Santa's 1,747th Annual CSR Report

True to form, Santa has sent me her 1747th CSR Report. (See prior reports here: 1,746 and 1,745). But yes, you did read that correctly. This year, Santa is a WOMAN. She was appointed after a nomination by the Santa Claus Inc. (SCI) Board of Directors Nominating Committee and approved at the SCI AGM. This is a first for SCI. Not only is Santa a woman, but she is a single mom, she's of Chinese origin, has a personal disability (a wooden leg) and was abandoned by her parents at birth, only to be found in a garbage dump by concerned citizens who prayed for her welfare. After finding home in a series of orphanages, Miss Santa applied to the Vocation Elf Training Academy in Lapland, believing that distributing gifts to children would make the world a better place. From Day One she was mentored by senior SCI Managers, offered several leadership development programs, provided with flexible working options so that she could be home for her children in the afternoons. Miss Santa is paid exactly the same as her male counterparts. Graduating from the elf program with distinction, Miss Santa quickly rose through the elf ranks and became a significant influence at SCI. When it was time to appoint a new Santa, she was not considered as a leading candidate because she is a woman. Santa has never been a woman. However, Miss Santa did a good thing. She personally talked at all the members of the SCI Board of Directors and promised to behave like a man. They accepted, and the rest is history. Follow Santa on Twitter at @Santa or visit Santa's Facebook page.

As I usually do, with permission, I will share with you the CEO statement.

Santa Claus

The Shared Values Report 2011

Dear Stakeholders,

As you all approach Christmas 2011, I urge you to be conscious consumers. I know how tempting toy stores are at this time of the year. Blinking lights, massive colorful displays, new improved versions of all your favorite toys, all screaming at you "Buy ME, Buy ME, Buy ME!" I say to you, conscious citizens of the world. UNITE! Join together in a spirit of sustainability. Don't buy! Instead, donate the money you would have spent to the Retired Santa Foundation, which ensures that all prior Santa's can continue to live in a way to which they have not yet become accustomed. 

2011 has been a year of ups and downs. Yes, we reached new heights and experienced new lows. In this 1,747th CSR Report, I will share with you the heights. You can work out the lows for yourself. The theme of this report is how Santa creates Shared Value. We do this by continuing to do what we have always done, but calling it Shared Value. In sustainability terms, we have made notable progress and have been accepted by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index as a Super Sector Leader for the very first time. (Actually, there is no other company in our sector, so leadership is a POC). We have also joined the United Nations Global Compact, mainly because of the problems of corruption we see in our industry. We have already started a campaign to prevent local in-store Santas promoting toys from sponsored links.

Reinforcing our Values: One of my first acts as CEO was to review our Santa Claus value statement and bring it into line with our modern world. When Santa started out over 1,700 years ago, the world was a very different place. No internet. No cell-phones. No Chunky Monkey. No electric sleighs. No robot elves. Today, the world is full of technology and people have become addicted to Facebook and iPhones, leaving little time to experience the true meaning of relationships, the love of nature or the optimism of the human spirit. Our new values at SCI aim to reinforce our contribution to this modern world. Following a process of consultation with our Board of Directors, the Elf Representation Committee and selected external stakeholders (reindeer farmers, toy manufacturers, Greenpeace, children and moms, chimney sweeps), we believe this now best represents our core:

Mission

To perpetuate the love of Santa

Values  

Faith in Santa

Disabled-Access Chimneys

Elf Emancipation

Reindeer Rights

Children's Universal Right to Gifts

Santa World Domination 

Sleigh Energy Efficiency: As reported last year, we were considering moving to electric-powered sleighs, but we delayed this program due to lack of sleigh charging stations. We are disappointed to report no progress in global electric sleigh infrastructure, but we have commenced a pilot with solar power. We charge up our sleighs all summer in sunny Lapland and this provides enough energy to run the sleighs during the Christmas period, provided we use power-saving driving techniques. This saves over 463,000 tons of carbon emissions every Christmas season. The downside is that some sleighs run out of power before returning to base. If anyone has identified the whereabouts of 473 sleighs which have been lost somewhere over Iran, Ivory Coast, Philippines and New Zealand, please contact the SCI Sleigh Recovery Department.

Transportation Safety: All sleighs have now been fitted with tachometers, global GPS tracking and safety devices that monitor the driving techniques of elves and report problems online. In 2011, there were 225 sleigh accidents, mostly due to elves tweeting and texting while sleigh-driving. These resulted in only one fatality: a life-size inflatable Marilyn Monroe doll, destined for a home for motherless children. Instead, we supplied a life-size Powderpuff Girl. We have issued a new policy that forbids distractions when sleigh-driving and any elves which cause more than 3 accidents are demoted to toy-sorters in the Lapland warehouse.   

Toys Sourcing, Packaging and Recycling: This year, Santa is distributing toys which have certified conflict-free mineral content, contain reduced levels of packaging materials and only paper and carton from sustainable sources. Every toy is recyclable because it contains a special label: "Recycle this Toy - give it to a friend".  Our experiment two years ago of distributing only recycled toys was not sustainable. Children rejected used toys due to missing parts, torn-off doll limbs and protruding nails and screws, despite our rigorous QA process. When children complained of having received a horse on a stick without the horse, a BeyBlade without the blade and a Justin Bieber doll which sings out of tune, we felt it was time to review this policy. (We are still checking whether the Justin Bieber issue is actually a fault).  

We have also banned certain toys from our distribution list this year:

• Swearing policeman toys - we value plain speaking but not bad language.
• Jo-Ann Stores Rubber Ducky Garden Collection - toxic levels of lead paint are not in line with our safety policy
• Paintball Guns - unintentionally flying paint cartridges are not pretty
• Barbie - due to rainforest destruction - even Ken couldn't stomach it

Elf Freedom of Association: This year, we have made significant progress by acceding to elves' demand for representation, collective bargaining and freedom of association. Of the 342,400 elves in our employ, 17 have joined the Help Elves Live Longer (HELL) Union. HELL ensures a living wage for elves and protects their pension rights. The reason that only 17 elves have joined HELL is that unauthorized union-busting activity has apparently been more successful that we are able to admit.   

