Why Strong Responsibility Should be at the Heart of Every Ethical Enterprise August 4, 2015Featured, My Business, My Career, My LifeOff

Ethical responsibility undoubtedly brings many benefits to stakeholders in a variety of businesses and organizations; from customers to employees to the wider community. In this article, we’ll be looking at this in more detail to show why, in business, you ladies make a moral decision each time you decide what the right course of action is for your company.

To illustrate the importance of this, here are some examples of how other organizations are making ethical efforts and the positive consequences they have on each of their reputations.

Lush: The Transparency Super-Heroes
You may be familiar with the cloying sweet smell wafting out of every Lush shop, and you might have heard about their strict views on animal testing (they do not use animal fats in any of their products and only test products on human volunteers) but that is not the only ethical practices the company follows. Started by husband and wife duo, Mark and Mo Constantine, the company donated a staggering $6 million to charity last year. Not only are they ethically responsible but they also believe in transparency, becoming the first multinational company from the UK to win the Fair Tax Mark, meaning that Lush reports how much tax it pays in every country — voluntarily. This is certainly admirable from a company that posted profits of $35.8 million last year.

Aggreko: Local Community Leaders
The  global leader in generator hire and temperature control, Aggreko has more than 1000 locations in 30 different countries. To help just one of its local communities in Panama, Aggreko built a much-needed security wall for children at Vista Hermosa school in Cerro Azul. Back in 2007, the company also partnered with the charity Book Aid to promote literacy and learning in Africa, helping to distribute over 23,000 books. Acts like this show a dedication to being dutiful to the communities that they are morally connected to and are keen to take social responsibility for.

Social Bite: Combatting Homelessness One Lunch at a Time
Wouldn’t it be nice to know that you’re grabbing your cup of morning coffee from the  good guys? Due in part to the infinite amount of information available through the internet, Fairtrade food and sustainability are at the forefront of consumers’ minds more than ever before. It’s not just the big businesses that this applies to, either. Social Bite was started by a young Scottish couple, Alice Thompson and Josh Littlejohn, who use only local produce and have a sandwich menu created by a Michelin-starred chef. It may seem surprising to see Social Bite on this list. However, as their name suggests, the couple not only donate 100% of their profits to charity but ensure that 25% of their staff are homeless or have struggled with homelessness in the past. Now with three locations in Scotland, another four planned for across the rest of Great Britain and multinational expansion imminent, they are growing quickly. Social Bite has even caught the attention of Hollywood star George Clooney, who is coming to visit the Edinburgh sandwich shop in November.

Giving consumers that feel-good factor by proving that their decision to choose your business can help others seems to be a recurring factor in the success of corporate responsibility. So whether you’re setting up a new business or are well established, us women must stick together and think about how you can help the wider community, which will help build a strong rapport with your customers and employees alike.

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