How can we ensure that societal commitment is coherent, unifying and useful? 10 main principles

Faced with current challenges, societal commitment, i.e. the contribution of a company to solving current social and environmental challenges, must move up a gear. Businesses need to go further in their commitments, but above all, ensure that they really generate a positive impact for all stakeholders.

Helpful guide: Multiply the impact of your business in 3 steps

The commitments were designed to serve as compasses to build a triple positive societal commitment:

• For associations, whose needs are constantly growing
• For employees, who do not want a surface commitment
• For the company itself, which must combine responsibility and performance

In other words, these main principles are the pillars of healthy and useful relationships between companies and associations, which give each employee a place. They guarantee a societal commitment consistent, unifying, and really useful for each stakeholder.

Here they are:

1. Full responsibility: I consider that the company must take responsibility for the negative externalities it generates on natural, human and social resources.
2. Deep transformation: I consider that the social commitment of employees is not an end in itself and that it must be accompanied by a profound transformation of my business model.
3. Priority in the field: I systematically start from the needs of associations and beneficiaries to build my engagement initiatives.
4. Long-term resources: I am committed to maintaining the human and financial resources dedicated to this commitment over the long term in order to guarantee its continuity.
5. Commitment for everyone: I make commitment accessible to everyone, regardless of position, level or seniority.
6. Useful investment: I consider commitment time as a collective investment that is necessary in the service of important causes.
7. Full support for associations: I strive to combine human commitment and financial support, because associations need both to act effectively.
8. Committed culture: I make commitment a founding principle of my corporate culture.
9. Continuous measurement: I measure the impact of each of my actions in order to adjust and amplify it continuously.
10. Transparency and sincerity: I report publicly on the progress of my commitments, recognizing their limitations and my room for progress.

Because it is time for the commitment to take a new turn. We want to carry out these commitments, promote them, but above all to make them live alongside associations and businesses. Let's find out how.

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A societal commitment that meets the challenges: mixed perspectives from companies and associations

Let's now zoom in on six of these main principles with the analyses of four engagement actors. Comparative perspectives from companies and associations that highlight the way in which societal commitment must be carried out to ensure its positive impact on the ground.

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Assume and remedy the negative externalities of your business

Becoming aware of the negative impacts generated is the first step in engaging your business. The commitment “Full responsibility” aims to encourage businesses to take this first step in order to reverse the curve.

The current business models of companies generate what are called negative externalities, whether environmental or social.

However, as specified by Fabrice Bonnifet - President of C3D (a network of experts that encourages companies to transform their model) and Head of SD and QSE at the Bouygues Group:

“In France, legislation regulates the social aspect more than the environmental aspect, but this does not justify the production of negative externalities on the environment.”

We must be aware of the impact that our company generates and reduce these externalities. Impacts that result mainly from business models that are not very virtuous, requiring a profound transformation.

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Towards a more virtuous business model for businesses

The Commitment “Deep transformation” highlights the importance of combining social commitment with the complete transformation of the business model. The link is obvious, because without federating all of its employees, this transformation cannot take place and vice versa.

Businesses create economic value. But at what social and environmental cost? In order to be aligned with these challenges, “their model must be transformed to adopt a regenerative dimension” affirms Fabrice Bonnifet. A model that is no longer “extractivist and ecocidal but that generates positive externalities”. This is the approach taken by certified companies B Corp, who seek to combine performance and impact.

For this, the involvement of all stakeholders is essential, starting with that of employees. “Many people are aware of social and environmental issues.” They want to take action. The question is how to do that.

It is by being informed, trained and committed that employees can contribute to changing the practices of their company. And that means convincing their management. As Fabrice Bonnifet points out, they will thus be able to “move from commitment to involvement in the transformation of the business model”.

The Fondation Agir Contre l'Exclusion (FACE), created by Martine Aubry and 12 business leaders, has the “primary social mission of engaging businesses through employees to act in favor of groups in situations of exclusion”, specifies Marine Lefèvre.

Fabrice Bonnifet and Marine Lefèvre thus share this conviction: employees have a role to play in the transformation of businesses.

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A societal commitment accessible to all employees

Commitment should not be exclusionary. This is what comes out of the commitment “Commitment for everyone”. To make it unifying, it is important to include all employees in its commitment process, without exception.

The real estate group Covivio created its corporate foundation in 2020 and launched the So Covivio employee engagement program.

Quite quickly, all employees have the opportunity to get involved. Today, no entry or selection criteria are required, whether in terms of position or seniority.

An access to commitment that FACE also allows, by offering missions open to all employees. Marine Lefèvre - Director of Corporate Engagement at FACE, explains this initiative: “we are committed to fighting exclusion, so it is obvious that we must make commitment accessible to all.”

All skills and profiles must be mobilized to adapt to the various audiences that the Foundation supports.