Impact Evaluation Program: This year, for the first time, we concluded our first Impact Evaluation Study, aiming to show what value Santa adds to social cohesion all over the world during the holiday season. It took us quite some time to figure out how to measure this, but ultimately, with the support of the Toys for Global Spiritual Growth Association, we undertook the widest survey ever of children between the ages of 6 and 9, and parents between the ages of 23 and 24. This is what we found:

99.3% of children confirmed that receiving a toy from Santa contributes to their motivation to achieve higher grades in school. The 0.7% who disagreed are employed year-round, cotton picking in Uzbekistan and making tablecloths in factories in Guangzhou. 

78.9% of children confirmed that playing with toys helps them form positive relationships with siblings. Those who did not, have no siblings. Those who confirmed positive relationships say this is due to the fact that, when they are playing with their toys, they are not interacting with their siblings and therefore have no time to quarrel.

100% of children confirmed that receiving toys helps them understand important social issues such as global warming, global poverty and gender equality. We think this is probably because the questionnaire did not have a negative response option.

93% of parents confirmed that their children love them more after they have received a toy at Christmas time. Quite how parents measure this is not clear. However, in parallel, records show a reduction of parental violence and child-beating in many countries. We can only conclude that our toys are contributing to strengthening positive bonds between parents and children.

99% of parents confirmed that children received toys from Santa that they would otherwise not have bought. This is because most parents prefer to spend on food, education and medical care. By reducing the burden on parents to budget for Christmas toys, our impact is undeniable: happier, healthier, better educated children who will save our planet from enironmental destruction.

As a result of this highly positive Impact Evaluation, we re-launched our Support Santa Fund. Please support us. Donations are welcome via the CSR Reporting Blog (who takes only a small percentage handling fee. Not more than 42.5%).

A+ Level Report: Finally, we  are proud to announce that this is a self-declared A+ Level report, prepared in accordance with Santa's very own Reporting Framework. Actually, there is only an A+ Level. We prefer not to confuse people. We decided not to have our report assured this year in order to ensure that no-one picks up on our errors. However, we will consider making fewer errors in future years.

Wishing Everyone A Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and A Happy New Year !

elaine cohen, CSR consultant, Sustainabilty Reporter, HR Professional, Ice Cream Addict. Author of CSR for HR: A necessary partnership for advancing responsible business practices Contact me via www.twitter.com/elainecohen  on Twitter or via my business website www.b-yond.biz/en  (BeyondBusiness, an inspired CSR consulting and Sustainability Reporting firm)

The Spirit of Reporting

A press release about a company I had never heard of caught my eye. The headline was VeeV Açaí Spirit Releases First CSR Report  Having a soft-spot for first time reporters, I couldn't resist taking a quick look. Fortunately, this report is only 10 pages long (with lots of pictures), so quick it was.

VeeV®  is an interesting company built around one "cool" brand (Does the fact that I had never heard of it make me not cool ? ). VeeV® is an alcoholic drink made from the Açaí Berry which apparently can only be found in the Brazilian Rainforest and is sustainably and wild harvested there. The berry has high antioxidant properties which makes it a healthy fruit which forms the staple ingredient in the diet of many Brazilians. The two founders of the VeeV® company are environmentalist types and wanted to bring to the market a sustainable product in a sustainable way. This first report, after four years of activity, demonstrates this commitment with $1 per each bottle sold donated to  Brazilian rainforest preservation, a distillery powered by renewable energy and overall carbon neutral activity. Seeds of the Açaí berry are made into fashion-statement jewelry promoting living wage and fair trade for Brazilian workers. The company has 32 employees and sends them a Green Tip of the Week by email to get them started on another week full of environmental inspiration. This apparently works because all employees have Personal Sustainability Programs and report on them quarterly and what's more, part of their bonus is dependent upon green performance.

All this is very nice indeed, and I have no doubt that this first Corporate Social Responsibility Report is a source of pride and a reflection of a genuine social-enterprise environmentally-activist small private business. It's great to see such a passion for sustainability embedded into the core business strategy. However, the 10 pager is a more like a marketing brochure than a report. Had this been called a "review" or an "activity summary" or anything but a report, I would be able to read it for what it is, and be impressed. Calling it a report implies a willingness to be transparent, to share data, to account for impacts on stakeholders in a rigorous way. This document showcases the way the VeeVers have put their personal sustainable philosophy into action, but it does not report in a complete way on sustainability impacts. For environmental data, we are referred to the Climate Action Registry but all that appears there is a report from 2007 when the operation was run from the home of one of the partners and generated just over 12 tons of carbon emissions.

We all appreciate and understand the challenges of  voluntary SME reporting, the resources required and the time needed to write a first report, whether the GRI framework is used or not. Nonetheless, sustainability reporting is a serious thing, (and yes, I can now speak from experience of producing my own company SME first report), and while no-one has patented the use of the word "report",  it should not be bandied around for every document a company issues that happens to have the words eco-conscious or recycle included somewhere in the narrative.

The spirit (and practice) of reporting should be more in line with the GRI definition which is: "A sustainability report refers to a single, consolidated disclosure that provides a reasonable and balanced presentation of performance over a fixed time period."  Companies who assign the name "CSR Report" to a marketing document, even if their practices are sustainably minded, lose credibility points in my view.

Anyway, let's give this exciting little business the benefit of the doubt and hope that this first CSR Report is the start of a reporting journey which will become a fuller articulation of sustainability impacts in the future.

Wonder what a Chunky Monkey + Veev® Açaí Spirit float would taste like?

elaine cohen, CSR consultant, Sustainabilty Reporter, HR Professional, Ice Cream Addict. Author of CSR for HR: A necessary partnership for advancing responsible business practices Contact me via www.twitter.com/elainecohen  on Twitter or via my business website www.b-yond.biz/en  (BeyondBusiness, an inspired CSR consulting and Sustainability Reporting firm)

Who stole the bees from Burt's Bees?

