Sunday, June 10, 2012

First time reports : 8 examples from 2012

Don't you just love first reports? I do. Ha ha. That's not just because I am a reporting geek. It's because a first CSR Report signifies a major step out of the darkness and into the light of transparency. No matter how minimal or even clumsy a first report may be, it represents the fact that one more company has realized that responsibility without transparency is like ice cream without cream, and that sustainability without sustainability reporting is like, well, ice cream without cream.

Apart from the fact that they are first publications, there are no unique defining traits of first reports. They are as varied and multifarious (thanks to Thesaurus.com for multifarious) as second, third and even tenth reports. There are no specific commonalities or characteristics - or even special formulas - which define a first report. There is no template that works for all first reports. What's special about the first report is the breakthrough it represents. Even if it's marketing motivated and greenwash packed, it's a breakthrough. Though don't be fooled - some first reports are highly polished and project a mature approach to reporting.  

Once a company has published a first report, they open themselves up to scrutiny and criticism, (though they might prefer praise and recognition). The fact is, though, that people increase their trust in companies after reading their CSR Reports. And this is even more significant for first timers.

First time reporting inevitably raises new questions for management and sparks healthy internal discussion. This can support decision making and business development, and generally offer another prism through which execs can see their business and its role in society. It's a worthwhile process and every single client I have ever worked with has experienced this.

Having said that, though, there are some first reports which do stretch the term "Sustainability Report" or "CSR Report" to the upper limits of what might reasonably be expected. There are some which are blatantly inadequate to the point of being almost amusing or totally depressing.

If I had a few tips for first time reporters, they would be these:

Get really clear on materiality and your company's sustainability story - don't just list all the good stuff you are doing - make the good stuff count by linking it to both material issues and outcomes.

Keep it short but relevant- some shorter reports can knock the socks off many of the longer ones.

Take it seriously - the best demonstration of a serious approach is to set targets and publicly commit to them. While some reporters use the current reporting year as a baseline, it is still possible to set quantitative targets for future performance. External assurance also lends an additional dimension to a serious approach to reporting - more for its internal value of adding rigor to the process  than because of the additional credibility it affords in the eyes of stakeholders. Use your first report to cut your transparency teeth - have the discussions in the business, and with external stakeholders, hear what they are telling you and shape your program accordingly. Remember that, even though your report might not be a bestseller,  someone somewhere will read it. Make sure your report stands up to scrutiny by each stakeholder who happens to take an interest.

Explain the challenges - no one expects you to be perfect because no one is. Expressing some of the more challenging aspects of your performance adds to your report's credibility.

Always - always - always include personal perspectives - from a range of employees or from external stakeholders. No matter how dry the narrative, real people in your report liven things up and make it much more palatable and credible.

This post is in honor of some of the first timer reports I have come across in 2012, in no particular order. Congrats to all! I  have only included a few and there are tens more published this year that I wanted to highlight as well, but well, even us bloggers have our limits. Maybe I will do another post on the first timers - they are a great bunch.

This is a list of the reports covered in this loooooooooooooooooong post:

Alpha Natural Resources 2011 Sustainability Report (U.S.)
Cogeco Cable,Inc. Canada,2011 Corporate Responsibility Report
Flowserve Corporation U.S. 2011 Sustainability Report
GAIL (India) Ltd, FY 2010-2011 Sustainability Report
Omnicane, Mauritius, 2011 Sustainability Report
Taj Pharmaceuticals Ltd, India, 2011 Sustainability Report
The North Face, U.S. 2010 Sustainability Report
Yüksel İnşaat A.Ş, Turkey, 2011 Sustainability Report

Format: PDF 30 pages and flipper book online
GRI: No
Assurance: No
Materiality Matrix: No
Future Performance Targets: No.
External Stakeholder Commentary: No
Internal Stakeholder Commentary: No
Picture of a Child or a Tree or a Globe on the Cover: No, but there is a green landscape view.
Mentions Ice Cream: No - no ice cream at the coal face.

About the Company
Alpha Natural Resources, headquartered in Virginia, U.S., is the world’s third largest metallurgical coal supplier with production capacity of nearly 126 million tons of steam and metallurgical coal. (Steam coal is primarily purchased by large utilities and industrial customers as fuel for electricity generation and manufacturing, and metallurgical coal is used primarily to make coke, a key component in the steel making process.) Alpha employs 14,000 people, extracting coal from 145 active mines, shipping over 100 million tons of coal worldwide in 2011 and turning over around $7 billion.

About the Report
This report is a very nice first publication. It shows evidence of a company taking a serious approach to managing its own direct impacts. Very early on, Alpha establishes its unique sustainability language - Running Right, Leading Right and Living Right and this leitmotif, which is at the root of Alpha culture, is the basis of the story that Alpha tells. The report has three core sections - our people, our environment and our communities.

Stakeholder Engagement
A nice touch for this first report is a process of stakeholder engagement - Alpha consulted with a list of external organizations representing different stakeholder groups - in order to seek input on material issues. Alpha confirms having learned a lot in the process, and having used this input to crystallize and report on material issues. Unfortunately, beyond disclosing that this process had taken place, Alpha does not share the issues raised, nor does the report present a materiality matrix, leaving us to guess what most important issues came up in consultation. While most of the value, I will admit, is in the stakeholder conversation, I fail to understand why Alpha would not share at least a partial outcome with all stakeholders.

Is Coal Sustainable?
Alpha sidesteps the issue of the overall sustainability of the coal industry and concentrates squarely on the way it does its business. In fairness, the CEO hints at an underlying blip: "At Alpha, we believe there’s a higher purpose to what we do: we’re fueling progress around the world. Coal is an affordable, abundant energy source that plays a key role in producing electricity and steel. We know people’s lives improve – their education levels, quality of life and overall health – when they have access to electricity. And 1.5 billion people currently lack that access. Yet the perception of the coal industry is not particularly good, and our social license to operate is threatened. I think the image of the industry and reality are different – but I also know that perception matters."

