GSK Romania: Helping people live longer

GSK Romania is an extremely focused organization. Here's the reason. 

"Romanians continue to have one of the lowest life expectancy rates in the European Union, with 77.3 years on average for women, the lowest in the EU, and 69.8 for men, second lowest after the Baltic countries, according to OECD Health at a Glance 2012 data. Heart, circulatory and respiratory diseases and cancer are the main causes of death in Romania. The infant mortality rate in Romania (deaths of infants under one year old per 1,000 live births) is double the average European rate."

Isn't that a compelling motivator for a healthcare company? It's at the core of GSK Romania's business and corporate responsibility activities. You can read more in GSK Romania's 3rd annual Corporate Responsibility Report (and second report in accordance with GRI G4 core guidelines) that was published just this week. Once again, I supported GSK Romania in developing and preparing this report. It's always inspiring to work with a company so committed to making a positive impact.

Life expectancy
Romania is a country in Southeast Central Europe with a population of almost 20 million in an area of around 238,000 square kilometers. The world life expectancy map, which is based on World Health Organization statistics from 2011, shows that Romania is ranked the 78th country in the world for life expectancy - up to four years lower than most other countries in the European Union. Only Latvia and Lithuania have a slightly lower rate. It's not just about length of life - a few more years here or there. It's also about the quality of life... healthy life expectancy. GSK Romania has a mission to advance health and well-being in Romania by supporting healthcare infrastructure and patients through awareness, education, supply of innovative medicines and healthcare products. 

Locally relevant 
A significant part of the problem in Romania is the lack of consistent government priority for healthcare funding and reform of the healthcare infrastructure. Many governmental changes have led to discontinuity in policy reforms and lack of progress in critical healthcare development over several years, such as a revision of the reimbursement list of medicines to enable access to life-saving new drugs for patients in Romania. This is the context in which a local company, part of a leading global healthcare concern, operates. This is why it is important for the local subsidiary to know the unique local conditions, needs, challenges and expectations, and ensure that its business and corporate responsibility strategy is aligned with the local, not only global, needs of society. Drawing on a wealth of resource, innovation, capability and policy direction at global level, GSK locally has the opportunity to make a big difference to the lives of Romanians... not only the length of their lives but also the quality of life and the way people are able to enjoy healthy lifestyles. This is the real value of local reporting. It's a reflection of the engagement, planning and delivery of local positive impact. GSK Romania has been committed to doing this since its start in Romania since 1989, and has been publicly reporting on progress for the past three years. 

Supporting healthcare imperatives
An example of a defining local issue, very relevant to the state of healthcare in Romania, is the doctor exodus. In a country with a low rate of medical doctors in proportion to the population needs (Romania has 2.4 doctors per 1,000 citizens, one of the lowest rates in Europe and well below the average of 3.6 doctors), Romania has been suffering from an exodus of doctors which has reached a level of more than 14,000 doctors in the past few years, who seek to make a better living in other countries where they can be paid more, gain access to professional learning and development and feel respected and valued in their profession. In many cases, due to the challenges they face in Romania, they have been packing up and leaving. This is undermining the quality of healthcare services and accessibility to treatments for patients. GSK Romania has supported an initiative designed to reverse this trend - a campaign called “My profession: doctor in Romania”, driven by the Foreign Investors Council, through the Council's Healthcare Task-force which is led by GSK Romania. The campaign aims to build widespread recognition for the role of doctors in Romania and provide practical support, including through new legislation, to encourage doctors to stay in the country for the benefit of Romanian patients. The campaign projects positive examples of doctors who decided to stay in Romania and has received widespread attention through active media communications and even won a European marketing award. This specific issue in Romania is just one of the areas GSK Romania is connecting with local healthcare imperatives and using its resources, leverage and commitment to improve the situation.

Apel pentru companii - Pascal Prigent from De Profesie Medic on Vimeo.

