That is, until now. Globalization of business, as well as pressure from more sophisticated investors and consumers, may have finally started to force the issue. And despite the expense of a sustainability report, the changes that can result from one may actually boost the bottom line. After an audit it installed new equipment that reduced its water usage from 29 million to 1 million gallons a year. Even when social audits do add expenses, they may provide other bonuses.
Companies undertake social audits because they add credibility.
While there's no universally accepted standard for measuring a company's non-financial performance, there's also no shortage of proposed frameworks and tools. This doesn't have to be a big, involved thing for a small business. The initial goal is to examine the impact of your products, services and processes on stakeholders, and then do what you can to improve that impact. Later, you can work your way up to a more comprehensive effort to change things. Consider Wild Planet Toys, a privately held company with 35 employees in San Francisco.