In other words, Alpha makes no apologies for being in the coal business -people need coal, and heck, it's legal - and the expression of their Corporate Responsibility is to do it in the right way. This is probably a sensible path for a first report. However, some discussion of the impacts of that perception on Alpha's business might be welcome in future reports - not just about (un)sustainable supply of their core raw material, but also the ways the business will need to navigate an increasingly hostile perception about the role of coal in our society, the way this will impact the cost of doing business and upcoming regulatory issues. How will Alpha deal with this threat to its social license to operate?

Formats
One final point about accessibility: Alpha's ebook report is hosted on issuu.com in a flipper book format - which I find rather illegible. To download it as a PDF you have to register. Normally, I don't bother to go through this hassle but for the purposes of this post, I made the effort. I wish companies would not make it so hard for us to access their reports.
Format: PDF 30 pages
GRI: GRI Application Level B
Assurance: No
Materiality Matrix: No
Future Performance Targets:  Yes - some environmental targets.
External Stakeholder Commentary: No
Internal Stakeholder Commentary: No
Picture of a Child or a Tree or a Globe on the Cover: No - no picture at all.
Mentions Ice Cream: No -  no VOIP ice cream.

About the Company
Cogeco Cable is a telecommunications corporation, the second largest hybrid fibre coaxial cable operator in Ontario, Québec and Portugal. The company has revenues of CA$1.9 billion in Canada and employs 2,511 people in Canada.

About the Report
The report covered Cogeco Cable's operations in Canada only, and the company promises to expand the scope with future reporting. The report is structured about four main sections: economic performance, customers, social performance and communities. The narrative is well and clearly written, follows the GRI structure quite closely, and is easy to read. There are some short case studies throughout the report which add nice perspective. It's concise and factual, no literary creativity here, but it works well enough. A good, solid, first report, testifying to some decent CSR initiatives.

As a first report, meaningful transparency is on the low side, and Cogeco Cable reports on 22 indicators, just two above the level required for GRI Application Level B, and not all are strictly compliant with the GRI requirements.

An interesting point that Cogeco takes care to note, when confirming their self-declared Application Level B is "This grade is not an actual rating of our performance or the implementation of our corporate social responsibility initiatives." - just in case anyone mistakenly thinks that the GRI A, B and C levels are a performance quality grading system :)


 

Format: PDF 30 pages
GRI: Yes, contains an Index and Performance Indicators are noted throughout the report.
Assurance :  No.
Materiality Matrix:  No.
Future Performance Targets: No.
External Stakeholder Commentaries: No.
Internal Stakeholder Commentaries: No.
Picture of a Child or a Tree or a Globe on the Front Cover: Yes, both plants and kids.No Globe though!
Mentions Ice Cream: No ice cream flows in the Flowserve report.

About the Company
Flowserve supplies pumps, valves, seals, automation, and services to the power, oil, gas, chemical, and other industries. The company has more than 16,000 employees in more than 50 countries.

About the Report
This is short report, demonstrating limited progress, signaling the company's intentions as it builds its sustainability approach. Grouped around the traditional quadrant model - marketplace, workplace, environment and community- this report picks off the bits that Flowserve is already addressing in the business - this is primarily employee safety, energy consumption, brief references to water and waste, and community involvement. The report covers 16 indicators, not all fully. Data is provided at different levels - some covers 26 sites, some covers 21 sites.

As far as it goes, this report is clear, although it is somewhat repetitive and emotionless. In a short report of 30 pages, there is an overview of 9 pages, some of which is repeated in the report sections, and later in the report, there is a one-page summary of data which has already been presented. Aside from the CEO and COO introductions, there are no people in the report, and no stories. As a factual status of Flowserve's status, it's ok. For future reports, a little more passion would be nice.


Format:  PDF 84 pages
GRI: Yes, B+
Assurance : Yes, very clear Assurance statement.
Materiality Matrix: Yes, list of top six issues and detailed explanations.
Future Performance Targets: No specific, quantitative targets but a strong statement of intent.
External Stakeholder Commentaries: No.
Internal Stakeholder Commentaries:  No.
Picture of a Child or a Tree or a Globe on the Front Cover: No - it's a gas processing unit.
Mentions Ice Cream: No. Apparently ice cream is not material for gas production.

About the Company
GAIL is a CPSE (Central Public Sector Enterprise) and is the largest state-owned natural gas processing and distribution company in India, headquartered in New Delhi. Revenue is about $7 billion and GAIL has about 3,800 employees.

About the Report
This report is entitled "Value Beyond Business". As my consulting firm is called Beyond Business, I naturally formed an immediate bond with this report :). In his opening remarks, the Chairman and Managing Director says: "Being India’s premier natural gas company for over 25 years, we recognize that our maiden Sustainability Report was indeed overdue but our commitment to the concept of sustainability has always been embedded in our systems, processes and activities."  That's a nice admission, and sets a credible and frank tone for the rest of the report.  A further nice touch is that all the executive directors of the business offer their own perspectives in a short piece which sets out the key focus and challenges from their respective disciplines. (Just a shame that they are all male - a little gender diversity would be a good thing).

(Hardly Any?) Women at GAIL
A propos the all-male Executive Team, I suspect this is a sensitive point at GAIL - in response to indicator LA2 which requires breakdown of workforce by age and by gender - GAIL, despite claiming to respond fully, does not show the gender split of the workforce. In fact, this report refers only very briefly to gender diversity. "A special Women’s Cell at GAIL is focused on reaching out to the women workforce, initiate discussions and adequately address their concerns including sexual harassment at the workplace. Additionally, we have set up Ladies’ Clubs at our operational sites and have instituted GAIL women’s awards to promote their involvement and enhance satisfaction" A women's cell? A Ladies Club? Sounds like GAIL needs to rethink the concept of gender equality. Any guesses on the percentage of women at GAIL?