Check out the video above (it's in English) with former GSK Romania General Manager Pascal Prigent at the launch of the "My profession: doctor in Romania" campaign, in which he explains that healthcare is a critical part of the economy. GSK Romania's continuing role in supporting the campaign is now led by GSK Romania's current General Manager, Barbara Cygler. 

The GSK Romania CR Report for 2013 is aligned with the global reporting style, tone, look and feel of the GSK parent company while specifically showcasing locally relevant performance and impacts relating to the many ways GSK Romania supports local healthcare for the benefit of local patients and the way GSK Romania does business. Rather than me running through all the highlights in a loooong narrative in this post, take a look at the following infographic:

 

 

 

Stakeholder commentaries

GSK Romania's 2013 report also includes insights from several external expert stakeholders who were interviewed individually and provided personal views to help GSK Romania review and refresh its material focus and reconfirm its strategic direction. All these stakeholder insights are recorded in full in the report appendix (Pages 62-64) but here are some highlights:

GSK Romania remains one of the few local companies in Romania - and I believe still the only one in the Romanian pharma sector - to publicly disclose its performance and practices.

Take a look. Give feedback.



elaine cohen, CSR consultant, Sustainability Reporter, HR Professional, Ice Cream Addict. Author of Understanding G4: the Concise guide to Next Generation Sustainability Reporting  AND  Sustainability Reporting for SMEs: Competitive Advantage Through Transparency AND CSR for HR: A necessary partnership for advancing responsible business practices . Contact me via Twitter (@elainecohen)  or via my business website www.b-yond.biz   (Beyond Business Ltd, an inspired CSR consulting and Sustainability Reporting firm).  Check out our G4 Report Expert Analysis Service - for published G4 reports or pre-publication - write to Elaine at info@b-yond.biz to help make your G4 reporting  even better. 

GSK, Riga, reporting and ice cream

We were delighted to work once again this year with GSK Latvia on the development of the company's second Corporate Responsibility Report for 2013. The report is the local story of this GSK subsidiary which is making a big impact in a small country with a modest team of just 46 people. The commitment to local transparency and engagement is fantastic. The look and feel of the report aligns with the global GSK report design and structure. GSK Latvia applies global policies and approaches of its parent company including GSK's strong stand on ethics, sales team incentives based on behaviors rather than sales volumes, cessation of payments to physicians for speaking engagements or conference attendance, transparent research practices, investment in employee development and positive environmental practices. However, alongside confirming the way these practices are implemented in Latvia, the content of GSK Latvia's report is finely tailored to the activities and expectations of local patients, healthcare system and team.

Many companies don't make the effort  to report at local level. A global report, covering headlines of global activity, is generally regarded by most of the major multinational corporations as being enough. Big tick. Done that. Report published. At local level, however, the report comes alive. It speaks to local stakeholders about the things that affect their local lives. A recent post from Revital Bitan at Intel (where I contributed some insights) speaks about the importance to Intel in Israel of local reporting and the value it brings. the post is entitled: In CSR Reporting - everything is local!   

Back to Latvia and a report which is full of local people and local flavor. Hear from many GSK Latvian staff and from many local GSK Latvia partners and stakeholders in a report which showcases the incredible energy and commitment of this compact team. For example:

Patient Advocacy: GSK Latvia supports a range of local organizations such as the Asthma and Allergy Society, the Pulmonary Hypertension Society, HIV groups, the Rheumatics society, and the Association of Disabled Women and more. Several leaders of these organizations report how GSK's engagement helps them advance their activities and support patients who need far more than the state healthcare system is able to offer. 

Leading sustainability in Latvia: GSK Latvia is the first and only pharma company to have been honored in Latvia's Sustainability Index for 2013. The Index recognizes advanced sustainability strategy, management and practice and sets the standard for companies in Latvia. 

