The early
roots of CSR were more local, charitable, and almost quaint; however, today CSR
is global, strategic, and business critical. Thirty years into my CSR journey,
I see business winners advocating fiercely for compassion, inclusion, and
transparency in their operations. CSR – it is truly a journey not a
destination.
There is a
point at which a company's responsibilities to society are so deeply aligned
with its responsibilities to investors and employees that there is no
meaningful distinction between business strategy and CSR.
CSR strategy
at its best is essentially a public accounting of a company’s commitment to
“the triple-bottom-line” – its people, its profitability, and the planet. Did
we grow our people? Did we make money? Did we help or hurt the planet? This is
the “triple-bottom-line” measurement of genuine success. For such
purpose-driven organizations, CSR is the critical avenue through which each company’s
purpose gains expression.
The rising
consumer class of Millennials numbered 2 billion in 20172 according to the Pew
Charitable Trust, and as they consume, they are sharing their experiences,
learning from and supporting each other, and recognizing the fundamental
importance of empathy and responsibility. They form the foundation of the
Caring Economy and CSR is the essential channel for engaging them. The
Millennial generation (those born between roughly 1981 and 1997) now
constitutes the largest adult demographic in history, and numerous surveys show
Millennials have an overwhelming preference for employment at socially
responsible companies. They are also among the large majority of consumers who
say they are willing to pay more for sustainably produced goods and services.
As older generations have passed along, the percentage of consumers who prefer
sustainable goods has been climbing steadily.
For makers
of consumer products, CSR is a vital source of pricing power required for
maintaining profitability. A company that is socially responsible is a company
built for long-term sustainable success. Typically, sustainability goals for
organizations are broken into three broad categories of concern: environmental,
social, and governance, known as ESG.
Leaders of
the profitable corporations in the Caring Economy will be those who understand
that company stakeholders expect them to be socially responsible, transparent,
and accountable.
CSR ends when
everyone in the company exercises CSR reflexively each day because, for that
company, social responsibility is synonymous with fiscal responsibility and
sustainable long-term growth.
Great Brands
Are Purpose Driven
1.1. Seek mission alignment: the key to beginning and sustaining
your CSR effort is to set goals and objectives that are very strongly aligned
with the mission and business goals already embraced by the organization’s
leadership. these companies pursues CSR in ways that are highly relevant to its
industry, its customers, and their communities. The United Nations has a list
of 17 Sustainable Development Goals, known as SDGs.
1.2. Assess
Your Existing CSR for Quick Wins: Many companies that do not have CSR programs
nonetheless exercise social responsibility by other names, by sharing their
expertise on a philanthropic basis. One reliable resource to consult as you
begin is The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), an independent
international standards organization that helps businesses, governments, and
other organizations take stock of their CSR impact. A second resource tailored
for investors is the Sustainability Accounting Standards
Board (SASB), a U.S.-based non-profit that develops and promotes
accounting standards for sustainability, much like FASB (the Financial
Accounting Standards Board) promotes accounting principles for financial
reporting.
1.3. Make
your SWOT Analysis: Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Another very practical way to shake out
your short-term triple-bottom-line points of emphasis is to undertake a
standard SWOT analysis: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Which
items represent your company’s strengths, where brand alignment might make a
powerful statement? Think of Intel’s use of its technology to empower more
people to innovate and harnessing its data to address society’s most complex
issues – from climate change to energy efficiency to economic empowerment and
human rights.
Which items
represent some of your company’s weaknesses and vulnerabilities, where
attention needs to be paid to avoid potential problems with customers and other
stakeholders?
Which items
represent clear opportunities, where positive action is most likely to attract
employee engagement, leverage the capabilities of company suppliers, and
attract strategic partners outside the organization?
Which items
represent areas of threat to the organization, where a lack of CSR attention in
a particular area might put the company at a serious competitive disadvantage?
1.4. Go on a
listening tour: when it
comes to CSR, “Management never knows what it wants but will like what you
get.” Building a CSR platform involves a mix of “tenacity and finesse” says
Andrea Sullivan. People want to be engaged but you need to find what resonates
for them.