Thorough reporting
In other respects, GAIL does a very comprehensive job with this first report, and has not spared words and data. Every section is well detailed. The report includes five pages of the history of natural gas development in India, linked to the development of GAIL. India is one of the top five consumers of energy in the world, with gas representing 11% of this consumption and more than half of this is traded by GAIL. The company grew 30% in revenues last year.

Materiality is assessed through an internal process which includes a review of challenges to the global gas and oil industry - but not explicit stakeholder consultation. For a first report, this is a good baseline, and the 32 issues identified were whittled down to the top six which includes sustainable gas sourcing, continuing to grow the business in the face of competition, availability of skilled employees and more. Environmental reporting is detailed and safety figures are clearly stated including reportable, minor and near miss incidents for both payroll employees and contractors. The report even includes a glossary and cross references to the Global Compact Principles and other local reporting frameworks in addition to the GRI Index.

If anything, the overall message of GAIL's contribution to sustainable development and quality of life in India gets a little lost in the fine detail of this long-ish first report. I would recommend a little more focus on the story, and less on the activities, for future publications.  


Format: PDF 46 pages
GRI:  Yes, Application Level C.
Assurance :  No
Materiality Matrix:  No
Future Performance Targets:  No
External Stakeholder Commentaries: No
Internal Stakeholder Commentaries:  No
Picture of a Child or a Tree or a Globe on the Cover: No. But there's a nice blue sky.
Mentions Ice Cream: No. But then, there's no sugar in ice cream. Is there?

About the Company
Omnicane is a Mauritius-based sugar producer, created in 2009 following the rebranding of Mon Trésor Mon Désert Limited (MTMD), a long-established sugarcane group in Mauritius whose origins can be traced back to the 1850s. MTMD was amongst the first companies to be listed on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius and, Omnicane has successfully transformed itself from a basic-commodity supplier into a multi-product, vertically integrated agro-industrial cluster. The company’s main  operations are: sugarcane cultivation, sugar milling and refining and energy production. Omnicane has 1,132 employees and makes around $3.5 billion. Kudos to one of the very few operations in Mauritius to report on sustainability.

About the Report
The report is a well-prepared, professional, clear document - formal in style and following the GRI C Level framework very closely, addressing the GRI disclosure headlines  more or less in the order they appear in the Framework. Performance is disclosed  at minimum level, reporting fully on 11 performance indicators (ten required at Level C) , and in addition, provides a high level of detail by month on chemicals consumed and by week on water discharge quality etc, which is probably unnecessary at this level of detail. The report focuses on environmental sustainability and provides very detailed disclosures about the sugar processing and energy generation aspects of the business.

Bagasse
Did you know what bagasse is? Hmmm, showing my ignorance again. Bagasse is the fibrous matter that remains after sugarcane or sorghum stalks are crushed to extract their juice. (Thanks, Wikipedia). Omnicane assumes that we all know what bagasse is. It would have liked to see this explanation in the report. Omnicane does explain other terms such as fly ash, coal ash, bottom ash, boiler slag, molasses and vinasse - an ethanol manufacturing by-product. Omnicane produces over 2 million Gj per year of bagasse renewable energy which is used in consumption and sold to the National Grid.

CSER
Omincane use the acronym CSER for what we know as CSR or CR. Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility. Add that to your lexicon.

Closing a Factory
One nice piece in this report is the very detailed disclosure of provisions provided for 152 employees affected by a site closure. CSR is not only about the employees you hire, it's also about the employees you fire. Omnicane deals with this openly and responsibly.

No Sugar
Despite the "sweetness" of Omnicane's business, there is no sugar in this report. It's formal, dry and even a little boring. There are no case studies, no testimonials and while it's just about readable for the lay person, it's rather technical and  unexciting. As a first report, it does a good job in getting Omnicane's performance message through, but the story gets lost. I think this group  plays a much bigger role than this report reflects. In future reporting, I would recommend adhering to the GRI Framework but being less constrained by its structure, and focus on the true story of Omnicane's impacts and contribution to sustainable society.  Nonetheless, this is great progress.




Format: PDF 30 pages
GRI: No
Assurance : No
Materiality Matrix: No
Future Performance Targets: No
External Stakeholder Commentaries: No
Internal Stakeholder Commentaries: No
Picture of a Child or a Tree or a Globe on the Cover: Yes, classic. Hands cupping a sapling.
Mentions Ice Cream: No - no ice cream medicines.

About the Company
Taj Pharmaceuticals Limited is a pharmaceutical company founded and based in India. The company manufactures pharmaceutical formulations and API for India and other countries of world, owning about 450 brands and 600 generic licenses. The company was established in 1995 as an enterprise and in 2004 became a public limited company with about $1Bn in sales.

About the Report
This is the kind of report that makes you smile. Or grimace. It's not really a report, but it's a cute attempt to represent a certain social philosophy that is present in the business in an authentic way, with half an eye on the potential reputational benefits of adding Sustainability Report to your corporate resume. It's mainly a copy of the relevant website pages which have some vague connection to CSR, plus a whole set of pages containing legalese disclaimers and website terms of use. The actual Sustainability Report content of this not-really-a-report can be accommodated in a few short pages. There is no data on any aspect of Sustainability Performance.