Funding local causes and volunteering in the community: Even a company of less than 50 people can make an impact. And that's what GSK Latvia sets out to do with its local flagship programs - Mission Possible (an initiative that helps drive quality leadership in education through support for teachers and school principals) and the Small Grants Programme (which awards up to Eur 700 per project for locally relevant initiatives - 9 initiatives have been supported in the last two years) as well as participating in the GSK global volunteering effort under the umbrella of Orange Day. It amazes me how such a small and very busy team manages to do so much. 

Family friendly: On the inside, GSK Latvia has achieved Family Friendly status as recognized by the Ministry of Welfare in the Latvian Government. GSK Latvia is the first local pharma company to achieve this status. In a team where 50% of managers are women, including the General Manager, this is not a trivial matter. Family friendly means that both men and women can enjoy an inclusive culture and equal opportunity at work. 

Supporting healthcare policy: GSK's Latvia's involvement in local healthcare infrastructure and development is important to help patients in Latvia gain access to the best options and the best healthcare treatment. GSK Latvia supports The Foreign Investors Council in Latvia (FICIL) - an organization that brings together the largest companies from various countries and sectors that have made significant investments in Latvia. With a place on the Board of FICIL, GSK Latvia drives home the message that an investment in healthcare is an investment in the economy. Lack of access to healthcare limits economic growth. GSK Latvia has been instrumental in ensuring healthcare issues have a place on the FICIL agenda and are included in FICIL's annual report, a recent new addition.

Ice cream in Latvia: Ok, you're right, this is not part of the GSK Latvia report. But how can I talk about a report without mentioning ice cream? So if you are in Riga, then Skrīveri Home-made Ice Cream seems to me to be the place to go. 100% natural ice cream with all-natural flavors. First stop next trip.

In the meantime, read the report, give feedback! 

elaine cohen, CSR consultant, Sustainability Reporter, HR Professional, Ice Cream Addict. Author of Understanding G4: the Concise guide to Next Generation Sustainability Reporting  AND  Sustainability Reporting for SMEs: Competitive Advantage Through Transparency AND CSR for HR: A necessary partnership for advancing responsible business practices . Contact me via Twitter (@elainecohen)  or via my business website www.b-yond.biz   (Beyond Business Ltd, an inspired CSR consulting and Sustainability Reporting firm).  Check out our G4 Report Expert Analysis Service - for published G4 reports or pre-publication - write to Elaine at info@b-yond.biz to help make your G4 reporting  even better.   

Why Sustainability Reporting is Good for Your Health

I've never been much of a one for exercise, although, for years, before my kids were born, I would go out walking for about an hour every morning around 6am. I love that time of the morning, when the city slowly starts to come alive. I would walk regularly, every day, week and weekends. There was a period I used to go with my husband to the gym about four times a week as well. Then, the kids came along - yep, you can blame them for everything, (including the fact that I never actually shed those XXX lbs gained during pregnancy so many years ago, hahah), and taking an hour to exercise early in the morning was no longer practical, as it was always my job to get the kids to their kindergartens, then schools, then high schools etc, make the sandwiches and sort out all the last minute stuff that needs to be sorted.

Then, in 2005, I started my own consulting business, and day and night and even weekends just blended into one another and every spare minute of my time just got consumed by my work and things associated with work. Of course, work is no longer work, it's life, and it's fun, when you are independent, doing the stuff you love doing. But a consequence of being gobbled up by work was that the hour before getting the kids out in the morning became screen-time, picking up emails from far corners of the world and ensuring I got up to date before the hecticness of the day set in. For a long while, I just didn't make time for any kind of exercise at all. And the elliptical we optimistically acquired rapidly became an interesting but useless piece of modern home decor.

At some point, I got into a routine of walking for an hour in the evening, together with my husband and son. That was fun, especially when we stopped for falafel on the way back. Haha. But then, in 2012, on one evening walk, I took a fall and broke my kneecap.

And for over a year, I was too scared to go out walking again in case I broke the other one. 

And that's where Sustainability Reporting comes in. 

In 2012-2013, I worked on the first Sustainability Report for GSK Latvia. As part of the community volunteering programs run by GSK in Latvia, there was a piece about helping elderly people in the community learn Nordic Walking.