1.5. Define
your terms. My advice
then and now has always been to get out on the table the various concepts that
CSR may connote for colleagues, and never assume that everyone sees CSR the
same way.
1.6. Create
a CSR culture
CSR Beginner’s Checklist
Mission
Alignment: Get support
from the top. Set your initial goals and objectives so they are strongly
aligned with the mission and business goals already embraced by the
organization’s leadership.
Quick Wins: Pick the low-hanging fruit.
Identify existing efforts and fold them into your CSR story.
SWOT
Analysis: Plan your
efforts based on your analysis of your organization’s strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, and threats.
Term
Definitions: From the
start, get out on the table the various concepts that CSR may connote for
colleagues, and never assume that everyone sees CSR the same way.
Listening
Tour: Test market
your thoughts with colleagues and listen for feedback and fresh perspectives.
All this early research and analysis will pay off later when you need to make a
case for CSR funding and other resources with your organization’s top
decision-makers.
Company
Culture: Seek CSR
opportunities that are best aligned with the company’s culture and can
contribute to strengthening it. Look for socially responsible initiatives that
express your organization’s agreed-upon brand values.
Building
your CSR Platform
LEGO’s
distinction as the world’s most powerful brand. Company’s mission through three
ambitious ESG objectives. These three ESG objectives gave birth to a series of
strategic initiatives. These initiatives have been crucial in LEGO’s turnaround
by integrating CSR directly into its business operations. You and your company
can take a page of the LEGO playbook by working to interpret your company’s
mission statement and business goals through a similar CSR lens.
2.1.
Building consensus and Support: Sierra Club implemented sustainability program can
contribute three major strategies to an organization: “a bottom-line strategy
to save costs, a top-line strategy to reach a new consumer base, and a talent
strategy to get, keep, and develop creative employees.” Your CSR program follow
four keys of branding success, as outlined by the Interbrand consulting group:
clarity, commitment, responsiveness, and governance. Be clear about what CSR
means for your organization. As the CSR platform launches and develops, you
will need to remain in campaign mode, always reaching out, creating new
initiatives, and delivering updates to attract still more momentum for CSR. Demonstrate
and communicate your commitment. Simply Googling “CSR Resources” will provide
you with some of the most current and frequented sources. Make responsiveness a
top priority. Nurture support from the top of the organization. Keep your top
contacts in the company informed, involved and consulted. When company
leadership is missing, it is too easy for CSR to take on the aura of a “nice to
have” exercise, and not the mission-critical, brand-building, employee-morale
boosting enterprise that it can be.
2.2.
Strategy execution: Support
existing activities. Start small and allow colleagues to pick up your tune. Put
your money where your mouth is.
2.3. The
power of networking with CSR colleagues: The professional listening tour. Start your own CSR
association. Convene and Connect
3.1.
Employees – The Bullseye: Particularly among younger employees, there is a belief that CSR is
something the employer should provide, no different than any other item in
their benefits package. It is good for team building, fostering a shared sense
of purpose and overall morale. At its best, CSR makes a difference, and in
doing so, makes employees feel better about themselves, their colleagues and
their employer. In everything you do, using social media platforms from
Facebook to Instagram to WeChat is essential to your success with CSR
campaigns. As numbers of Millennials and younger digital natives increasingly
predominate in the workplace,
3.2.
Customers – The Middle Ring of the Bullseye: They like companies that make them feel good about
associating with them. Authenticity and caring to make a difference need
to be part of your company culture.
3.3 The
Outer Ring of the Bullseye: Community and the World: We believe it is important to
regularly review our stakeholder identification process,” says John Cheh, Vice
Chairman and CEO of at Esquel Group, the textile manufacturer. “It is about
building relationships that share common values and creating synergy.” Esquel’s
broad list of stakeholders include the Fair Labor Association, Sustainable
Apparel Coalition, and all the suppliers, communities, and regulatory agencies
that they are involved with.
The
broadest, most inclusive business alliance promoting CSR globally is the UN
Global Compact. All 13,000 member CEOs and their employees have signed on to principles-driven
business practices that grow their enterprises while pursuing the United
Nations’ list of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.19
Iterate: The question is, how to try again,
how to re-think, re-adjust or take a new path.