Burts Bees. Aspiring to be the Greenest Company on Earth. They have made a good start, apparently. The 2009 Corporate Responsibility Update of  their "very first" 2008 report, attests to year on year increasing revenues since 2004 , growth from 400 to 480 employees , increased post consumer recycled product in packaging, lighter weight packaging, and reduced use of PVC, total electricity reduction by 21%, total water reduction of 20% , and a "net normalized reduction" of GHG's (normalized means factoring in sales growth ) of 33.5% versus base year which is 2006 (though actual total emissions versus 2006 were 5.7% higher in 2008) .   Burt's Bees give preference to socially and environmentally conscious suppliers, spend 28% of purchasing costs in their home state of North Carolina, and 1.39% to minority or women's businesses. Burt's Bees employees contributed 6,006 hours of volunteer time in 2008 and 2009, and the Company donated cash of $295,500 to charitable purposes , and $600,000 of product . Burts Bees team members love their work (those who responded to the employee survey rated their job 4 on a 1-5 scale) and 30% of the Company's executives and senior managers are women. Burt's Bees employees have a great safety record and practice yoga as part of the Company's well being program. The Company is engaged with partners such as Habitat for Humanity and Teach America and a wide range of intiiatives for the benefit of the community.And relations with parent Company Clorox are quite hunky-dory. OK. So far so good. Many good initiatives from this sustainability spirited Company and clearly strong efforts to manage their impacts. Their decision to issue an update  demonstrates a commitment to continued progress and a degree of transparency.

The question I kept asking myself as I read this report-update however was, where on earth are the bees? There is almost nothing about bees in this report. I expected to be totally blown away with bees. I thought I would read loads of hive-tales, pollen-stories, honeycomb legends, nectar anecdotes and, of couse, tributes to the Queen Bees. I hoped to learn about endangered bee species, colony collapse disorder (mentioned in  the 2008 report),and hive restoration expeditions. I thought this report would be quite buzzing with bees. I thought we would be inspired with sustainability learnings from drones and colonies of honey bees. Burt's Bees  has come  a long way since its beginnings as a Company in 1989. I took a look at  the products on their website. My eye caught the Mama Bee Belly Butter which is targeted at pregnant women with big bellies (though I suspect Chunkey Monkey regulars could benefit too, mentioning no names) but to my dismay, it is made from cocao butter though cera alba is listed in the ingredients list. Cerra alba ? Yes, you guessed it, Beeswax. I thought I might order some  Baby Bee Bubble Bath containing vanilla exract (no chocolate chunks) but no cire d'abeille (Beeswax in the language of the tricolor). So I went to the Naturally Ageless Intensive Repairing Serum to smooth out all those wrinkles (especially now that I am appearing on 3BL TV), but again, bees extract gives way to pomegranate extract. So, I think Burt has some explaining to do. Is this a Company about bees or what ? Who stole the bees?

Anyway, bees or bust, this update is a nice chatty summary, even though there are many aspects which I found confusing. The time period covered is not clear - Fiscal Year or 2008 or 2009 or half'n'half? DIfferent dates and time periods are referenced and it is not always clear to me what relates to what. The data presented is not detailed and left me wondering in most cases about the basis for calculation.  Whilst the trademarked Greater Good Burt's Bees Sustainability framework loooks graphically impressive, I cannot discern how it all hangs together in a clear strategy or workplan in each of the different dimensions. I lack a stated approach to strategy - goals, objectives, targets - presented in an orderly way. This report is a collection of snippets of good news, which is good news, I suppose, but I would have liked to have seen a more consistent buzz. I tend to think this review has been sort of force-fit into the form of a Sustainability Update, pieced together based on limited bits of information availabe.  It includes an aspirational reference to the GRI (and a somewhat meaningless table of how the 2008 report (not the update) broadly aligns with the different sections of the GRI framework. It doesnt hang together all that well, despite evidence of  continued progress. If the Company plans to introduce an update every interim year, I would find it easier to follow if conceptually it were a little sharper.  

Anyway, its hard not to get stung by Burt's Bees, and to admire them for their contribution to the pollenation of sustainability. In the meantime, I will just bumble along back to my apiology-free  corner, where life is positively buzzing.

elaine cohen is the joint CEO of BeyondBusiness, a leading reporting and social-environmental consulting firm. Visit our website at: www.b-yond.biz/en

Why we do what we do

Yesterday was a good day for the CSR-Reporting blog. Permit me to tell you why:

First, we received a great compliment in the form of a recommendation from Sustainability Expert Fabian Pattberg who runs the Sustainability Forum, one of the best CSR resouurces around. Fabian recommended the reporting blog in his new category of Recommended Websites.  (Fabian on Twitter: @FabianPattberg)

Second, Chris Jarvis posted as follows:

Chris Jarvis is the author of Realizing your Worth blog, and one of the world's authorities on CSR and employee volunteering programs. His blog is always packed with insight and good practical advice based on years of experience. (Chris on Twitter:  @realizedworth) 

There is something about getting credit from your peers which is truly gratifying. In a business world which is competitive and sometimes rather brutal, despite our csr efforts, praise and recognition from professionals who understand is always a boost. This is a tribute to our community of CSR professionals on Twitter and other social networking sites. THANK YOU to Fabian and Chris, and all other members of our great community. I salute you all! 

Third, yes, there's more...

Yesterday i received a reply from Indranil who wrote to me on 30th November - unedited email as received:

Elaine,
I am a full-time MBA student at University of Oxford. I have been reading your blog for quite a while now and drawn very valuable learning which helped me in my academic work.
I take special interest in how large organisations are building sustainable practices around the core of their business, and also how they are communicating that to the wider stakeholders. I am currently undertaking a comparative study of Nestle, Danone and Unilever in terms of their CSR reporting methods and whether the reporting methods are effective in building “trust” among the wider stakeholders.
I have taken the approach mentioned in one of your blog posts about starting from the CEO’s message and then drilling down into the specifics of each of the areas of emphasis. While that provided me a perfect ground to compare the quality of the reports, it is not providing me with a qualitative basis of comparing the “effectiveness of building trust”. I am not being able to build a framework around which I may be able to structure the comparisons.
It would be great if you could please provide me with some pointers. What would you look for in a CSR report to see whether it has the right elements to build trust?Thanks a lot for reading. It would be a privilege to hear from you.
Warm Regards,
Indranil.

