How Can Charity Employers Promote ESR in the Workplace?

Likewise, within the charity sector there are many charities who promote sustainability and social responsibility as part of their charitable objects.

More recently, we have seen ESR moving up the agenda for employers across multiple sectors, including those whose day-to-day activities are not particularly wedded to ESR. We take a look at why ESR matters to all employers, and how to promote it within your charity.

What Is the Commercial Value of ESR?

An employer's ESR agenda has the potential to affect its reputation, as well as its ability to attract and retain talent. High profile employers whose commitment to ESR has been called into question have suffered the economic consequences. For example, away from the charity sector the clothing retailer Boohoo saw its share price plummet following news reports about working standards within the company and its supply chain. Research has also shown that commitment to ESR is a key factor job candidates look for when searching for employment.

How Can Charity Employers Promote the ESR Agenda?

A charity's commitment to ESR will be underpinned by its workplace culture. There are therefore some areas of focus charities may wish to consider from an employment perspective.

Environmental Priorities

Charity employers may find they are able to develop climate-aligned policies. What will be possible in any individual case will depend on each charity's circumstances and how it operates. Some ideas for promoting environmental sustainability are set out below.

• Consider how staff currently commute to work. If hybrid working arrangements have been retained post-pandemic, this could form part of a wider commitment to reducing carbon emissions from commuting. Likewise, for staff who travel to the workplace some or all of the time, cycle-to-work schemes, electric vehicle schemes and supporting less business travel could form part of a sustainable commuting policy.

• You may be able to support sustainable travel beyond the commute to work. For example, some holiday policies offer an additional day's leave to use on rail, car or ferry travel in order to encourage staff to avoid flying.

• You could consider introducing a day's 'volunteering leave' every year, to be used to promote climate-friendly activities.

• You may wish to consider how any environmental policies are communicated to staff. For example, is there scope to form a committee to focus on environmental initiatives at a local level? If so, an introductory session from a committee-member could be included in staff inductions. You may be able to task the committee priorities such as getting involved in relevant community events, and minimising waste in the workplace. It may also be possible to dedicate a staff intranet page to the committee and their recent activities. This kind of profiling will also help demonstrate (to staff and stakeholders) how the charity's commitment to the environment underpins its culture.

Social Priorities

There are also a number of social priorities it is sensible to keep on the wider ESR agenda. Some of these are underpinned by existing employment law and legal obligations falling on all employers. However as with many items on the ESR agenda, it is often possible to do more than the bare minimum in order to demonstrate true engagement and progression.

• Charities will be confident in maintaining policies and training on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI). However, policies alone will not be sufficient to embody your charity's approach to EDI. You should underpin your policies with regular staff training, and you may wish to roll out line-manager training both to ensure managers properly model a zero-tolerance approach to discrimination, harassment and victimisation, and to make sure they are equipped to deal with any issues that might arise in practice. You may also wish to introduce EDI staff 'champions', who are specially trained staff you can profile as the first peer-level port of call for any colleagues wishing to discuss EDI matters.

• Promoting equality and diversity is a big part of the ESR agenda. As well as ensuring staff treat one another with dignity and respect, there may be wider opportunities for your charity to support community events and external initiatives such as Pride or Black History month. There are also equality initiatives employers can sign up to, such as the Race at Work Charter, or Disability Confident.

• EDI is not an area of focus solely in respect of your current staff. There may be an opportunity to review and improve recruitment practices as part of a wider push towards a fully representative workforce that reflects the community within which your charity operates.  

• Workplace schemes which encourage staff to volunteer in support of other charity or community initiatives by providing paid time off can also help to embed an positive ESR culture.

• The flexible working regime is underpinned in law and most charities will be familiar with the statutory procedure to formally request flexible working. Charities may wish to consider their wider culture and approach to flexible working, and also whether there is any other action that could be taken in order to highlight your charity's commitment to family friendly working.  

• Finally, you may wish to review your charity's existing working practices in the context of maintaining staff health and wellbeing. Many employers now acknowledge the importance of protecting mental health in the workplace. The commitment to mental health can be reflected in a number of ways, for example by introducing an annual mental health day, or by providing access to a counselling service, or by signing up to the Mindful Business Charter. 

Individual Action Points

Each charity will be in a unique position in respect of its ESR priorities, its charitable objects and its financial position. Not all the actions outlined above will suit every charity. Likewise, you may identify other actions your charity can take to promote ESR within its workforce in its own way. From an employment perspective, your charity's priority should be first to define the type of ESR culture it wants to create and promote. Naturally, much of this will be driven by the social and environmental issues that already resonate with your staff. Therefore a listening exercise is a good starting point. It is essential that before launching the ESR agenda it is critically assessed to ensure that it is inclusive and does not exclude certain groups of employees or the wider community. The next task will be to commit to what action the charity is able to take to support that agenda. Finally, it will be important to consider how you profile the action you are taking, in order to reap the benefits of making positive changes.

It is important that your charity then acts consistently with its stated ESR principles. As a cautionary tale, a number of high profile organisations faced public embarrassment following publication of their gender pay gap statistics by the PayGapApp. The PayGapApp highlighted organisations who had made public statements on International Woman's Day in support of gender parity but whose pay gap information appeared to show that this commitment was not reflected in the pay arrangements within their own workforce.

For more information on promoting ESR in the workplace, please contact Jo Oliver on 0117 314 5361 or complete the form below.