4.1. No
workplace is perfect
4.2. Volunteering ups and downs
4.3. Learn from others’ mistakes: the risks of combining CSR with
marketing (greenwashing, clumsy advertising, product gimmickry, awkward
corporate donations or off-message sponsorships).
4.4 Never
Stop Taking Chances: Measure
What is Material. “In God we trust; all
others must bring data.” – Jack Welch
5.1.
Measuring CSR Impact
For other
CSR projects, you can begin the task of measuring and tracking them with the
help of KPIs related to these four basic measures: Inputs Outputs Outcomes
Impacts
Basically, a
CSR outcome is about your company. A CSR impact is about your stakeholder. For
instance, if your company installs high-efficiency lighting as a part of a
sustainable energy initiative, the reduced dollars spent on electricity is an
outcome. The avoided pounds greenhouse gases entering the environment is the
impact.
5.2.
Integrated ESG Reporting
Leading
companies have responded by moving toward ESG reporting that is integrated with
their financial reporting. More than 8,000 companies globally are using GRI to
share the results of their CSR efforts alongside of their financial reporting. A
sound approach is to use GRI to identify the key drivers that would appear in
your company’s report, and then take note of what public companies in your
industry or sector are doing along these lines. An enormous library of GRI
reports is available for review at the UN Global Compact website (UNGC.org).
5.3.
Communicating Your Results
The UN Global Compact has developed
an exceptionally useful online tool called the Value Driver Model, which can
help you assess and communicate the financial impact of your CSR strategies. The
model uses common business metrics to illustrate how corporate sustainability
activities contribute to overall company performance in three basic areas:
Growth – Revenue growth from
sustainability-advantaged products, services, and strategies.
Productivity
– Total annual cost savings (and avoided costs) from sustainability-driven
productivity initiatives.
Risk
Management – Sustainability-related reductions in risk-exposure that might
otherwise impair the company’s performance.
5.4. The
rise of the ratings
5.5. How CSR
metrics can shake the World: industry or within its community, it is worth
considering how you can extend the use of your internal metrics for the common
good, and enhance your reputation among some of your most important customers,
suppliers, and other stakeholders. As CSR becomes increasingly easier to
measure and compare from one company to the next, socially irresponsible companies
will find it increasingly difficult to remain viable in the Caring Economy. The
Campaign is Ongoing
6.1. The
future of work: Millennials
and Generation Z are career nomads willing to move to another job if they do
not feel their workplace offers them a sense of purpose and treats employees
fairly. The term “holacracy” has emerged to describe a form of organization
that is both “holistic” and “democratic” in its power structure. Quoting
Darwin’s Origin of Species, Hsieh points out, “It’s not the fastest or
strongest that survive. It’s the ones most adaptive to change.”
6.2. The
future of commerce
6.3. The
future of governance: On its website, the B-Team explains the origin of its name: “Plan A – where
companies have been driven by the profit motive alone – is no longer
acceptable. It’s time for Plan B.” by the 2016 “Commonsense Principles of
Corporate Governance,” issued by an ad hoc group of U.S. business leaders,
including JPMorgan, Berkshire Hathaway, Verizon, Vanguard, and BlackRock. The
full list of principles is available at www.GovernancePrinciples.org.
LEED
(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification was once a
somewhat rarified, high-end discipline.
7.1. Aim
High
7.2. Declare
Your Values
7.3. Rethink
Your Culture
7.4. Raise
the Bar
7.5. Invest
in People: “At Esquel, we do not see CSR as a defensive
strategy, in reaction to international criticism of working conditions in
regions with low cost labor. Rather, we would like to set a positive example
and prove that a company can be both profitable and committed to sustainability
and worker welfare.
7.6. Break
Boundaries
7.7. Share
What You Know: Go Open Source
7.8. Partner
for Progress: A CSR program
that is limited to philanthropic giving misses out on truly participating in
the Caring Economy.
7.9. Imagine
New Paradigms
7.10. See
Your Evangelist in the Mirror: The trends are your friends. Churchill, “We make a
living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” It all matters in the
Caring Economy. Doing the right thing, by the way, means doing it before it is
expected of you. There is no constant in this new world except change.
