Novard Group supported the release of a collection of practices on social responsibility

The Novard Group of Companies supported the release of a collection of best practices for applying the principles of social responsibility of business by companies operating in the Russian market. Case topics range from corporate philanthropy to social innovation and deep integration of corporate social responsibility (CSR) into all types of companies' activities. The collection of business cases supplemented a number of interesting and promising AMR projects dedicated to CSR, such as a depository of social initiatives, where profiles of more than 300 companies are collected, and the all-Russian project "PEOPLEINVESTOR: Companies Investing in People".

A detailed discussion of the cases and the issue of promoting the domestic experience of using CSR was held on November 2 at the round table “CSR in the system of higher education. Experience for teachers and practitioners ”in the Association of Russian Managers.

The application of corporate social responsibility principles is becoming an increasingly common practice in Russian business. However, now domestic companies are far from always able to successfully apply the vast experience of their Western colleagues, and Russian practice is not yet so widely described and widespread.

It was this gap that the Association of Russian Managers tried to fill in, which over the past 10 years has been actively working on the topic of CSR together with its partners.

“Many entrepreneurs are striving to implement the CSR system in their companies and adhere to the principle of public utility of their business,” said Andrey Iliopulo, President of Novard Group, commenting on the company's participation in the project. “It’s more interesting and pleasant for employees to work in a business that lives by the rules of responsible business practice.” The presentation and discussion of the new project of the managers' association was attended by practitioners and theorists - representatives of business and leading Russian universities.

As the results of the discussion showed, so far not all Russian companies understand that CSR is not only charity, the installation of the principles of responsibility in philosophy or a formal social report. The most difficult question arises for business when integrating the principles of CSR into strategy and operational activities: when does a company have to find a balance between the desired profit and the declared social responsibility. In such situations, of course, the experience of colleagues who have already overcome this milestone is very important, we need systematic methodological materials and recommendations based on domestic practice.

“The experience that our company gained by participating in the compilation and discussion of the CSR topic with universities is very important,” says Irina Zueva, head of the PR department of Novard Group of Companies. - Right now, we are actively introducing the principles of CSR in the strategies of the group companies, in the activities of each manager, each employee. From our own experience, we realized how much special training programs, non-standard, practice-oriented CSR modules for top managers and employees are now in demand by business. I’m sure that the conversation and the first collection of best Russian practices will become an incentive for more active cooperation between theorists and practitioners. ”