CSR Certification

Sustainable entrepreneurship is accomplished with the entire organisation

By Peter Biemans, Owner/Founder of Funeral Products B.V., The Netherlands

Certification is not exactly a catchy subject, making it all the more important that our business partners understand how valuable this certification is to them. Funeral Products shows how certification makes CSR ambitions and results visible and concrete.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as a term has different definitions, however, they are always basically the same. As Funeral Products we have chosen to adopt the definition of both CSR Netherlands and the Social and Economic Council (SEC): ‘Consciously focusing on value creation in the elements People (humanity), Planet (environment) and Profit (society) and thereby adding long-term value to social prosperity.’ This definition is the basis of the Global Products Group’s CSR policy, or how we deal with business processes that have a social or environmental impact. The policy is implemented and ensured through the ‘Deming circle’. This quality circle gives us the tools to operate with a focus on both results and continuous improvement. This by means of the four activities: Plan (Plan a change with improvement as a goal), Do (Test the identified change on a small scale), Check (Analyse the test results, what went right and what went wrong) and Act (Adopt or release the change permanently).

Customers know Funeral Products as a specialist in meaningful memorial products, such as urns and memorial jewellery. The company has extended its collection further through the years, offering digital solutions their FingerPrint system, Webshop solution and smart configurators. All specially tailored to help the funeral homes. Our products and services come in different shapes and materials, by craftsmen from various parts of the world. Transparency and corporate responsibility throughout the chain is fundamental when operating globally. By obtaining the CSR Performance Ladder certificate, we can now show everyone that we know exactly where, what, and how our beloved products are made, and most importantly, under what conditions.

It is easy to claim to be responsible as a company, but a sustainability policy goes beyond separating waste, double-sided printing and donating to charity. It is a way of thinking and working that carries through to all business processes and employees. The CSR certificate makes that visible to our customers, stakeholders and, above all, ourselves.

Read whole article in the spring issue of THANOS magazine
- you can read online at pages 18-20

Read online THANOS magazine