Now more than ever, how your business conducts itself, ethically speaking, can change the trajectory of success. But business ethics and social responsibility are not just practices for large corporations. In fact, it’s important that these are considerations from the get-go — we’re talking about startups.

But before you run off to think about ways you’ll implement business ethics and startup social responsibility into your framework, it’s important to actually consider how these impact your business and in turn your bottom line.

Consider these reasons why it’s important.

1. Recruiting Top Talent

By 2025, roughly 75% of the global workforce will be millennials. The corporate cultures of most large organizations and startups will therefore be directly shaped by this generation’s habits and expectations. So, what does this have to do with business ethics and social responsibility?

You guessed it. Millennials care (deeply) about how businesses conduct themselves. In fact, 86% of Millennials consider it a priority to work for a business that conducts itself ethically and responsibly. In fact, most Millennials would be willing to take a considerable pay cut to work for such a business. In turn, how you operate as a business directly affects the ability to attract top talent and keep them around.

2. Employee Engagement

The same way ethics and socially responsible initiatives attract talent, they also keep them around and keep employees engaged. Implementing a socially responsible program for your company or having a specific employee spearhead it is a way to help people feel like they’re part of something bigger and more important than their day to day, In turn, this impacts employee engagement.

3. Gaining a Competitive Edge

When it comes to business ethics and social responsibility, another factor to consider is the compounding nature of competition. As more businesses adopt and invest in ethical practices, those that do not will look worse by comparison.

4. It Can Build or Break a Brand

On that note, how you adopt ethical business practices and implementing social responsibility matters. True, they are good ways to help build your brand, especially when you’re just starting out, but they should never be used as solely marketing tactics.

To help startup founders and entrepreneurs learn how to effectively integrating business ethics and social responsibility at the startup stage, Embroker, created this business ethics guide that will walk you through real-world examples from companies who do it best, tips for what to avoid and how to give back when you’re just starting out.

SOURCE: https://www.embroker.com/blog/business-ethics-and-social-responsibility