How do I know that it's half a marketing document? Read this: "We will welcome any Export / Import business partnership with Canada, Mauritius, U.S.A., Moscow, London, Brazil, foreign manufacturers and Indian manufacturers and large or small-scale regional distributors, medical and prophylactic establishments and drugstores. Cooperate with us and we shall together develop the pharmaceutical market for the welfare of the World people, so that we could say together "curing life…". "

The Gems
There are some more "gems" in this report:
"At Taj Pharmaceuticals, we keep to the definition spelt out in the 2004 Brundtland Report ...." (ahem... just a few years too late, but who's counting?)
"We still believe that good corporate citizenship should be a matter of course and is not something to be shouted from the rooftops." ( but ... this report is on the rooftop anyway...)
"Taj Pharmaceutical is your gateway to doing business with people who can make procurement decisions in the rounding antibody Company of World Wide." (and I thought this report was written in English)

Next Report
So, come on Taj Pharma, if you want to produce a second Sustainability Report, it's time to make a more serious effort.  It looks as though the company has some good intentions, but in practice, this "report" is not worthy of its title.



Format: Online only, no download.
GRI: Yes, Application Level C.
Assurance : No
Materiality Matrix: No - but focus areas are defined and key outcomes of a Stakeholder Feedback session are disclosed.
Future Performance Targets: Yes, 2013-2015 goals.
External Stakeholder Commentaries: Yes, several.
Internal Stakeholder Commentaries: Yes - many videos and personal commentaries.
Picture of a Child or a Tree or a Globe on the Cover: No - rock climbing is cooler.
Mentions Ice Cream: Lots of ice, but no ice cream - surely ice cream would help at the North Face?

About the Company (Brand)
The North Face designs and delivers an extensive line of high performance outdoor apparel, equipment and footwear, founded in 1966 and owned by VF Corporation, the guys that bought Timberland. (The North Face is the coldest, most unforgiving side of a mountain). The North Face employs 2080 people across the world and has $1.5 billion revenues in 70 countries.  

About the Report
The North Face is actually a brand, operating as a division of the $7 billion apparel corporation VF. As such, this represents a great initiative - I have often believed that Sustainability Reporting should be by brand, and not just by company. This is a great example. It reads well and oozes credibility.

Presenting the Challenges
The North Face Report is a modest and authentically written account of the  brand at the start of a sustainability journey, supported by its parent company infrastructures (though VF Corporation does not report on sustainability), and declaring the report as presenting the challenges of the road (mountain?) ahead, and not just the successes. It has very much a work-in-progress feel, though core elements of the baseline are nicely presented: stakeholder consultation with external experts, key performance indicators (Fabric Sourcing, Fabric Content, GHG Emissions reductions and Offsets, Office and Packaging Waste, Community Outdoor Participation and volunteerism) and defined program focus areas. Although this is a first report, data is presented since 2009 against KPI's, evidencing the fact that this report is the result of efforts to date, and not simply a declaration of intent.

Online Reporting
This is probably one  of the best online examples of a Sustainability Report presentation, and very fitting for this outdoor brand with appeal to the under-35's including many college students, as well as other consumers, who stay connected using the internet and rely on the web as a main source of information. The online report is on its own mini-site, packed with videos, infographics, plain language "equivalencies" (56 million gallons of water saved = 85 Olympic sized swimming pools) and other helpful design elements. The only personal problem I have with this report is that nothing is downloadable. For those who have an interest in the report content, not the interactive experience, it would be helpful to have the narrative in the form of a document which can be saved and read offline - even a summary document. The online report has no download options at all, not even by section. However, I can, grudgingly, understand the exclusively online presentation, and, in this case, it works.  

Looking Ahead
The North Face has done a great job with this report. In the future, I would like to see a deeper look at employee practices - environmental stewardship is what drives the  sustainability passion at The North Face, but with over 2,000 employees, the brand is still a big employer and I would like to see more of a reference to how the brand maintains a fair, diverse, nurturing workplace, beyond the involvement of employees in outdoor inspiration trips and community programs.


Format: PDF 56 pages
GRI: Yes, Application Level C.
Assurance : No
Materiality Matrix:  No
Future Performance Targets: Yes
External Stakeholder Commentaries: No 
Internal Stakeholder Commentaries:  Yes, many personal quotations from employees.
Picture of a Child or a Tree or a Globe on the Cover:  No. But there is a bird, hovering....
Mentions Ice Cream:  No mention of ice cream. Maybe in the next report ?

About the Company
Yüksel İnşaat A.Ş. was established in 1963 and is an engineering and construction group specializing in transportation, highways, dams, marine structures and other building projects.  The company has several subsidiary companies which are included in the scope of the report. The Group employs 11,360 people, including 3,708 contractor employees and has a turnover of around $1 Billion.

About the Report
This report covers Employees, Environment and Community, and is focused on the direct sustainability impacts of the Yüksel group. The group has been a participant in the UN Global compact since 2006 - proudly, the first company in the construction sector to take on this commitment - and has produced COP's on an annual basis, but this is the first Sustainability Report.

Overall, the report seems authentic and shows evidence of genuine progress and good intention - a local company doing its best to be a responsible citizen in its country, displaying national pride and a keen sense of community responsibility. One of the best pages in the report is a matrix of targets for the subsidiary companies, each of which has three targets, one each in the area of economic, environmental and social. I like this. It shows that this complex group of 18 subsidiary companies is trying to get eveyrone on the same page (no pun intended) and embed a common approach throughout the group. The targets are not quantitative in the main, but aspirational type directions, but it's a fine list all the same. There are a couple of amusing targets: one has as a social target "to train employees in sales and diction in order to increase quality" :), and another has "the creation of a Perfection Center" as their economic target.  I love reports that make me smile!  

