ISO 26000: How it makes your business socially sustainable

Why does the ISO matter to your sustainable business?

International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) develops and sets standards for technical, industrial and commercial activities for worldwide use. With 165 member countries, it is an internationally recognised standards body comprised of standards organisations from various nations.

As such, being certified under any ISO standards gives your business a serious amount of legitimacy.

ISO offers a wide range of standards dedicated to different aspects of your business organisation. For example, ISO 9001 puts your customers first whereas ISO 22301 helps protect your business from disruption. 

These standards help add credibility to your business. This can in turn help your business gain improved attractiveness among customers, potential employees and candidates, as well as investors.

How can ISO help your business become socially sustainable?

ISO 26000 standards pertain to social responsibility and are aimed to be used by organisations and businesses committed to operating in a socially responsible way.

It guides your business to conduct its activities with the importance of social and environmental issues in mind. However, unlike most of the other standards offered by ISO, you cannot get certified under ISO 26000.

It helps your business in a different way. It helps clarify what social responsibility is and what it means to your business. It guides your activities and helps bring your principles to action through best practices.

Any business that claims to be ISO 26000 certified is going against the intended use of the standard. It is not designed to certify anything. Its value is in the form of guidance for your business to become sustainable. 

ISO 26000 was developed with input from representatives of governments, NGOs, labour organisations, consumer groups as well as businesses. This kind of diverse perspective makes it a very well-built guideline for your business to follow as it takes its steps towards social sustainability.  

The overarching goal behind the use of ISO 26000 in an organisation is to help it contribute to sustainable development. In that way, it is also aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), another renowned and powerful tool for conceptualizing your sustainability efforts.

While the ISO 26000 standards are defined as a way to help organisations like your business become socially responsible, it is not just the social issues that it tackles. Through the use of ISO 26000, organisations are also expected to take into account important environmental, legal and other issues into consideration as well. 

What resources does ISO 26000 offer to help you become socially sustainable?

ISO offers multiple useful resources for your business to use in improving your social responsibility and thereby, the social sustainability of your business.

It offers a Communication Protocol that defines the appropriate ways and words to communicate the use of ISO 26000 in an organisation. In addition to that, it offers training materials as both a PowerPoint and training protocol guidance as a pdf file. 

These resources are aimed at providing organisations with the guidance they need to become sustainable in their activities. By adopting socially responsible that are dictated by the guidelines offered by ISO 26000, you can make your business sustainable.

Though the standards are not designed to be binding or any form of international standard, it does not prevent the development of national standards that demand more specificity.

ISO 26000 defines seven core subjects and issues that pertain to social responsibility in an organisation. These subjects span multiple organisational functions and refer to different aspects of ESG.

The seven core subjects are as follows:

• Organisational governance
• Human Rights
• Labour Practices
• The environment
• Fair operating practices
• Consumer issues
• Community involvement and development

As you can see, it is not concerned with just the social aspect of ESG. Instead, it has a wider focus that encompasses issues that are environmental and governance-related in nature.

How does ISO 26000 help with sustainability communication?

ISO 26000 standards also dictate communication of your business’s sustainability efforts, on top of the guidance it provides in taking that action.

It calls for periodic reporting of your business’s social responsibility performance. It also suggests aligning your reports to the guidelines provided by a credible external organisation. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is one such prominent organisation that helps your business become sustainable through sustainability reporting and communication.

ISO 26000 also suggests that the following information is included in your sustainability reporting:

• Information about objectives and performance on the core subjects and relevant issues of social responsibility 
• How and when stakeholders have been involved in the reporting
• A fair and complete picture of performance, including achievements and shortfalls, and the way in which shortfalls will be addressed

These suggestions also call for transparent communication from your business with the stakeholders. It suggests keeping an open line of communication with the relevant stakeholders and communicating with them your intentions and efforts to become sustainable.

How SUSTINARO can help with your sustainability communication

All these standards and guidelines clearly underline the importance of communication for any sustainable business.

And communication is not just about preparing the annual report and being done with it. It involves keeping your stakeholders informed with honest information about the efforts you undertake to become a sustainable business. 

A successful sustainability communication strategy and plan will keep your stakeholders informed of all the relevant issues in your business and how you are trying to solve them. Transparency is key here, and keeping an open line of communication with the stakeholders can only be a source of strength.

If your business communicates with its employees about the employee-related issues it has found and is trying to solve, it can strengthen its efforts with valuable input from them. Likewise, it is key, that you are honest, and transparent in your communication of sustainability issues.

Let your stakeholders know that you are aware of the issues. And tell them about how you are planning to or are now trying to solve the problem. Should you fail at any of your efforts, keep them informed of that too. 

Stakeholders, including potential investors, love businesses that are transparent and have nothing to hide.

It makes your business look honest and seem more attractive to potential investors as well as customers and potential employees. This is what we, at SUSTINARO, can help you with.

SUSTINARO believes in sustainability that makes sense. With a stakeholder-oriented approach, we redesign, strategise, plan and even help execute your sustainability communication efforts. Make your business sustainable, not only for what you might gain tomorrow but also for what you will gain today.