Will CSR be a focus for your business this year?

Implementing a CSR strategy this year could be very rewarding for your practice, says Nigel Jones.

Although different businesses have different financial years, it’s hard to approach a new calendar year without thinking about things you might like to do differently.

Ordinarily, at this time of year, my head is full of budgets, forecasts and aspirations to do with the success of Practice Plan, and this year is no different.

However, two recent meetings have added not so much a new dimension, as a new resolve to my thoughts.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Mark Topley, the former CEO of Bridge2aid, who has now set up a consultancy to help businesses, and in particular dental practices, translate good intentions when it comes to corporate social responsibility (CSR) into concrete actions that benefit practice owners, practice teams and chosen causes.

Committing to a CSR strategy

The evidence is growing of the beneficial effect that comes with truly committing to a CSR strategy and Mark can reel off a wealth of statistics that support that contention.

And that’s no surprise.

I’ve seen first-hand the way relationships and communication, as well as team spirit, can grow through shared experiences in pursuit of an altruistic goal.

When embarking on a CSR strategy, the selection of a relevant cause, such as something local or dental, is all important.

It needs to be something in to which your team can buy in and with which your patients can connect.

And ideally you will want to support an organisation that will work in partnership with you rather than simply accept donations.

To that end, the second of those two meetings, with Paul Tasman and Kerry Shillito of Bridge2aid was a perfect example.

Their desire to understand more about how Practice Plan works both at head office and with practices was very impressive and led to some exciting ideas about how we can support such a worthwhile cause.

Implementing a well thought through CSR strategy can be very rewarding in many different ways.

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