Women in the Construction Industry
Yes, you guessed it. Not too many, and Yüksel is not exception. In Turkey, there are 285 women out of a total 4,343 employees (6.56%). Yüksel doesn't make any reference to this. Ironically, though, there are many positive  personal quotations from  Yüksel employees dotted throughout the report - and most of them are women! Perhaps this is Yüksel's way of attracting more women. Data on women in management is not presented.

Happy Employees
Employees are, apparently, deliriously happy at Yüksel. Here is just one quotation from Elif (female) which is pretty representative of most of the others: "It is wonderful to work with Yüksel. Working with Yüksel means working with a young and enthusiastic team, while at the same time benefiting from the experiences of competent masters of their work, developing you being a member of a large and happy family, who can turn work into fun with their smiling faces and working in the shadow of a half a century old sycamore with hundred percent security" Maybe something is lost (or gained?) here in translation, but this is a little too mushy for my liking. Including employee testimonials is a very useful and valid tool in reporting, but there is a fine line between inspiring and mushy. Still, it's nice to see happy employees.  

Assurance, Audit or both or none?
The Yüksel report is declared at GRI C+ level, where the "+", as we all know by now, represents an assurance statement. In fact,  the statement included in the report, by the CSR Association of Turkey,  does not provide any evidence of there having been an assurance process. The brief statement says that the report was sent to the CSR Association for audit. But whether an actual audit took place is not clear. In any event, the "assurance" statement is well short of what I would regards as acceptable practice.

Report Style
This report is obviously translated from Turkish, so it is hard for me to assess if the language, which is a little child-like at times, is representative of the original. It projects a certain authenticity, even though there are errors and awkward phraseology in English. I would always recommend those publishing in English to have the report fully proofed by a native speaker. For just a little extra effort, the report could project a much higher quality. 

Well, got this far? Maybe you also find first reports fascinating! Now you definitiely deserve a rest. And ice cream.

PS: Thanks to CorporateRegister.com , where I found many of the first reports mentioned above.

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  (Beyond Business, an inspired CSR consulting and Sustainability Reporting firm)

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Elevating CSR: A Cone Award for KONE

I couldn't resist this. Today I came across the Kone Company, a Finland-based global corporation which makes elevators and escalators, which is "Dedicated to People Flow".  Making elevators sounds like a fun profession. I immediately thought of "20 fun things to do in an elevator", and a whole section of the fashion industry which has built up just around elevators. 

One of a wide selection of elevator T-Shirts from the cafepress.com shop

It even crossed my mind whether the people at Kone were the original inventors of the elevator pitch which has been so crucial in improving our business communications over the years. You know what an elevator pitch is: a short, succinct message you can deliver between floors of an elevator ride to impress someone important. If Kone were writing their CSR Report in Elevator Pitch style, it might go something like this:

What goes up must come down, and we help that happen.
Our elevators make a contribution to global sustainability by helping people flow.
Imagine urganization without its ups and downs.  
Think how many people would get respiratory failure when visiting the 93rd floor of the  International Finance Center in Shanghai without an elevator.    
Imagine a life without Sim Tower.  
Imagine an elevator pitch without an elevator.
Our CSR Report describes how we support the people flow experience, for a better world and a a sustainable planet.   
Go with the flow and read our CSR Report. 

But no, I found none of this in Kone's 2011 Corporate Responsibility Report.  I didn't even find a cone, which as you may have gathered, is a much tastier version of Kone. Having, therefore, been reminded of my craving for a cone by Kone, I couldn't stop myself checking out if Kone is worth a Cone Award.

Here are the results, the fourth in my Cone Award series:

About the Company:
Global elevator and escalator maker headquartered in Finland
Annual net sales of EURO 5.2 Billion
35,000 employees
8 global production units and 1,000 offices around the world
NASDAQ OMX Helsinki listed
"People Flow" means people moving smoothly, safely, comfortably, and without waiting in and between buildings.

About the Report:
GRI Application Level B+ self-declared and third party checked
PDF 50 pages
Fourth annual corporate responsibility report
Externally assured CO2 emissions
Covers 2011 calendar year.

Ice Cream Cones Awarded:
This report gets the message across. Kone is not just an elevator-maker. Their mission is about People Flow. Helping people to move around. Enabling human development through urbanization. Providing essential services for indispensable buildings such as hospitals, airports, educational institutions, offices and other important places without which our lives would be so much more restricted. Contributing to environmental efficiency by reducing the environmental burden of buildings (which consume 40% of the world's energy, of which up to 10% can come from elevators and escalators). Making buildings safer to navigate (doesn't everyone fear getting stuck in an elevator?). Helping old people stay mobile. The report gets this across well. Kone's contribution and role is society is more than just shipping machinery off a production line.

 Kone provides context for the positioning of the elevator industry and their role in its growth. "Urbanization is the single most important megatrend within the global elevator and escalator industry. It is expected to drive demand for years to come." In addition to environmental focus and safety levels of elevators, Kone also highlights the changing global demographic structure. "The growing number of older people raises the importance of accessibility in buildings and urban infrastructure. There is an ever-growing need for convenience and accessibility. An elevator can help elderly residents live in their homes longer, facilitate the lives of all residents in the building, as well as add value to an existing property."

This cone is for People Flow Day. This is a day when Kone employee teams "act as researchers, talking to customers, interviewing the public, making on-site observations, and completing questionnaires." This enables Kone to get to know how people flow. The 2011 day took place in over 30 countries. (Hmmm, I obviously wasn't on an elevator somewhere that day!) Particular attention was paid to the "accessibility challenges faced by different user groups, such as wheelchair users, those with visual impairments, senior citizens, people in a hurry, and families with young children." "People in a hurry" must be quite challenging. Who is not in a hurry in an urban environment?