I'll be honest, and confess that, while working on the report, I didn't really understand the attraction of Nordic Walking. I had never heard of it before. I did a quick web search and found a few video clips of people walking with poles, and it seemed to me rather unremarkable. Walking is walking. So what if you walk with a couple of sticks? How much healthier can that be? Why buy special poles just to walk?  

Now, you can see where I am heading. After breaking my leg, and being rather sensitive in general where knees are concerned (my other knee was operated on when I was 22 and it's never been quite right since), I suddenly remembered the Nordic Walking Poles I had written about in GSK Latvia's report. I bought myself a set, and lo and behold, I have become a Nordic Walker. And guess what. I now understand why Nordic Walking so much more invigorating than simply walking-walking. By moving with poles, you actually give your upper body a workout at the same time as your lower body, while reducing the stress on your spine and knees. I actually feel the benefit in my arms and shoulders, as well as my shins and thighs. I also feel much more stable and much more confident, even at quite a pace. I now really get it. And I have become Nordic Walking's number one fan. I still have to get myself into a routine where I can Nordic Walk every day, as work and family are still all-consuming, but I am starting to form a plan. 

And that, my friends, is why Sustainability Reporting is good for your health!

And here is a photo taken during this morning's Nordic Walk at 8:30am in Herzliya Park.

Oh and by the way, GSK Latvia's 2012 CSR Report is shortlisted in CRRA '14 online reporting awards in the Best First Time Report category.  As it is most definitely a report with a proven health benefit, I think it deserves your vote!

PS: Thanks to the great Veronica Scheubel who posted on Facebook her New Year Resolution to do more Nordic Walking, which inspired me to write this post!

Happy New Nordic Year everyone!



elaine cohen, CSR consultant, winning (CRRA'12) Sustainability Reporter, HR Professional, Ice Cream Addict. Author of Understanding G4: the Concise guide to Next Generation Sustainability Reporting  AND  Sustainability Reporting for SMEs: Competitive Advantage Through Transparency AND CSR for HR: A necessary partnership for advancing responsible business practices . Contact me at www.twitter.com/elainecohen   or via my business website www.b-yond.biz   (Beyond Business Ltd, an inspired CSR consulting and Sustainability Reporting firm)

10 First-time Reports in CRRA '14

Yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! It's that time of the year again. (I say that every year when the CRRA online sustainability reporting awards open for voting). It's sooooooooooooooooooo exciting. We all get to VOTE for the BEST CR / CSR / SUSTAINABILITY report of the last year or so. That is so much fun. I love CRRA time, now in its seventh year, with 52 reports shortlisted in 9 categories. As usual, I'll be selecting some of the future winners (and non-winners) in a number of posts as we all place our votes until the deadline of 31st January 2014. As usual, if you vote you can win prizes :) But don't forget, you can't vote for your own company or your vote is invalidated.

(Note: All report links go to report profile pages on corporateregister.com. You have to be a registered user to view these pages.)

As usual, I am going to start with the first-timers, my absolute favorite category, and I promise, it's not only because one of my clients, GSK Latvia, is shortlisted. If you like the report, please vote  for GSK Latvia! 

There are ten first timer reports, amounting to 548 fascinating pages, from eight countries (including three from U.S. based companies). Six of the ten reports are GRI-based, one is assured and the rest are not. I decided to select three things I like about each of these ten reports.

I will admit to having trouble identifying three "likes" for each report. There are some reports which I didn't like at all, and had to wonder why on earth they were shortlisted. I always remind myself that each report is an achievement, especially a first report, and someone, somewhere has worked very hard to deliver it. That deserves positive acknowledgement. Some reports are clearly a reflection of the very early stage of a sustainability approach and this has to be considered when viewing first-time reports. However, some reports are more of a tick-the-box exercise or a PR publication. In this first-timer batch, there are some which are highly credible and I regretted limiting myself to only three "likes". In the interests of fairness, however, and without wishing to compromise the voting, I selected exactly three "likes" for each report, no more, no less. I avoided the "dislikes" - in some cases that would have been a much longer list!

