Rate A Company published by PositivR and Mag2Lyon, as well as the CSR event organised by Rate A Company with its partner Euronews.
Discover the principle of CSR and its economic potential
Discover how to engage your stakeholders in your CSR strategy
Discover what makes a good CSR label
