Structure your CSR function
Make your CSR function a catalyst for your overall performance
Pour de nombreuses entreprises, mettre en place une démarche RSE représente un véritable défi. La fonction RSE doit s’articuler avec des départements clés – Direction, Achats/Supply Chain, Ressources Humaines, Finance, IT – et naviguer dans la complexité des exigences RSE : règlementations, labels, outils et reporting. Par-dessus tout, la RSE doit démontrer rapidement sa valeur ajoutée pour l’entreprise.
Thanks to its expertise in organizational transformation, already proven in strategic departments, Axys turns your CSR function into a lever for sustainable performance, resilience, and responsible innovation.
Whether your CSR approach is emerging or structured, we can help you:
- Mastering key topics: regulatory issues, labels, standards
- Manage your challenges with clear governance and tailored tools
- Activate your ecosystem to increase your transformative power tenfold
- Adopting the Business Partner approach to connect CSR to your overall strategy
Our CSR convictions
A centralized ESG function, driven by all departments
For many ESG functions, a major challenge remains: limited time and human resources. At Axys, we find that these difficulties often stem from alignment and integration issues within organizations. A centralized ESG function is essential to drive the sustainable strategy, but engagement from business experts is crucial.
To succeed, ESG governance, scopes, roles, and internal champions must be clearly defined. This approach goes beyond mere regulatory compliance to establish a unifying ESG strategy, aligned with overall business strategy and driving sustainable performance.
Turning complexity of requests into opportunity
Meeting investors’ expectations, responding to client and buyer requirements, anticipating regulations, producing reliable sustainability data, and tracking relevant ESG indicators: these are challenges that demand a structured and well-equipped ESG function.
With appropriate ESG tools, you can drive your sustainable development strategy, achieve your goals, streamline data collection and analysis, anticipate regulatory changes, and respond quickly to key stakeholders’ expectations. ESG thus becomes a strategic asset, transforming constraints into sustainable competitive advantages.
An ESG function, a true ally of your business strategy
To maximize the impact of your sustainability strategy and strengthen your company’s resilience, the ESG function must be closely connected to the Executive Board.
This strategic integration gives it a key role: that of a strategic advisor capable of anticipating ESG risks, guiding governance decisions, and creating lasting value.
At Axys, we believe that integrating ESG into governance is a true driver of sustainable performance and responsible innovation.
Our CSR supports
Assess your maturity
and diagnose your processes
We begin with an in-depth diagnostic phase to identify the most suitable organizational structure for integrating CSR into your company.
This analysis includes:
- Évaluation des processus existants et des pratiques RSE actuelles
- Cartographie des compétences internes et des ressources disponibles
- Analyse des outils et indicateurs de pilotage ESG déjà en place
This cross-disciplinary approach enables us to accurately understand your needs and formulate strategic recommendations for defining an effective and sustainable target organization, aligned with major social responsibility standards such as ISO 26000, the CSRD, and the European taxonomy.
Our added value:
- A tailor-made recommendation to strengthen your commitment and transform your CSR initiatives into drivers of sustainable performance.
Defining an effective
organization
Based on the initial analysis, we define the scope of the CSR function, its missions, and its coordination with other departments within the company (Purchasing, Finance, HR, Marketing, etc.).
Our support includes:
- Structuring CSR governance: setting up committees, defining responsibilities, scope of the CSR function
- Identification of strategic stakeholders to involve in order to ensure constructive dialogue
- Defining facilitation methods to ensure collaborative and dynamic leadership that brings your teams together
Our added value:
- Support that aims to maintain organizational consistency with your operations and culture.
Train and equip
your CSR teams
We support your CSR teams in the key areas needed to structure, manage, and implement your responsible strategy through training and tools.
Our approach aims to strengthen your capabilities and organize your actions:
- Skills development in key areas: regulatory compliance (CSRD), EcoVadis, climate, diversity and inclusion, business partner approach
- Assistance in selecting specialized partners according to your needs: ESG reporting platform, LCA, carbon footprint assessment, business tools
- Integration of low-code, well-designed digital tools to improve efficiency, collaboration, and action tracking
- Promoting your CSR approach: CSR report, support with labeling and certification, internal and external communication
Our added value:
- Recognized expertise in organizational transformation for over 30 years, working alongside purchasing, HR, and IT departments.
- A catalog of off-the-shelf or customized training and awareness courses – Qualiopi certification
Lay a solid foundation for your CSR approach with the CSR First Steps Program
Is your company new to CSR and working with a limited budget? The CSR First Steps Program is designed to help you lay a solid foundation, without complexity or extra costs. This program includes five essential deliverables to help you know where to start and structure your first actions:
- Analyse de l’existant pour identifier vos forces et axes d’amélioration
- Sensibilisation des équipes pour embarquer vos collaborateurs
- Matérialité simplifiée pour prioriser vos enjeux clés
- Plan d’actions concret pour passer rapidement à l’action
- Indicateurs clés pour mesurer et communiquer sur vos impacts
Et après ? Nous assurons un suivi régulier à vos côtés pour vous guider pas à pas dans votre démarche.