   

Ascendas Pte Ltd, Singapore, Real Estate
Annual Report FY 12/13. From Spaces to Places

GRI undeclared level. 107 pages. This is an annual report with a sustainability section starting on page 88.

LIKE ONE: The report title. This report is about transforming spaces into places. Great concept - a clever expression of this real estate company's higher purpose and contribution to a better life.
LIKE TWO: Ms Chong Siak Ching. The only female director of Ascendas out of 14 total directors.
LIKE THREE:  Fabulous photos.

Chocolats Halba, Switzerland, Food Sector 
Sustainability Report 2012. Added value through sustainability
GRI C level. 34 pages.

LIKE ONE: Contextual explanation of challenges facing the cocoa sector.
LIKE TWO: Three years of performance metrics, clearly laid out and easy to read.
LIKE THREE: Detailed sustainability strategy for 2013 - 2015 with clearly defined targets, which seem quite stretching.

Colas Limited. UK, Construction Sector Sustainability Report 2012 
30 pages. Not GRI. 

LIKE ONE:  Straightforward, no-frills structure with five main sections: Environment, Community, People, Safety, Customers. 

LIKE TWO:   "Aims and Aspirations" section. A mix of qualitative and quantitative targets.

LIKE THREE: Honesty: "We are disappointed that our CO2e emissions appear to be growing..."

Ernst and Young Americas Patterns of Progress 2012. How our people are shaping our sustainability journey
56 pages, GRI C Level

LIKE ONE: Nice description of the way E & Y developed its materiality matrix. 

LIKE TWO: Clear reporting on gender composition of the business at different levels.  

LIKE THREE: Photos, names and email addresses of sustainability contacts for providing feedback. 

GSK LATVIA Corporate Responsibility Report 2012. Committed to our Community
35 pages. Not GRI

LIKE ONE: The first part.

LIKE TWO: The second part.

LIKE THREE: All the parts.

Ok, you can't expect me to be objective here. Sorry. Or not. But please take a look at GSK Latvia's report and if you like it, VOOOOOOTE :)

IHS Inc. USA. Information Services  Sustainability Report 2012
28 pages. Not GRI

LIKE ONE: Well-presented strategy in three parts: LIVE WELL – Strengthening People & Communities; LIVE WISE – Governing for Long-term Profitable Growth; LIVE GREEN – Caring for the Planet

LIKE TWO: Good spread of metrics throughout the report and provided as a summary in an appendix at the end of the report. 

LIKE THREE: Clear description of scope and boundaries of data collection methodologies listed in an appendix. 

JSR Micro Inc. USA, Chemicals. 2012 Corporate Social Responsibility Report
46 pages. GRI C Level

LIKE ONE: Letter from the President. It's simple, credible, modest and gives a good overview of the key aspects of JSR Micro's CSR approach and performance. 

LIKE TWO: Presentation of multi-year goals and current performance status.

LIKE THREE: Clear and well-written environmental section with performance metrics and explanations of different environmental initiatives. 

Kuwait Petroleum International Corporate Sustainability Report 2012
40 pages. GRI C Level

LIKE ONE: The report was prepared completely in-house without the help of consultants, or external advisors. 

LIKE TWO: Honesty: "Being an international oil Company working in five continents it took our CSR team a lot of effort to cover multinational stakeholder’s needs." 

LIKE THREE: Nice section on reducing paper consumption. 

LG U Plus Republic of Korea. Telecoms. Corporation Sustainability Report 2012
80 pages. GRI A+ Level

LIKE ONE: Impressive treatment of materiality, and top ten material issues listed with references to related narrative in the report itself. 

LIKE TWO: Great graphics, supporting the narrative well, demonstrating a systematic and process-oriented approach to almost everything that LG U+ does. 