Kone has made big strides in energy efficiency of elevators. Today, Kone’s "European volume elevators consume 60 percent less energy, Asian volume elevators 50 percent less, and US volume elevators 40 percent less energy than in 2008". Wonder what went wrong in the US? An explanation of the differences here might have been a good idea. But, overall, this is great eco-progress in just a few years.

Another cone for Kone's lifecycle analysis. Between 56% and 85% of an elevator's life cycle (on the two models examined) are in the use of the elevator. More environmentally friendly materials in making or modernizing elevators can substantially affect the energy consumption during use. A cone for Kone for performing LCAs - not enough companies are doing this today.

A sixth cone for Kone's data presentation. Throughout this report, data is presented clearly and in a well-ordered way, and in a good level of detail. Environmental data, Human Resources data, Safety data etc. In most cases, the data also shows performance improvement. Certainly worthy of a cone.


Finally, a rare seventh cone for the Kohn design. It's neat, easy on the eye, bright, good font, and the graphics are clever but not overfacing. A few hyperlinks within the PDF wouldn't have gone amiss, but in general, it's a pleasant report to peruse.

  
Ice Cream Cones Dewarded:
Kone's report is a little too much like ice cream. It's all good news. There are no challenges that Kone is facing, other than the continued aspiration to grow the business. There are no performance failures whatsoever. For example, one of the key material issues for Kone is safety and reliable performance (flow) of the equipment. Kohn services 850,000 elevators around the world and I am not sure how many new installations the company completes each year. They have 12,000 service technicians.  I might have expected, in this report, to read something about the safety and reliability record of Kohn products. Reading this report, everything seems truly... well... flowing. I suspect the reality may not be quite so rosy, and maybe I am wrong, but Kohn doesn't actually give us any data on how many problems occurred with their equipment that caused a safety risk or what the reliability of Kohn products has been. I think this report would be more credible if it included just one or two of the things Kone might prefer not to report, if any exist.


This Cone Deward is for the Plus. Kone's External Assurance Statement covers limited assurance on CO2 emissions only, Scope 1 and 2. As you all know by now, the GRI system enables reporting companies to claim a "+" with the Application Level if the report is externally assured. Well, counting and checking CO2 emissions is not report assurance, in my view. It's a good thing, of course, but not enough to earn Kone a "+". For that, I take a cone back. 

The Kone report is a little repetitive. The company labors the point a little about how much effort they put in to understanding people flow and finding the right, efficient, modern, high-performance solutions. I am sure this is the root of success, but even so, we don't need to read it quite so often.

Overall Net Ice Cream Cone Status:
And it's a Net Four Cones for Kohn bringing Kohn to the top of  the Cone League Table. Is it really that good? Or am I getting overgenerous with my cones these days? Judge for yourself. And dont forget to send feedback :)


elaine cohen, CSR consultant, Sustainability 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 (Beyond Business, an inspired CSR consulting and Sustainability Reporting firm)

Saturday, May 26, 2012

16 Great Corporate CSR Blogs

These past few years have witnessed a multitude of corporate CSR and/or Sustainability blogs. These are immensely valuable for companies as a way to update all those who might be interested in the way the focus on CSR is maintained throughout the year and not just at Sustainability Report time. Blogs are also a way for companies to tell their stories through the faces and voices of employees (and most seem to be genuine, rather than ghosted), thereby gaining both internal momentum as well as an external presence. Also, corporate CSR blogs are an opportunity to elicit feedback. We should not be concerned that very few people actually engage on blogs. As I know from experience with my own blogs, posts spark the discussion but very often, the conversation takes place off-blog. Companies who share via their blogs demonstrate that they are open to these conversations. A case in point is the great example of my interaction with Microsoft a few weeks back.

Here, in alfa order, are ten of the companies whose corporate CSR Blogs are on my radar.

adidas Group Blog
This is a nice blog from members of the adidas team, headed up by the adidas Chief Communications Officer, covering, as you might imagine, all things related to sport, adidas brands, and often, things related to CSR and community involvement. While the blog has a broad scope, clicking the Sustainability Aspects category via the Category Search function brings up some interesting material including the latest post about German TV's visit inside adidas factories in China and a frank look at working conditions. The Community Involvement Category showcases adidas's volunteering and other projects for society.

Applied Materials Blog
The "About this Blog" page explains that the Applied Materials Blog is "dedicated to a global discussion about the ideas, actions and products changing the world as we know it.  Here we will provide insight into the innovations being created by our employees, technologists and global workforce as well as continue to drive the conversation about the role clean technology can play in saving our planet, while also creating jobs and other economic benefits by helping promote energy independence. We will also discuss the importance of being a leading global citizen and operating in an environmentally and socially responsible manner." Bloggers include members of the Applied team, including the CEO, though he has obviously been rather busy of late as his last post was in 2010. For those interested in renewable energy, this is quite an interesting blog.

BT Better Future Blog
This blog is subtitled "Join the Debate, We Want your Views". However, there are not yet any comments on any of the  posts so far, dating back, as far as I can tell, to February 2012.  The BT blog is a hybrid, containing posts from BT people and also external stakeholders, such as this post about "Embracing all in the digital revolution" by John Fisher, Chief Executive of Citizens Online, or this one, from a  Year 10 pupil at a school in Northern England, who participated in BT’s Big Voice competition gives young people the chance to make short films on inclusion and diversity issues. It's a nice touch to have external stakeholders on the blog. I always say that there is a great credibility advantage in letting others help tell your  story. The BT blog is not so active - only 10 posts in around four months - but it's a presence and the material is interesting and informative. Suggestion for improvement: Add an "About this Blog" page, tell us what you are trying to do with the blog and provide the bios of the key regular contributors.  Who is writing the blog is as important as what they are writing :).
(N.B. Kevin Moss, BT Americas CSR head also maintains a private-business BT blog at CSR Perspective, which is always a worthwhile read.)

