ISO 26000 Maturity · Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
Your CSR practices mapped against ISO 26000, translated into a costed roadmap.
10 themes, 117 questions, a 5-level scale. And the action that moves each level to the next.
The framework’s 10 themes, already written from L1 to L5. One company, one business unit, or 300 at once.
ISO 26000 Maturity · Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
10 themes, 117 questions, 5-level scale.
Nordhavn Industries
53 / 100
They measure their maturity with Datamensio
An example
This could be your situation.
Take one company as an example: three sites, three spreadsheets, no shared answer.
Nobody can consolidate.
Nordhavn Industries, 2,400 people in Hamburg, Lyon and Porto. A client asks where the group stands. Each site answers in its own spreadsheet, with its own scales.
Three weeks, a single base.
One ISO 26000:2010 assessment launched across all three sites at once, from the managers’ interview notes. The framework was already written, its 10 themes and levels L1 to L5 too.
Two costs avoided before being committed.
A score of 53 out of 100, with the gap concentrated on three themes. The AI companion spotted that two actions duplicated those of another audit. The committee report took one sentence to request.
What it saved them
- 3sites measured on the same base, instead of three questionnaires to reconcile
- 2duplicate actions caught before the spend
- 1committee report, with no manual rework
These figures are an example. They could be yours.
The standard imposes processes. Datamensio says where you stand.
01
The framework is already written
Themes, questions and levels L1 to L5, all written. You do not start from an empty spreadsheet.
02
The score lands the same day
Online, by self-assessment link or in interview. Theme by theme, comparable over time.
03
The gap becomes a costed plan
Every step up carries its action. The AI prioritises on expected effect, not on the order of the standard.
04
Progress can be demonstrated
Campaign after campaign, against your target and against your own past. That is what your board asks for.
The maturity scale
One level, the next, and the action that links the two.
It is this mechanism (a level, the level above, and the action that links them) that turns an observation into a trajectory.
Does stakeholder dialogue genuinely feed into the organisation’s decisions?
- N1
No dialogue mechanism identified. Exchanges with stakeholders happen by chance, with no record and no follow-up.
- N2
Key stakeholders are identified and met, but the issues raised are not consolidated and have no designated owner.
- N3
Dialogue follows a set calendar, issues raised are consolidated and presented to a committee that decides on them. Responses given are documented.
- N4
Decisions arising from dialogue are assigned to an owner, a deadline and an indicator. Feedback to stakeholders is systematic.
- N5
The stakeholder map and dialogue arrangements are reviewed periodically in line with changes in activities and expectations, with documented tracking of revisions and their effects on strategy.
Action to move from L2 to L3
Consolidate the issues raised by stakeholders into a single log and put it on the executive committee’s agenda once a quarter, with a formal decision recorded for each issue examined.
« With Datamensio, we meet our objectives far more efficiently. The ERDF inspection services and our supervising ministry particularly appreciated an approach that gives them reliable data. »
Director, CCI 94CCI Île-de-France
« We believe this is the most suitable solution to scale our transformation project and measure impact according to our needs. »
Maja SucekChief Operating Officer, Interreg Danube
Rarely on its own
Frameworks combine. Put several together to cover your business, or have the AI write yours.
Take your first measurementon ISO 26000.
What this framework covers
ISO 26000 is the international guidance standard on social responsibility. It rests on seven principles (accountability, transparency, ethical behaviour, respect for stakeholder interests, respect for the rule of law, respect for international norms of behaviour, respect for human rights) and seven core subjects: organisational governance, human rights, labour practices, the environment, fair operating practices, consumer issues, and community involvement and development. It also asks organisations to identify their stakeholders, determine their sphere of influence and prioritise their relevant core subjects.
In practice, the challenge is not knowing these core subjects but working out where the organisation actually stands on each of them. The initiative is usually driven by a CSR department, while the practices being assessed play out in procurement, HR, on factory floors and with suppliers. Does stakeholder dialogue produce traceable decisions, or just meeting minutes? Does due diligence cover the distant tiers of the supply chain, or does it stop at direct suppliers? Are published commitments assigned to an owner and tracked against an indicator?