This is Indranil:

This is the essence of what i wrote back to Indranil:

CSR reporting should contribute to building credibility, trust flows from that.

The things i look for:
** Has the organization reported "difficult" data as well as positive data?. A "good news" only report is not credible.
**Has the organisation really been transparent about its intentions – are there clear measurable targets which represent a future commitment?
**Has the organisation included external commentaries from a range of experts, not only those predisposed to saying nice things, and are the commentaries fair and balanced?
**The overall level of transparency - reporting on total levels of women in the business, for instance, but not how many women in senior management.
**Explanation of inconsistencies – e.g. changes in calculation methods for carbon footprint
**The organizational infrastructure for CSR/sustainability. If there is no clear accountability within the organisation, it is difficult to believe the company is serious about sustainability.
**Consistency of reporting over time – I often look at two or three prior reports to see how actions, themes and targets are reported consistently
**The content of the assurance statement, if available. If it is a very limited gushingly favourable statement, it decreases credibility rather than adding to credibility.
**You might wish to take a look at www.CorporateRegister.com/reviews - the "credibility" section of my report reviews often picks up on all these points.

Indranil explained in his reply:

You might be wondering by now that why students of a business school are suddenly so concerned about CSR, but here in Oxford, our business school is dedicated towards building responsible corporate citizens who can lead the businesses of tomorrow. So much so that even our accountancy course has a strong element of how “morality” and “intentions” impact accounting practices and how, we, as business drivers of the future should try and shape such business practices towards an honest, ethical and sustainable future.

This is the proof that the time and energy that myself and so many other CSR professionals spend writing, informing, sharing, offering tips and guidance, thoughts, insights and recommendations is actually getting through. The future leaders of industry and business are reading this stuff. This is the most gratifying thing of all. Forward-thinking, level-headed, positive-minded business students are using our output to shape the way they think and I am confident, the way they will work and impact. I expect Indranil and his peers will be transparent and accountable business leaders.
And this, folks, is why we do what we do.

And now, i think we all deserve a b-i-g helping of Chunky Monkey....

elaine cohen is the joint CEO of BeyondBusiness, a leading reporting and social-environmental consulting firm . Visit our website at: www.b-yond.biz/en 

Even Embassies do it

I was in the British Embassy in Tel Aviv last week. (No, they arent trying to deport me or anything.. as far as i know . Yet.). As I waited for my meeting to start (stripped of my cellphone and laptop, so feeling completely at a loss), I looked around for something to do and noticed the FCO Internal Employee Magazine. The Magazine for Foreign and Commonwealth Office People around the world. Issue 76. Sept/Oct 08. A little out of date, I admit, but interesting all the same with a big headline "Greener Outlook".  The FCO is the branch of the British Government with is reponsible for promoting British interests overseas, and is staffed by Ambassadors, Diplomats, Attaches, and a host of other people, stationed in all corners of the globe. 14,900 people working in 160 countries at present, with a 2 billion pound budget. . (Guess us Brits must have a lot of interests to promote, right?). You can find the FCO on Twitter at @foreignoffice. And i found it interesting that the theme of this edition of the employee mag was about what the Embassy people over the world were/are doing to improve their environmental impacts.  A few examples:

• Carbon Neutral Birthday parties for the Queen in Rome, Milan, Naples and Bari
• New energy efficient solar-heated Embassy building in Manila
• Vegetable and herb garden at the Governor's residence in Gibraltar
• Composted waste in Port Louis
• Cycling to work in the UK and in Mexico City
• Carbon neutral printing of the Employee Magazine

Commendable, old chap, no ? 
I tried to find some additional information on Greening the FCO on their website,  but couldn't . The FCO  produces an Annual Report, and though it does mention the importance of Britain developing a low-carbon economy, the closest it comes to CSR is the Comprehensive Spending Review, which i think is FCO-speak for budget.

What does all this have to do with CSR reporting ? This. Two Annual Environmental Reports published by the British Embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria, the later of which you can download here. As far as i can tell, this is the only British Embassy post which publishes this type of report. I couldnt find any other Embassy of any country that produces a CSR or an Environmental report.  Big big round of applause for this initiative to the Brits in Sofia.

It's a nice report, 16 pages, covering everything from the Embassy 7-member Green Team, the modern glass Embassy building with heated sub-floors, the Embassy Environmental Policy and external Environmental Audit, Key Performance Indicators and targets, including medium term up to 2012, Carbon Footprint, and an Environmental Pledge by all the Embassy members. A short report, but a significant one which demonstrates a strong commitment. Though I would hope to see them expand the scope a little to include social impacts in future. Embassies can be very influential in addressing social and human rights issues, as well as, via the Trade sections, help encourage awareness for responsible business practices. UK Companies are in leadership positions on this, and foreign Embassies could do much to help leverage this abroad.

I hope that more Embassies will take the lead from the Sofia Brits. This is largely uncharted territory for this type of organization, so more pioneers will be welcome.

elaine cohen is the joint CEO of BeyondBusiness, a leading reporting and social-environmental consulting firm . Visit our website at: www.b-yond.biz/en

Does size really matter ?

Should small Companies report ? Do you agree with the statement that "CR reporting is for companies with large footprints" ? Does the size of the Company, and its footprint dictate whether a Company should be transparent and accountable to its stakeholders? Is it true that "that large companies have many more resources than small firms" and therefore, large Companies can afford to report and small Companies cannot ? Should a small Company content itself with "more written policies and statements about our impacts"?

The quotes (in red) above are from Toby Webb, the founder and manager of Ethical Corporation.(The questions are mine!)  I have met Toby briefly a couple of times, when I have attended Ethical Corp's conferences, which are very good. I regularly follow his blog Reflections on Ethical Business which I genuinely find to be one of the best blogs around on CSR, full of sharp insight and commentary. Recently Toby posted "Twelve reasons why I won't read your corporate responsibility report", and my response, which was basically that the twelve reasons Toby mentions for not reading CSR reports, are precisely the reasons he should read reports (call me argumentative if you like, but check it out), led to a ping-pong of why reporting is for all organizations, irrespective of size (me) versus why a small business doesnt need, or have the resources, to report (Toby). This prompted me to bring  the ping-pong on to my territory, a blog about reporting, for all organizations (ALL organizations) and elaborate on why I believe this to be so.

