Consideration Symmetry at the core of the CSR strategy and to assess non-financial performance of business

Greater Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) expectations on business

Social and environmental issues are assuming a bigger place in today’s business world. Clients and employees have expressed clear expectations in terms of corporate social responsibility (CSR).

In this backdrop, several questions must be asked: given that these expectations impact the experience for both clients and employees, how can businesses implement effective actions to address them? And how to measure employee and client perception of these actions?

New evaluation methods have emerged and enable to assess non-financial performance in the business world. These methods are based on measuring Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) indicators. Management of these ESG indicators has become a strong performance marker in the sustainable development of any business that engages in a virtual circle of respect for the environment and for its stakeholders, a necessary condition to long-term economic development.

In the employment field (the ‘S’ for Social in ESG), the indicators used generally concern workplace safety, absenteeism, compensation, training, diversity, inclusion, and gender pay equality.
However, the aspects of client culture and satisfaction, employee engagement, or the quality of management practices, are generally not included in company CSR reports and ESG analysis criteria used in the financial sector (by analysts, investment funds, etc.).

To address this lack, the Académie du Service has developed the Consideration Symmetry ESG index

Consideration Symmetry, a founding belief at the core of the CSR strategy and to assess non-financial performance of business

Consideration Symmetry, the founding belief of the Académie du Service, is based on the fundamental principle that the quality of the relationship between a company and its clients is symmetrical to the quality of the relationship between the same company and all its employees. And it drives customer satisfaction and employee engagement.

As such, we think Consideration Symmetry is key to assess both, business, and CSR performances.

Every year, Académie du Service creates National Rankings measuring Consideration Symmetry in major sectors of the French economy.

This evaluation method is also applied to organisations (businesses, government departments, etc.) to assess the alignment between client strategy choices, the degree of commitment from employees to this strategy and the perception that clients effectively have.

To address new expectations of clients and employees, and to support businesses in managing their CSR strategy to contribute to their non-financial performance publications, Académie du Service has developed the Consideration Symmetry ESG index. This tool is used to evaluate client and employee perception of their respective experiences, and of the company’s CSR commitments. It also serves to assess the robustness of the company’s related action plans. Its final purpose is to measure the client culture of the business and its commitment to implementing Consideration Symmetry.

The deployment of this full-featured, robust measuring tool is one response to the growing need for businesses to change paradigm by putting the client and the employee at the core of their strategy.

The ESG index of Consideration Symmetry is a non-financial performance indicator to measure enterprise commitment to clients, employees, and social performance

With the ESG index of Consideration Symmetry, any business can benefit from:

• A full evaluation of its service culture and client satisfaction
• A benchmark to appreciate its market position
• Strategic recommendations to identify areas for improvement
• Factual data to complete non-financial reports and offer greater visibility on the commitments and CSR policy of the business.

In conclusion, the Consideration Symmetry ESG index is an innovative indicator that supplements others in the social scope. It completes non-financial reports on dimensions that are often neglected today but which remain core factors in social responsibility and sustainable performance: employee engagement and client satisfaction.