Centrica's Blog
Centrica, with its vision to be the most trusted energy company, has been running a blog now since 2008, managing to maintain around three to four posts per month.  It is populated with a range of CSR related stories, news about Centrica's Sustainability Reporting, and market developments which affect energy consumption and practices. Authors have a short profile on the blog, on their landing page. The blog forms a part of Centrica's overall communications strategy  to get more online more frequently, with a plan for weekly updates throughout 2012. A good example of how blogging can be used to change or correct perceptions is this post on the value of windpower in cutting CO2 emissions. Following a public report that the economic and emissions benefits of windpower are just hot air (ha-ha, couldn't resist), Centrica provides their own perspective on why windpower is an important alternative renewable energy source.

Citi Blog from Citi group
This blog covers information about Citi's citizenship and community activities, and other topics relevant to Citi's role in society. Some of the posts are rather finance-geek oriented, through many of more general interest for CSR fans. Despite the topical relevance of this post, entitled "Executive compensation at Citi", no comments were left by readers. On the other hand, this post, entitled "You Spoke. We Listened" generated 385 comments, many of which were complaints and requests for better service. To Citi's credit (no pun intended :), a post responding to the 385 was published soon thereafter. This is the power of the blog and  one instance in which I see a blog truly engaging customers and responding to them in a considerate way. Citi celebrated its 200th anniversary with a series of posts from the Bank's history, including this latest one about what is probably one of the earliest graduate training programs on record, the hiring of 20 graduates in 1915 to train for careers overseas, to boost the Bank's international presence.  
This is a lively and informative blog which covers a wide range of topics related to CSR, offering information about food, eating and nutrition habits, food preparation, environmental tips and more, as well as updates about what's going on in the world of Delhaize CSR activities. Archives go back to June 2011 and the blog has maintained a good stream of content since then, using pictures and videos to liven things up, and even the occasional smiley. There is an About Us page, which describes the blog's purpose, but no details of who is doing all the writing. In fact, all the posts are anonymously authored. Suggestion for improvement: Let us know who is behind the Delhaize posts!  Even if the blog is authored by a professional communications company, it's still pretty good!   

This is part of the FedEx corporate blog and the CSR bit represents the posts that are tagged with CSR. However, the overall blog tag cloud has CSR, sustainability, environment, disaster relief etc as the most prominent keywords, so the CSR elements of the FedEx blog dominates. Posts are written by FedEx people and clicking on each author's name takes you to a bio page so that you can see who you are reading. The FedEx blog is followed by FedEx people as is evidenced by frequent comments, many of which express pride at being part of the FedEx company. What a great way to showcase this organization's culture.

GlaxoSmithKline (U.S) More than Medicine
This is a very interesting blog, rooted in GSK's U.S. operations, which covers the role of Big Pharma in healthcare, appropriate for the company which heads up the Access to Medicine Index.  The purpose of the blog, which has been running consistently for a few years now, is stated as "Our goal is to encourage an open, productive discussion about a range of topics related to the US healthcare system and how it can be improved. And we're going to try and do our best to provide a GSK perspective that doesn't sound like it's written in "legalese." But the blog doesn't cover only healthcare issues. It includes a wide range of posts on different aspects of GSK's CSR programs and employee volunteering events. The blog also has an "About this Blog" page so you know the rules and who is doing the editing and posting.

Intel CSR Blog
No summary of CSR Blogs would be complete without the Intel CSR Blog. I don't know if it's the longest running, but it started in 2007, when very few corporates had even heard of the Internet, let alone think of blogging on it. The Intel blog has maintained a consistently high quality of posts at the rate of about 8 posts per month since then, and is still going strong, also being used as a platform for sharing "bite-sized" pieces of the annual CR Report. Contributors to the Intel CSR blog are a range of Intel execs from all over the world, and from a range of business functions. You can get to meet them on the "Meet the Bloggers" page, where each has a short bio and there is also an About this Blog page. What's nice about this Intel Blog is that it covers a broad spectrum of topics under the CSR umbrella and often includes special posts, such as this one,  from Intel volunteers  with the Intel Education Service Corps, who tell first hand of their experiences in different countries around the world. Quite an inspiring program.  

Johnson and Johnson BTW Blog
The "About BTW" page on the J&J BTW blog starts with the line: "Everyone else is talking about our company, so why can’t we?" How true! This is also one of the veteran blogs, which joined the blogosphere in June 2007, and its blog tag cloud clearly makes citizenship the number one topic. We are introduced to the bloggers  on a separate page. From disease to diversity to greening the healthcare system, the J&J blog covers a lot of ground and is well written, mainly by the J&J team, presenting personal views and perspectives on CSR and healthcare related issues, using plenty of videos and infographics to make the reader experience a little more fun. It's a serious, intelligent blog which offers good information and an occasional external post from a relevant expert. 

McDonald's Open for Conversation Blog
The blog is Open for Conversation and conversation it gets. Most posts yield several comments, including this one, about  McDonald's bold decision to stop gestation stalls for sows. The blog is sponsored by McDonald's VP for Sustainability, Bob Langert,  and is edited by McDonald's Community Manager and appears to have been running since July 2011, which is the first archived post, in which Bob Langert outlines the three big shifts in business that underpin sustainability. It's an interesting blog and one which, you will be surprised to find, hardly mentions hamburgers, though the juicy double cheeseburger and chips on the blog graphics reminds you where you are. A good blog and worth a look in for important insights and yes, discussion.