What is reporting ? It's a process by which a business, after reasonable dialogue with stakeholders, considers the most material issues for them, the stakeholders, and for its business sustainability, and is transparent about how it performs on matters of stakeholder interest. Reporting is part of the loop of dialogue - we listen, we act, we respond, we listen again. The report is the periodical output of this cyclical process. The process itself builds relationships, trust, management discipline, identifies risk and oportunity, contributes to positive reputation and enhances investor interest, to name but a few benefits. The resources required to produce a report are do not need to be overwhelming - more often than not, the design, printing and dispatch of reports can cost more than the investment in wirting them, or the consultant fee. Most of these cost elements can be avoided by a producing a PDF download or an online report, with modest graphics. The content is what counts. In a small business, personnel resources may be more limited, but the issues are far less complex than in a big global business, and require less personnel.  So i think this  we-ain't-got-the-resources line is a cop-out for not applying rigorous thinking to sustainability, or accepting accountability. Oh, and let's face it, no-one reads reports, anyway, right ?

Let's take a look at some stuff relating to SME reporting:

In Spain, 822 SME's  now produce CSR reports. Why ? It enables them "to increase their competitiveness in a setting where transparency and distinguishing features play an important role. ...... the preparation of the reports initiates the enterprise in the main aspects of CSR while encouraging it to develop its skills of self-diagnosis." This is reported on the Instituto de Crédito Oficial website, an organziation which assists SMEs to report.

The Global Reporting Initiative website has a  section dedicated to support for SME's , and  lists a whole string of SME's who report. In an interview with  Scott McAusland on the GRI website, he says that SME's " account for about 90% of businesses worldwide and 50 - 60% of employment."  Often SME's are part of MNE (multinational enterprise) supply chains, and therefore may have a need to demonstrate ethical, accountable and transparent behaviour in order to stay competitive.

CorporateRegister.com's 2010 CR Reporting Awards has a special category for SME's , as in previous years. You can find many SME reports in the CorporateRegister.com database. The European Commission produced an excellent guide for SME's for communicating CSR.  Whilst the focus of this guide is communications, of which reporting is only one element, it lists many compelling reasons for SME's to communicate abobut their CSR activities, with a CSR report included in the different channels reletvant to different stakeholder groups.

In a post back in July 2009, called You don't have to be BIG to do CSR, I gave an example of an SME from Moldova who reported many positive impacts which almost certainly no-one would ever know about had they not reported themselves. Local competitiveness and reputation are just as crucial here as for bigger businesses.

Many of the reporting SME's confirm that both the process and the report deliver significant benefits as mentioned above. It is important to note that the process cannot succeed without the product of that process - the report itself - a periodical health-check of strategy and metrics, and renewed commitment. A report is the most appropriate vehicle for this - as part of a total csr and communications strategy. I dont see this as a privilege reserved  for only the big blockbuster corps.

What might a Company like Ethical Corporation have to gain by a reporting process and publication of a report? 

• Stakeholder engagement and materiality analysis could throw up new insights about ways to serve stakeholders and do more, better, business. At worst, it will provide an external reality check of how the Company is percieved by those who can influence its sucess.
• An environmental risk and impact assessment, followed by an Environmental Policy and Action Plan could deliver several benefits - cost savings through improved internal environmental practices, travel habits, printing and sustainability in events management.
• A statement of mission, values and perhaps even a Code of Ethics could serve to align employees and all contributing writers to the Company's "what we stand for" and support the building of alignment, trust and reputation. Marketing practices for example are an important element of this too.
• A review of Human Resources practices - even with a small team - could assist the business in improving employee engagement and beoming more attractive to potential employees.
• A review of how the Company contributes to the public good through its business activities, and involves its employees in community activities or supporting social causes could contribute to positive reputation, improved egagement and skill development.
• And more than anything else,  scoping of Ethical Corporation's indirect influence on its many readers and conference attendees could provide the business with a platform to measure and increase its influence and potential readership. Through a "Green Conference Facilities", for example, the Company could provide attendees with an opportunity to make their own contribution to environmental sustainability.
• And finally, the compiling of all of this into a periodical, coherent report would provide a basis to maintain this cycle of planning and improvement, track performance and maintain a leading edge.  

Would this sell more mags or bring more people to summits ? Maybe not in the short term. But we all know that sustainability is a long haul and not a quick-buck thing. And it really doesn't matter how many people the Company employs or how many $ it earns. It's all about impacts. As Dolly Parton said, as far as i recall, "If you think you are too small to influence, you have never been in bed with a mosquito".

Note that i haven't even touched on the sense of duty we might assume of a Company whose core business is communicating about business ethics and "encouraging debate on responsible business" . The GRI produces a report, BSR produces a report, The Guardian produces a report.

Enough said.  I don't hope to convince Toby or Ethical Corporation, and i understand that every business must choose its own ways of doing things. My comments could apply to any small business, not just Ethical Corp. I just felt the need to share my perspective in good spirit on something i have, as you may have noticed, strong views about. And by way of disclosure, I am a CSR report-writing consultant so i am not totally objective.  Thanks to Toby for allowing this debate on his blog  - I expect i am getting on his nerves a bit. Oops!  Next time i see him at a conference I will buy him a Chunky Monkey!

elaine cohen is the joint CEO of BeyondBusiness, a leading reporting and social-environmental consulting firm . Visit our website at: www.b-yond.biz/en

Prostitution, fashion and communicating CSR

Embed. Once more. Interweave CSR into the fabric of your business. This is my fifth and final post on this subject, (for now!) inspired by Ethical Corporation's 2009 research report called How to Embed Corporate Responsibility across different parts of your Company.We already covered how people do it (embedding CSR in Human Resources ), how buyers buy it (Procurement function ), how accountants count it (Finance function ) and how truckers truck it (Operations and Logistics Function). Now, we examine how they all talk it. Embedding CSR in  corporate communications - internal, external, marcom and reporting.

