During the last year, many companies’ expectations, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, have changed as entrepreneurs have become aware that they must be ready for rapid changes in the market and that it is essential to promote corporate social responsibility to take care of our environment and to be committed to sustainability. Today’s post is about how e-signatures can contribute to corporate social responsibility.
Climate change is one of the most important challenges facing businesses around the world. Companies have a corporate responsibility to contribute to collective well-being by improving people’s lives with their products and services, economic and social development and care for the environment. Digital transformation is how these goals can be achieved more efficiently.
Using e-signatures to contribute to corporate social responsibility
Digital transformation is a process where digital technology is applied to business processes to boost efficiency. Furthermore, corporate social responsibility may be defined as the management of the impact of a company’s activities on its customers, employees, shareholders, local communities, the environment and society. Digital transformation contributes to boosting corporate social responsibility of companies in several ways:
- Using technology, companies can reduce the impact of their activities on climate change. For example, Click & Sign’s electronic signature contributes to the use of no paper, since it is not necessary to print the document to sign it, it also helps to avoid the use of energy (electricity for printing) and unnecessary travel ( with the resulting) use of gasoline. As a result, companies’ footprint on the environment is reduced.
- The electronic signature facilitates employees to work remotely and perform a multitude of tasks with other departments of the company, customers or suppliers remotely. Teleworking also saves journeys by car or public transport and reduces energy consumption. Moreover, teleworking helps balance work and family life, which increases the well-being of employees and helps the company attract and retain talent and avoid a bad working environment.
- Electronic signatures also promote corporate social responsibility regarding fraud prevention, as it avoids the potential problems of paper-based document signatures: forged signatures, manipulated documents, unreliable identification of signatories, identity theft, etc. The advanced electronic signature provides an additional level of security. If the signed document is manipulated, there would be evidence of it. The signatories could not repudiate it because various electronic proofs evidence the signature’s validity.
- Corporate social responsibility is also reflected in the company’s compliance with the company’s regulations from all points of view: legal, commercial, labour, accounting, etc. Click & Sign’s advanced electronic signature complies with all the requirements established by the eIDAS Regulation so that it is entirely valid and can be used as evidence in court, if necessary.
- Another important aspect of corporate social responsibility is to adapt to the needs of the people who are part of the community in which the company operates. In today’s world, companies are faced with digital natives who demand new technological solutions that adapt to their needs and provide speed, reliability and respect for the environment. In connection to the above, the electronic signature is a digital tool suited to the needs of digital natives as it allows all types of documents to be signed in seconds and with just a few clicks.
- Contributing to a zero paper footprint. It takes 15 trees to produce one tonne of paper. This figure gives us an idea of the impact of the use of paper in companies. While paper has been used for many years for all types of documents in companies, in a move to strengthen corporate social responsibility and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals, companies are increasingly using solutions such as e-signatures to eliminate the use of paper.
As we have seen, the digital transformation involves using various digital tools that, like the electronic signature and its advantages, contribute to corporate social responsibility and help organisations be increasingly respectful of the natural environment.