Your CSR team shouldn't be the only one responsible for your CSR challenges.
CSR managers spend their time asking other departments to implement CSR initiatives, yet in the end, they are the only ones who bear the responsibility. Because, yes, on paper, everyone is affected; but in reality, is everyone truly involved? Unfortunately, this is rarely the case… A CSR strategy may be perfectly designed and approved by senior management, but it will still be difficult to implement if the business units responsible for incorporating it into their day-to-day decisions do not feel directly involved. When it comes to advancing a CSR issue, we often think that the first step is to communicate more effectively, raise awareness, or find the right arguments. We often overlook a much more decisive alternative: giving (at last!) the people involved the opportunity to think about the problem for themselves. When the CSR team comes up with a ready-made solution, the other departments have no choice but to adopt it. That’s easier said than done, given how likely it is that the solution won’t suit their needs. On the other hand, when they participate in the process of developing that solution, they are more likely to take ownership of it. This is the challenge that eSqwad aims to address: How can employees—who do not share the same job roles, constraints, or level of knowledge about CSR issues—be brought together to work on a problem that affects the entire company? An eSqwad workshop begins with a specific business challenge and brings together the relevant employees to work together to find solutions. The experience is structured around the problem to be solved, featuring AI-driven characters who contribute complementary expertise as the discussion progresses. The goal is to avoid two fairly common pitfalls in CSR initiatives: asking a few people to come up with a solution to a systemic problem on their own, or organizing an awareness-raising effort that ends once the workshop is over. It is also a way to change perceptions of CSR: it is no longer just the function that requests data, prepares reports, or reminds the organization of its goals, but rather the one that helps the organization think differently about its own challenges. At eSqwad, we firmly believe that by giving employees a real voice in this process, we can generate concrete solutions and, above all, foster a desire to implement them.
CSR managers spend their time asking other departments to implement CSR initiatives, yet in the end, they are the only ones who bear the responsibility.
Because, yes, on paper, everyone is affected; but in reality, is everyone truly involved?
Unfortunately, this is rarely the case… A CSR strategy may be perfectly designed and approved by senior management, but it will still be difficult to implement if the business units responsible for incorporating it into their day-to-day decisions do not feel directly involved.
When it comes to advancing a CSR issue, we often think that the first step is to communicate more effectively, raise awareness, or find the right arguments. We often overlook a much more decisive alternative: giving (at last!) the people involved the opportunity to think about the problem for themselves.
When the CSR team comes up with a ready-made solution, the other departments have no choice but to adopt it. That’s easier said than done, given how likely it is that the solution won’t suit their needs. On the other hand, when they participate in the process of developing that solution, they are more likely to take ownership of it.
This is the challenge that eSqwad aims to address: How can employees—who do not share the same job roles, constraints, or level of knowledge about CSR issues—be brought together to work on a problem that affects the entire company?
An eSqwad workshop begins with a specific business challenge and brings together the relevant employees to work together to find solutions. The experience is structured around the problem to be solved, featuring AI-driven characters who contribute complementary expertise as the discussion progresses.
The goal is to avoid two fairly common pitfalls in CSR initiatives: asking a few people to come up with a solution to a systemic problem on their own, or organizing an awareness-raising effort that ends once the workshop is over.
It is also a way to change perceptions of CSR: it is no longer just the function that requests data, prepares reports, or reminds the organization of its goals, but rather the one that helps the organization think differently about its own challenges.
At eSqwad, we firmly believe that by giving employees a real voice in this process, we can generate concrete solutions and, above all, foster a desire to implement them.