With case studies and insights from the Man Group (don't worry girls, this isn't a gender thing, the Man group was founded by James Man over 225 years ago. Not his fault if he had a gender-biased name), Hewlett Packard, Novo Nordisk, BT, Vodafone, Starbucks, Pepsico and reference to research findings from McKinsey, embeddng communications covers reporting (ahaaaaaaaaaaa, my favourite subject. See ?  I saved the best for the last) and how to make reporting effective, marketing to consumers using CR messages, and communicating with your colleagues internally.

One of the things I liked in the research paper was a quotation from the Global Triple Bottom Line Management at Novo Nordisk who said that the report is a key method for "keeping the Company accountable for performance". This is often underestimated as a prime use for CSR reports. The more internal and external stakeholders that know about corporate goals and objectives, the more pressure there is on the individuals in the business to deliver. Another interviewee goes even further and says that reporting should drive behaviour change.  In my experience, this does happen.

Another thing about CSR communications is that the core message should be spead by every employee in the Company, in a way that is relevant to her or him, and her or his role in the business, and in her or his own words. I will illustrate this with an example  from one of my clients in the local market.

Communications and dialogue has long been at the heart of the comme il faut fashion house in Israel. Every bi-annual fashion collection is supported by a social campaign which involves employees and customers in dialogue.

 from comme il faut Winter 2010 collection

Last season's campaign, a bold move, was centered around customers bringing to the Company an unwanted bra, in return for which they received a discount on new purchases, whilst the Company donated cash to support healthcare for women trapped in prostitution. You can imagine that the subject of prostitution is not one which is easily introduced into the world of  fashion, beauty, positive body image etc, and it was not without a certain trepidation that this company for women, known to be outspoken in promoting women's rights, decided to stand up publicly for women who have been abused by society. Before this campaign launched, many internal dialogues were held with employees of the fashion house, both to help them understand the plight of women trapped in prostitution and protitution survivors, who still need much support, and also to build their skills in engaging customers on this subject.  I facilitated many of these conversations and was fascinated by the range of insights this brought out. Subsequently, during the campaign, each of the several thousand customers who donated a bra engaged in a conversation about prostitution and also benefited  from new insights.

The current campaign  for the Winter 2010 collection is themed Re-fashion, and looks at what endears us to certain items of clothing year after year, and how we can re-fashion and re-fresh them so that they can serve us even longer, inspired by the principles of environmentally preferable "slow-fashion" . Customers bring in an item of clothing, which the comme il faut designers examine in order to understand why  that particular garment is so special that it stands the test of time. The customer gains a discount on new purchases and the opportunity to win a $5,000 new wardrobe. And women trapped in prostitution get a new garment as a gift from comme il faut for every old one that is brought in. This has doubled the conversation effect. Not only is the social content still present, but now the Company can engage customers in conversation about their most intimate reasons for wearing the same pair of trousers, or the same blouse or skirt, year after year, and use the customer experience in the new garment design process.  

Why is all this important ? Because these campaigns embrace the principles of corporate social responsibility in processes based on communications. They require every employee in the business to understand and engage with the campaign and what the Company is trying to communicate. It makes them think about their own role in supporting the campaign and furthering the commercial and social objectives. And it help them understand the way others think and use this in making business decisions.  And this, in my view, is what embedding CSR is all about.

By the way, you can read comme il faut's CSR report (I led the writing of this report) here.

I have now completed my series of posts on embedding CSR in different functions of the business. Thank you to Ethical Corp for the research report which prompted this series. And now, if you see me walking around in my undies, the reason is probably that i gave all the rest of my clothes to comme il faut ....

elaine cohen is the joint CEO of BeyondBusiness, a leading reporting and social-environmental consulting firm . Visit our website at: www.b-yond.biz/en

#CSR without EMBEDDING is like CHUNKY without MONKEY

One of the popular csr-speak terms you need to be familiar with these days is EMBED. Dictionary.com says this means "to fix into a surrounding mass: to embed stones in cement". So if your Company is a mass of cement, your CSR program is the stones. Makes sense, right?  The concept of embedding CSR is not new. I suspect (I am guessing) that one of the first to use this term for CSR was AccountAbility in their first exposure draft of the AA1000 principles in 1999.  EMBEDDEDNESS was one of the principles related to management of the process on an ongoing basis :
" Embeddedness – or systems integration, concerns making the social and ethical accounting, auditing and reporting processes part of the organisation’s operations, systems and policy making, and not treated as a one-off exercise to produce a social and ethical report"  (they like long sentences at AccountAbility).
Many Companies who report on their CSR or Sustainability LOVE to use this great word EMBED. It expreses the fact that CSR is not just something you add on to your "real" business activities, but something that is part of the fabric of your business and integrated in all processes and practices. Most mature CSR reporters like to express the embeddedness of their CSR. Sounds kinda noble and professional, right?
The Stagecoach Group in their 2009 CSR report say: "We have a clear set of values which underpin our business and are firmly embedded in our Group’s culture." And thousands of reports offer variations on this theme. And my recent post on "When CSR reporting is a waste of paper"  provided an example of the problem of UN-EMBEDDEDNESS - ie what happens when you really haven't got this embed thing covered at all levels of your organization.

So this is why i was interested to read Ethical Corporation's latest research publication on How to embed Corporate Responsibility across different parts of your Company. This is a 100 page report published at end September 2009. It provides an analysis and case studies covering 5 organizational functions: Human Resources, Finance and Accounting, Communications, Procurement and Logistics and Operations. I will blog about each of these functional zoom-ins and the related embedding stuff one-by-one in the next few posts. (Disclosure: Ethical Corp kindly provided me with a complimentary copy so that i could read, learn and share - but, they didnt tell me what to say! - all views are my own) Ethical Corp's research data is "aggregated, analysed and triangulated".( I am glad its triangulated. Meant I got to learn the meaning of another long word.)The report is in two sections - first, an overall survey of the way CR is embedded, practiced and communicated in large corporations, and second, specific functional guides. And of course, there is a set of recommendations. I guess Ethical Corp wouldn't be too pleased if i revealed all their recommendations free of charge to the world, but i can't resist quoting the one which says: " Reporting Effectively: Producing a CR report ... remains a highly effective tool."