Dating back to February 2008, the Microsoft blog is a combination of technical tips and updates and other aspects of Microsoft's CSR performance.  Posts are coordinated by the Microsoft Citizenship team but names are not named and bios are not bio'd. This blog is of less interest to the general CSR reader, though anyone wanting to keep up to date with the latest software for non-profits will enjoy it. Suggestion for improvement: Expose the Microsoft Citizenship Team!

Microsoft also maintains an excellent environmental blog called Software Enabled Earth which is the official blog of Microsoft's environmental sustainability team. It's a great round-up of everything environmental and includes a weekly post of what's topical.

Netafim Blog- Pioneering Irrigation
This is a great blog from a great company with a great story to tell. The impact of drip-irrigation on sustainable agriculture is powerful. The blog is written by Netafim's CSO, Naty Barak, and contains a range of perspectives and updates on Netafim's activities to advance agricultural productivity around the world.  The blog started in 2010 with a short but sweet post on how Netafim broadened its outlook from a small desert Kibbutz to global sustainability, and has maintained a flow of one to two posts per month since then.

Telefonica Public Policy Blog
"With this blog, Telefónica wishes to share its views on global policy issues concerning Digital communication, Internet, Broadband and Sustainability, but also receive your feedback and ideas."  This is a line from the "About this Blog" page, where the key authors and their bios are also provided. Archives go back to January 2011, and the top post ever got close to 7,000 hits on the subject of "Europe leading social innovation".  The Telefonica blog is highly informative about public policy issues, as its name suggests, with a focus on European Commission and changes and developments of legislation in the ICT sector. A very useful blog for those with an interest in this field. I particularly liked (and learned from) this recent post about the new European Commission strategy for making the internet safer for children.

This blog is for stories from the Timberland community about the Timberland brand, business, products and passions. The blog has archives back to mid 2008 which makes this another veteran corporate CSR blog. Posts are by Timberland people who have a landing page with their job title and personal information such as what they do in their spare time. This is a blog for those who love the Great Outdoors, though it also covers different aspects of Timberland CSR performance and initiatives, such as this post which describes how a Timberland jacket is made from recycled plastic bottles and even recycled coffee grounds. Coffee grounds are, apparently, excellent at absorbing odor. If you can't wear it, as they say, drink it!

Beware though if you are a CEO Blogger. If you leave the company under a cloud, your blog gets taken down. Brian Dunn, the former BestBuy CEO blogger,  knows this from first-hand experience.

Finally, there are many other great corporate CSR blogs out there, and all differ  in style, tone, content and focus. I have covered but a few. I feel sure that all companies reap major benefits from blogging, and it's an informal and inviting way to communicate, personalize the business and create trust.


Disclosure: Netafim in Israel, Intel in Israel, GSK in Romania are clients of my company, Beyond Business.

elaine cohen, CSR consultant,  winning Sustainability Reporter (CRRA '12 Best SME Report), 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 (Beyond Business, an inspired CSR consulting and Sustainability Reporting firm)

Friday, May 18, 2012

Learning CSR Lessons in Romania

Following my posts on the Value of Case Studies and the Ukraine Case Study contest, the third in this Case Study Trilogy is set against the backdrop of the Transylvanian Mountains and Count Dracula, who could probably have written several Case Studies but not necessarily about sustainability. This post takes us to Bucharest, home to 2.2 million people and the center of Romania's growing economy. It is also home to Dragos Dehelean, Managing Partner of Selenis, a PR  and Communications firm and CEO of ResponsabilitateSociala, a comprehensive portal for all things CSR in Romania. ResponsabilitateSociala is the driving force behind a two day annual event, presenting European CSR Lessons, or Case Studies, for the benefit of the local CSR practitioners, professionals, academics and NGO's. While I was unable to attend on Day One, I had a fabulous time on Day Two (16th May 2012).

The first part of the day was devoted to a panel discussion on community development with speakers from Petrom, Erste Bank Serbia, GlaxoSmithKline Romania, Raiffeisen Bank, and Fundatia Vodafone. All presented fascinating examples of the way they had developed their programs, and spoke frankly about the challenges, dilemmas and choices along the way. An audience of some hundred participants was highly engaged, and each presentation was met with several questions.

Mona Nicolici from Petrom described how  Petrom developed a new strategy which started with educating employees in Sustainability and forming ten action teams throughout the company's operations to support community empowerment programs.  Andrea Brbaklić from Erste Bank in Serbia described her company's program, called Centrifuge, to promote cultural decentralization, youth activism and prevent deviant behavior. Andreia Cucu of GlaxoSmithKline Romania talked about the company's  'The health of kids in the Danube Delta,' program, together with the Association Save the Danube and the Delta by which 80 percent of the kids in this poor and isolated area of Romania benefited from a free medical examination and a health campaign. Corina Vasile of Raiffeisen Bank described the bank's program of donating funds to NGO using social media tools. Finally, in this fascinating session, Elena Serban of the Vodafone Foundation explained how the global foundation provides grants for six-month professional volunteering opportunities, with fifteen people from Romania taking part this year.

The afternoon session was devoted to stakeholder engagement and ways in which companies interact with stakeholders. In this session, I presented a case study from my client comme il faut, an Israeli fashion house, and the way this company engages with different stakeholder groups and also leverages a much broader dialog in society to advance the position of women.

Here is my presentation:

What impressed me most about the day, however, was not only the high quality presentations and generosity of the presenters in sharing their approaches, but also the intense engagement of the audience who fully involved themselves in the debates that arose. Overall, there is a fine sustainability movement building momentum in Romania, and this is a pleasure to see. Kudos to Dragos Dehelean for making a formidable contribution.

As for me, I will be back in Bucharest next week, working with a client on their first Sustainability Report. Hope they haven't run out of ice cream.


elaine cohen, CSR consultant, Sustainability 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 (Beyond Business, an inspired CSR consulting and Sustainability Reporting firm)
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