One confusion deserves clearing up: ISO 26000 cannot be certified and was never written to be. It serves as a structuring framework, often used ahead of sustainability reporting, an ESG rating or a double materiality assessment. Since the CSRD and the ESRS came into effect, many organisations have discovered they must document policies, actions and targets on topics already covered by ISO 26000. The framework retains its full value, provided you know what it delivers and what it does not.
The maturity assessment answers a different question from a regulatory compliance review. Compliance review asks whether an obligation has been met. The assessment asks what level of control the practices have reached, area by area, and what specific action moves them up a level. This progressive reading makes it possible to compare business units operating in different contexts, measure the gap to target, and sequence effort across several cycles rather than tackling everything in one year.
Within Datamensio, the framework is ready to use and adaptable. The AI adjusts the themes, questions and levels to your sector and scope, or builds a bespoke version from your own documents: CSR policy, code of conduct, stakeholder map. You remain the owner of the framework you publish.
Reference standard: ISO 26000:2010
The themes assessed
Organisational governance
Whether social responsibility is anchored at senior management level, accountability, transparency of decisions, allocation of resources, integration into existing decision-making processes.
Stakeholder identification and dialogue
Stakeholder mapping, sphere of influence, dialogue arrangements, traceability of issues raised and decisions taken in response.
Relevant core subjects and priorities
Prioritisation method, criteria used, consideration of stakeholder expectations, periodic review of priorities.
Human rights
Due diligence, risk situations, prevention of complicity, non-discrimination, civil and political rights, fundamental rights at work.
Labour practices
Employment and employer-employee relations, working conditions and social protection, social dialogue, health and safety, skills development.
The environment
Pollution prevention, sustainable resource use, climate change mitigation and adaptation, protection of biodiversity and ecosystems.
Fair operating practices
Anti-corruption measures, responsible political involvement, fair competition, promoting social responsibility throughout the value chain, respect for property rights.
Consumer issues
Fair marketing and information practices, protection of health and safety, sustainable consumption, after-sales service, data protection and privacy.
Community involvement and development
Community engagement, education and culture, employment creation, technology development, wealth and income creation, investment in society.
Communication, indicators and improvement
Reliability of indicators, internal and external communication on performance, verification of published data, periodic review and comparison over time.
A short version of the framework, with 39 questions, is available for the online self-assessment. The full version covers 10 themes and 117 questions.
Frequently asked questions
Can ISO 26000 be certified?
No. It is a guidance standard, explicitly written without binding requirements and with no certification body. It serves as a framework for structuring and internal assessment. The Datamensio assessment measures the maturity of your practices against this framework, it awards no label.
What is the difference between this assessment and a regulatory compliance review?
A compliance review concludes whether an obligation is met or not. The assessment places each core subject on a progressive scale and identifies the action that moves it up a level. It is designed to steer a trajectory, not to produce a certificate.
How long does the assessment take?
The short version can be completed in a single working session. The full version, run collaboratively with contributors from procurement, HR, environment and site teams, typically spans one to two weeks, with most of the time spent on data collection.
Can the framework be adapted to our sector?
Yes. You can edit the questions, levels and themes, add to them, or start from a blank base. The AI generates a sector-specific version from your internal documents and refines the levels using the CMMI method. The framework remains yours.
How does this assessment relate to CSRD and the ESRS?
ISO 26000’s core subjects largely overlap with the environmental, social and governance topics expected in sustainability reporting. The assessment provides a reusable foundation ahead of double materiality. A cross-cutting roadmap lets you combine several assessments without duplicating actions.
Can several entities be compared with one another?
Yes. Assessments run on the same framework can be compared by business unit, by country and by theme, as well as against your own results from previous cycles. This is what allows you to distinguish a structural gap from a local context effect.
Do respondents need CSR expertise?
The questions focus on management practices and their traceability, not technical data. A CSR manager, an internal auditor or a site director can answer them. Collaborative mode allows specialised questions to be routed to the right contributor.
Where is the data hosted?
In France, with OVH, backed up with Scaleway. No transfer outside the European Union. The AI models used can be selected, including from European providers.