I will start my blog series with one of my favourite subjects: Human Resources.
CR minus HR = PR. (Wish i knew who said that!)
The Ethical Corp research covers how to embed C(S)R via the Human Resources function in order to achieve maximum productivity and staff morale, and refers to :

• recruiting and training staff
• maximising employee performance and competencies
• managing a company's personal employee evaluation and appraisal system
• building an ethical corporate culture and engaging employees.

I always say that CSR is about moving from accounting for "impacts on employees" to enhancing and accounting for the "impacts of employees" ie transforming the business perspective into one which ensures that every single internal and external touchpoint of employees in an organization leverages the CSR approach of the business.

The HR research uses input from CSR Managers  at Hewlett Packard, Boots, Novo Nordisk and BT, and case studies from Starbuck's and Campbell Soup regarding their HR-CR practices. Interesting reading, actually. The section ends up with a short checklist for HR Managers with the key learning points from the research. 

All the Companies quoted in this section are of course strong CSR reporters. 
HP's 2008 report (GRI B self-declared) doesn't actually use the word embed to describe their CR - perhaps this is because embedding is also associated with technology ( review steps for accessing the HP embedded web server (EWS), but their report covers quite a lot of detail of employee engagement in CR activities.
Alliance Boots 2008-2009 Report (not GRI indexed) say that embedding comes naturally: "As a pharmacy-led heath and beauty group, our corporate social responsibility principles are naturally embedded in the working practices of our people."
Novo Nordisk's 2008 (GRI A+ self-declared) integrated report  describes how strategies are revised after the management of CR issues has been fully embedded in the organisation so that they are fully integrated into business processes, as part of the way they determine materiality.
BT Group's 2009 (GRI A+) report talk about the  BT Sustainable Marketing Programme as part of their commitment to embedding the principles of sustainability into business as usual
Starbucks 2008 (GRI B+ self declared) Global Repsonsibility Report confirms that "being a responsible business is a commitment that is embedded in our culture. "
Campbell Soup Company's first 2008 (non-GRI) report talks about four "overarching themes" which are embedded in their mission statement.

So there you have it, people are embedding CSR, or trying to. At least they have adopted the politically correct csr-speak. Embedding is no small task and does require a level of maturity and organizational alignment which are not achieved overnight. And there is no doubt that a strong, professional and skilled Human Resources function can play a significant role. So if you aspire to have both the Chunky AND the Monkey, think about the way your HR function embeds YOUR csr program .

elaine cohen is the joint CEO of BeyondBusiness, a leading reporting and social-environmental consulting firm . Visit our website at: www.b-yond.biz/en 

When CSR reporting is a waste of paper

CSR reports, aka Sustainability Reports, are supposed to be sustainable, right? That means no printed copies, right ? Wrong. Sustainability reports are business documents, and, like any other important business document,  it is ok to print them but. Print them but. This means that, as with any aspect of CSR and sustainability, we must exercise restraint and consideration of all stakeholders in how we do what we do. So in printing CSR reports, I might expect a Company to consider:

• Printing on recycled paper or environmentally friendly paper (see previous post on paper made from all-sorts-of-animal-excrement).
• Printing a short summary with the bulk of the report online(see Nexxar for best CSR online reporting).
• Printing a small number of copies for those who really want or should read the report.

I confess. I like to see something in print. Gives me a feel for the Company. Allows me carry reports around and read them when i can. (Ask my hub about how many reports i take to bed with me!!) (well, on second thoughts, don't ask him). Perhaps this is hypocritical ? A sustainability consultant who likes to read printed reports? Perhaps but.

The but is that what really REALLY annoys me is unconsidered wasteful ways of sending CSR reports through the mail. I have mentioned this before in a different previous post, and now i will mention it again. (consistency is a virtue)

The following picture is of 9 one-side-printed separate pieces of paper that accompanied the delivery of the 2009 CR Report from .. and this time i will name names ... Deutsche Telekom. Delivered by DHL which is a Deutche Post Company.

Here's that consistency thing again: 9 separate one-side-printed pieces of paper. Why would you need 9 pieces of paper to go with the delivery of one slim report?

Deutsche Telekom's 2009 CSR report is  online and a 68 page PDF download. It is a well written report at GRI-checked  A+ reporting level. This is what DT have to say about saving paper:

(page 41) "Thanks to innovations such as “Paper, Pen & Phone,” customers can significantly reduce their own paper consumption and the resulting environmental pollution. The special pen developed by T-Systems records all the special characteristics of a signature via an integrated camera, thereby enabling digital identification and processing of documents signed by hand. Compared to the former archiving process, paper consumption is thus reduced by up to 50 percent, and costs are reduced by as much as around 70 percent. In order to exploit this savings potential in our own Group as well, we have launched “Paper, Pen & Phone” in around 800 Telekom Shops in Germany since February 2009."

And more (page46 ) "We succeeded in winning over almost one third of T-Home customers for our online billing. This helps us and our customers in contributing to environment protection by reducing paper consumption by over 1,500 tons".

But what about shipping CSR reports? What super innovations have been developed to ensure that paper consumption is reduced in this process?

Which brings me to another point: INDIRECT REPONSIBILITY .

It is possible that Deutche Telekom have no idea that DHL uses 9 separate one-side-printed pieces of paper for each report they deliver. Maybe this is standard DHL procedure. The kind of standard procedure that no-one ever thinks to question because that's just the way its done. But doesn't Deutsche Telekom have an indirect reponsibility for the actions of their suppliers engaged in providing products or services on their behalf?