The main thing is to remove the obstacles to employee engagement and to legitimize it. A move to action that sometimes comes up against a certain fear. Thus, Covivio observed divergent reactions within its various European branches:

• In Italy, “employees were immediately enthusiastic about the idea of getting involved, with a 90% commitment rate in the first year.” notes Géraldine Lemoine - Communication Director and Vice President of the Covivio Foundation. While a large number of German employees were wondering about such an initiative.
• But it is especially in France that the question of legitimacy has arisen. “Some employees were wondering if getting involved was not going to be frowned upon by their manager.”

Covivio has therefore decided to involve management so that employees allow themselves to take the plunge and to remove the obligation for managers to validate missions at the same time.

To inspire you: 5 ways to improve employee engagement: the guide

Finally, legitimacy also requires the provision of missions on which not all employees would have dared to position themselves.

For example, a consulting firm partner of FACE has opened its missions, which aim to support seniors who are far from employment, to all its employees, including the youngest who would not have felt legitimate due to the age gap.

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Combining human and financial support to meet the needs of associations

To act effectively, associations need both financial and human resources. That's the whole point of commitment “Full support for associations”.

At Covivio, financial sponsorship is the first gateway for associations, with a donation granted as soon as they are integrated into the network.

But this support goes well beyond funding. The company supports each of them by various means:

• Occasional volunteer missions via a digital platform;
• Skill sponsorship adapted to the needs of associations;
• A provision graceful of some building parks;
• And help with real estate topics (search for premises, removals, lease negotiations etc.)

With these resources made available, associations can continue their actions.

Read also: Corporate donations to associations: decryption

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Make the needs of associations a priority in its engagement strategy

Committing to an association also means understanding and taking into account the needs of associations in order to satisfy them. That's what the commitment “Priority in the field”.

The Proxité association was founded in 1993 to prevent young people from poor neighborhoods from dropping out of school. Inequalities often linked to the lack of access to information and school support for the most disadvantaged young people.

To meet the needs of these beneficiaries, “it is essential to understand what they lack: the presence of a parent, a figure who is able to advise and support them” explains Sébastien Lailheuge - Director of Proxité.

As the association grew, its needs grew. She therefore looked for volunteers to support these young people over long periods of time: for a full school year and at a frequency of once a week.

From the very beginning, Proxité was “fortunate to be able to benefit from the help of companies AXA or Vinci without having to adapt the routes à la carte”.

More generally, Sébastien Lailheuge underlines that “Proxité's partner companies respect the established framework and promote it”.

This shows that it is essential to start from the real needs of associations to build effective and lasting partnerships. This is precisely what the Commitment ”Priority in the field” : understand the expectations of associations and respond to them appropriately, without trying to impose predefined formats.

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Support associations on an ongoing basis

The Commitment “Sustainable resources” supports the need to provide ongoing support to associations An indispensable reliability so that it can ensure that it meets the needs of their beneficiaries calmly.

With its foundation, Covivio first supported the beneficiary associations for 1 year and then extended its support to 3 years, realizing that their needs extended over the long term.

Associations feel “many uncertainties that may be related to funding but also to human resources” which must be sustainable.

At Proxité, the commitment to young beneficiaries must be held for the long term. They trust the volunteers who support them and cannot be left behind in the middle of the year. Sébastien Lailheuge even speaks of “negative externalities” in this specific case.

The companies that support the association respect this need and many of them have been working alongside it for more than 12 years.

A lasting support that allows him peace of mind, to project himself on future goals and to “promote dialogue around the needs of the association for a structuring impact”.

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Towards an acceleration of the impact of corporate social commitment in 2025

Business transformation, the needs of associations, commitment accessible to all... This exchange made it possible to highlight the methods and practices that make a structuring societal commitment. To close it, our four guests expressed their feelings and expressed their wishes for societal commitment.

“I think it is high time to give meaning to progress again. When employees volunteer for an association and feel useful, that's when they are the happiest. And for employees to be more committed, managers must be convinced to change their business model and employees must tell them “profitability is good, but sustainability is better.” - Fabrice Bonnifet

“The first objective would be to succeed in showing that all companies in our territory can find solutions from the associative fabric and actors such as Komeet, ways to get involved in line with their desires. To engage and engage their employees during their working time. And the second, that the performance of employees during, for example, annual interviews should also be evaluated on the basis of societal commitment.” - Marine Lefèvre

“Businesses are disconnected, we must continue to connect businesses with associations! Embedding the business ecosystem in the positive dynamic movement.” - Géraldine Lemoine

“The associative fabric is failing at the moment. The needs are imploding on the ground. This financial support from businesses to associations is essential. You have to keep going. On the Komeet side, we must continue to work for young people who really need it. Even 10 hours, 13 hours a month. And when it works, there are great stories. Keep on getting involved!” - Sebastian Lailheuge

In short, commitment should not remain an idea, an intention, but rely on constraints to engage employees: that is exactly what commitments allow. A happy medium between freedom and the responsibility to get involved!

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Komeet helps you create and run coherent, unifying and useful programs, guided by these commitments. Contact our experts to find out more.

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