Our added value:
- Fast, high-quality, low-cost support to initiate a solid and sustainable CSR approach
- Personalized, local support to advise you on all your needs
Integrated ESG governance that is clear, effective, and tailored to your organization
Through the tailored diagnostics we conduct and our expertise in organizational transformation, we help you build an ESG governance model capable of mobilizing all your key stakeholders and ensuring smooth coordination between departments.
The result: a unifying ESG governance structure that aligns key players around a shared objective — successfully driving your responsible transformation and strengthening your company’s long-term sustainable performance.
A structured ESG function to steer and achieve your roadmap objectives
We work alongside you to lay the foundations of a strong ESG function, capable of steering and showcasing your responsible transformation. How? By defining a clear scope, building a prioritized roadmap, and integrating relevant ESG indicators to streamline your ESG reporting and demonstrate your ROI.
In practical terms, we turn your ESG commitments into tangible, measurable results that create value for your organization.
Key stakeholders trained and equipped to deploy ESG across your organization
We help you build a strong ESG culture within your teams, enabling them to navigate a complex ecosystem, engage all employees, and integrate ESG challenges into every role. With our support, your teams master ESG fundamentals, have access to tools tailored to their needs, and ultimately enhance your ESG performance.
They become strategic ambassadors, capable of driving lasting transformation across your organization.
“Because we believe that every company can and should commit to a responsible approach, Axys has designed the CSR First Steps program. This pragmatic and structured support enables you to launch your CSR strategy without unnecessary complexity, with personalized monitoring tailored to your challenges.
This program is designed to secure your choices from the outset, anticipate and respond to the requirements of your stakeholders, and lay the foundations for a solid and sustainable CSR. By guiding you step by step, we lay the groundwork for a CSR function that will become a real lever for transformation within your organization.”
Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Sustainability
Got a project for us? Contact our experts
Frédérique WINCKEL
Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Sustainability
Vincent MARTEGOUTTE
Partner BU Purchases
Our support for Sustainable Transformation
Implementing your CSR roadmap operationally :
We support you in aligning your CSR roadmap with your business strategy, mobilizing your managers, and equipping your business teams.
Our approach? To ensure that your operational teams become key players in the sustainable transition and contribute to responsible and innovative performance.
Shift your functions toward sustainability :
With Axys, a sustainable transformation consulting firm, turn your business lines into driving forces behind your CSR strategy.
The goal? To support the transformation of your Purchasing, HR, Finance, and CSR departments to strengthen sustainable performance and accelerate the transition to responsible business practices.
Engage and train your teams in CSR :
Qualiopi certified, we offer CSR training tailored to your level of maturity and strategic objectives.
From an introduction to CSR to advanced management and integration of CSR into business operations, we train your teams to transform your organization and strengthen your sustainable performance.
Promote your CSR approach and meet requirements :
We help you manage your key indicators, anticipate stakeholder demands, communicate your progress, and support your certification and accreditation efforts.
The result? Commitments that become drivers of credibility and a sustainable competitive advantage.
We answer your questions
Who should be responsible for CSR in a company?
The CSR function must be led by a legitimate and influential figure within the organization. Ideally, it should report to senior management to ensure its strategic integration. Depending on the size and maturity of the company, this may be a dedicated CSR manager, a cross-functional CSR committee, or representatives in each business unit. The goal is to ensure clear governance, effective coordination, and stakeholder buy-in.
What tools are needed to manage CSR effectively?
Effective management relies on key performance indicators (KPIs) aligned with your ESG objectives, reporting solutions that comply with standards (GRI, CSRD), and business tools tailored to integrate CSR into your processes. The most commonly used tools include non-financial reporting platforms, ESG dashboards, and automated data collection solutions. These tools enable you to track your progress, demonstrate your ROI, and facilitate internal and external communication.
Comment se préparer à la CSRD/VSME et aux obligations RSE ?
Although the CSRD requires detailed non-financial reporting in line with European standards, not all companies are subject to it! However, the CSRD and VSME provide a reporting framework that can satisfy all your stakeholders (both internal and external), as well as a precise, robust, and high-value-added methodology to structure your CSR approach and strengthen your company’s resilience.
To prepare, start with a CSR maturity assessment, identify the ESG data to be collected, and implement structured reporting processes. Anticipating these obligations allows you to reduce regulatory risks, improve transparency, and strengthen investor and partner confidence.
Which standards should be followed to structure CSR (ISO 26000, GRI, etc.)?
CSR is part of a complex ecosystem of standards, regulatory frameworks, labels, and management tools, the diversity of which can make structural choices difficult.
At Axys, we help organizations clarify their challenges, assess their level of maturity, and identify the most relevant frameworks, in line with their strategy, sector, and obligations.
Our approach aims to make informed choices in support of a credible, operational, and sustainable CSR strategy.
Should you create a dedicated CSR team within your organization?
It all depends on your size and ambitions. Mature companies, or those seeking to become more mature, often opt for a dedicated CSR department, ensuring a strategic approach.
But be careful: while having a dedicated CSR team makes sense for steering, training, and engaging employees and for ESG reporting, you need to ensure that CSR works closely with senior management to guide strategic decisions, as well as with business departments such as Purchasing, Finance, Human Resources, etc., to integrate CSR into the core business and facilitate the responsible transformation of the company. The bottom line: clear governance and appropriate resources to effectively manage your commitments.