It’s a common concern of business leaders: how can our company benefit and treat ethically its employees, customers, shareholders, society and the environment whilst also being financially prolific?

But never fear! It turns out there is a crucial link between these two business goals—check out a few pillars of corporate social responsibility (CSR) below to learn how everyone involved can benefit from businesses implementing CSR initiatives.

Treating employees with respect, fostering talent, and encouraging personal growth is a crucial pillar to producing an ethical AND productive company. Employees who feel nurtured and encouraged in their place of work are likely to work in ways that are more productive and innovative. Refer to the Whole Foods story for a good example of this. Speaker John Mackey co-founder and CEO of Whole Foods, built his business by treating his employees with respect and care by designing programs such as the Whole Foods Market Healthy Revolution, a healthy eating program designed to radically improve the health of company team-workers, while significantly cutting the cost of corporate health care.

Gone are the days in which corporate and social responsibly was defined by a firm making financial donations to a charity. In order to truly be socially responsible, companies must ensure all facets of their business are being conducted ethically and with the greater good in mind. In addition to conducting ethical business being the morally upright thing to do… it has also been proven that developing a robust corporate philanthropy and ethical practices program within your firm can actually attract higher-performing employees to work for your company.

Now more than ever, the business and personal choices we make regarding our environment are crucial to our society’s well being and longevity. Having a clear strategy that details how your company will ensure its choices are beneficial to the environment is a good place to start. Going green benefits everyone involved—in his book Green to Gold as well as his presentations, speaker Andrew Winston discusses how smart companies can use environmental strategy to build their competitive advantage by “lowering their costs, reducing risk, increasing revenues, and enhancing brand value“.