Actually, in the DHL (Deutche Post AG)  2009 self-declared B+ report I couldn't find anything relating to paper consumption reduction, only references to sustainable paper sourcing. I couldn't find a figure for how many tons of paper consumption DHL or Deutsche Post have reduced in the reporting period. Maybe that's because they havent. However, a target area for Deutsche Post is " Mobilizing our employees: Raising awareness of climate protection and broader environmental issues, and enabling our employees to minimize our company’s environmental impact through their everyday actions." Like shipping CSR reports.

So who should we take issue with here ?

(1) DHL for using 9 pieces of paper

(2) Deutsche Telekom for letting them

(3) Me, for wanting to read the printed report in the first place ?  (hint: dont pick this option)

But the point of this post is that : i would expect that people in a company where CSR is truly embedded at all levels of the organization would pick this up.  I believe that employees at all levels  should recognize  environmental waste in  the system, assuming they had been made aware of its importance to the Company. 

These day-to-day almost-unnoticed actions can  be very important. They can also point to the degree to which each employee in any business takes personal responsibility for all aspects of the Company's CSR behaviour.

elaine cohen is the joint CEO of BeyondBusiness, a leading reporting and social-environmental consulting firm . Visit our website at: www.b-yond.biz/en

Greater CSR leadership needed in Israel

At the annual CSR conference in Israel this week, organisaed by Maala, the BSR affiliate in Israel, for the first time, an award was presented to Companies who had issued (or almost issued) more about the almost thing later.. CSR reports during the years 2007 to 2009. Actually, it's not surprising that this was the first set of awards, because the Israeli market has beed decidedly slow in uptake on the reporting front (see my previous post). It was back in 2005 when my partner, Liad Ortar, took the initiative to translate the GRI guidelines into Hebrew, making them accessible to the local market and starting a momentum for reporting in line with the global best practice. The awards were presented in order of GRI transparency levels. So, just for the record, I will run through them in that order here.

Bank Leumi published a GRI checked A+ report in 2009, covering years 2007-2008.Unfortunately, this is only in Hebrew so non-speako-the-lingo people won't get much from this, apart from the fantastic design using creations from an exhibition that Leumi sponsored for unknown artists. (Disclosure: My Company was the consultant on this report). Leumi is the largest banking group in Israel and was the first to report in 2006 with a GRI B level report (which we also worked on). 

Bank Hapoalim published a GRI checked A+ report in 2008, covering 2007. Again, this is only available in Hebrew. It is the first report of this, the second largest banking group in Israel. 

comme il faut published a GRI checked A level report in 2008, covering 2007. comme il faut is a privately owned SME with a strong CSR record and a strong reputation for responsible business practices. This was the first report for a fashion company, first for a private company, and a first  A level report in Israel . The report was published in Hebrew and in English (above link to English report). (Disclosure: We wrote this report). Aside from the high transparency for this small business, the design, as you might expect from a fashion company, is quite creative. 

Strauss Group published a GRI checked A level report in 2009, covering 2008. Strauss is an Israeli based globally active food and beverages Company. This is their second report, published both in Hebrew and English.

Partner Communications published a GRI checked level B report in 2008, covering 2007. Partner is a leading telecommunications player in Israel, and the owner of the Orange brand. As you might expect, this report is a little ... orange. Published in Hebrew and Enlgish.

DeltaGalil Industries published a GRI checked level B report in 2009, covering 2008. This first report was published in English only. Delta is a leading apparel manufacturer, specializing in underwear and casualwear, headquartered in Israel and supplying world markets.

Nesher Israel Cement Enterprises published a self declared GRI B level report in 2009, covering 2008. Nesher also reported in 2006 on environmental issues. The report is in Hebrew and not available for download (yet).

The Egged Bus Company published a self declared GRI C report in 2009, covering 2008. This is their third report, the last one being published in 2005. It is in Hebrew and not available for download (yet).

The Hannan Mor Group published a self declared GRI C level report in 2009, covering 2008-2009. This is a small traded construction company. This first report is in Hebrew and not available for download (yet). 

Intel published a local report in the spirit of GRI in 2009 covering 2008. This is a summary report , one document in Hebrew with some English and Arabic translated parts. The Intel local report falls within a local reporting framwork adopted by Intel around the world, and using the annual global report as a base. Intel is one of the two global Companies publishing local reports in our market, and this is their third such report.

Motorola Israel published a local report with a GRI index in 2008, covering 2007. This is a comprehensive report covering all CSR subjects, and the third by this local branch of the global Motorola. It was published in Hebrew and English. (Disclosure: I assured  this report)

Baran Group published a report in the spirit of the GRI in 2009, covering 2007. The report is in Hebrew and not indexed. It is a first report for this engineering Company.

Other Companies - Cellcom, the largest telecomms provider, Carmel Olefins, a polymer manufactuer and Rafael, a government-owned air defense Company, and Discount Bank, one of the four leading banks in Israel - all received awards on account of the fact that they have committed to publish before end October. Let's hope they do.

That makes 16. I think that's it. Hope i didnt forget anyone !Overall, 12 reports in 2 years .. maybe 16. Clear leadership shown by the banking sector, fashion , technology and telecomms in the wings. Some food, industrial, transportation and construction sector presence. Strong adoption of GRI as the reporting standard, but early days for a widespread approach to assurance. However, this is still  a drop in the ocean in terms of the size of the Israeli market, the level of global activity of Israeli Companies and the advanced approach to business in this country. We must continue to pust for stronger CSR leadership, accountability and transparency. If you do business with Israeli companies, demand to know what they are doing on CSR .....

What will 2010 bring ? More ? Less ? Same ?
There is no doubt that a certain momentum is in the air, and that those reporting feel the benefits in terms of internal processes and external recognition, but before you can report, you need to ensure your Company is behaving with a CSR mindset, and much of our work in the Israeli market is still about creating awareness and appreciation for CSR practices and supporting Companies in getting on board. There are, we know,  more en route, so we can be hopeful  (better not say optimistic) that 2011 awards for reports published in 2010 and 2011 may show a modest increase. I wonder if a free supply of  Chunky Monkey to all potential reporting Companies would help ?

elaine cohen is the joint CEO of BeyondBusiness, a leading reporting and social-environmental consulting firm . Visit our website at: www.b-yond.biz/en