LIKE THREE: Very interesting section on employees, with loads of detail, including a non-smoking incentive program with cash rewards, where employees take a nicotine test in order to qualify. 

Maynilad Water Services Inc  Philippines. Water. Sustainability Report 2011. Securing our Resources
92 pages. GRI B Level

LIKE ONE: Clear sustainability management framework.

LIKE TWO:  Nice section on engaging employees in energy conservation.

LIKE THREE: Interesting list of problems created by drought.

And now:
Did you read these reports? 
Here is a test:

QUESTIONS
ONE: Which company has offered staff a free weekly relaxation workshop since 2012 in addition to cut-price massages?
TWO: Which company has helped petroleum geoscience students as part of its community activity?
THREE: Which company supports the entrepreneurial dreams and economic future of the next generation?
FOUR: Which company had 14% of new hires in 2012 under the age of 25?
FIVE: Which company is a family- friendly company?
SIX: Which company has a small team which is big in terms of expertise, dedication and engagement?
SEVEN: Which company "believes the best is yet to come"?
EIGHT: Which company operates a Maeari and Jeong-Do Management Cyber Accusation Website?
NINE: Which company "capitalizes on all available communication channels to engage our employees actively"?
TEN: Which company has a managed in-door plant contract that has seen plants being placed on every floor and in each office for a healthier & greener environment?

SCROLL DOWN FOR ANSWERS:

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Here are the answers: 
ONE: Chocolats Halba
TWO: IHS Inc.
THREE: Ernst and Young
FOUR: Colas Construction
FIVE: GSK Latvia
SIX: JSR Micro
SEVEN: Maynilad Water Services
EIGHT: LG U+
NINE: Ascendas Pte
TEN: Kuwait Petroleum International





elaine cohen, CSR consultant, winning (CRRA'12) Sustainability Reporter, HR Professional, Ice Cream Addict. Author of Understanding G4: the Concise guide to Next Generation Sustainability Reporting  AND  Sustainability Reporting for SMEs: Competitive Advantage Through Transparency AND CSR for HR: A necessary partnership for advancing responsible business practices . Contact me at www.twitter.com/elainecohen   or via my business website www.b-yond.biz   (Beyond Business Ltd, an inspired CSR consulting and Sustainability Reporting firm)

A new G4 Report all about TRUST

I was just reading a post from the indefatigable Barbara Kimmel Brooks who is the key mover and shaker behind Trust in America TM, an organization that is leading some truly inspiring work in the area of building and educating about trust in business. The post is called The Hard Costs of Low Trust. It provides some startling statistics about the ways in which lack of trust can be so very costly to a business, as well as the opportunity for profitable growth that high trust can bring. 

The reason the post by Barbara Kimmel Brooks resonated so specifically with me is that, today, GSK Romania launches its second corporate responsibility report covering its business in 2012, and the title is "Valuing your Trust". 

This is the same title as the first report of GSK Romania, published last year. GSK Romania is my client and I supported the writing of the first report and of this current one. In preparation for the 2012 report, I asked the GM of GSK Romania, Pascal Prigent, if we should change the title and use another theme more relevant to the current GSK activities and recent sustainability performance in Romania. "No", he said. "Trust is something that last longer than a year or the life of one report. It's just as important a message this year as it was last year. People change, our market circumstances change, our business objectives may change, but valuing the trust of our stakeholders here in Romania is part of the way we do business. In fact, it's absolutely critical for doing business. I think retaining the title this year continues to reinforce the relevance of trust". So, Valuing your Trust won the day. 

In fact, as I have come to know GSK in Romania, I can appreciate both the ways in which the company works in order to engender trust, as well as the necessity of doing so in the healthcare climate in Romania. Romania has some of the most critical healthcare challenges in all of Europe including the highest infant mortality rate and some of the highest rates of chronic disease in Europe. Even a simple thing such as oral health, improved by daily brushing of your teeth, is not widespread in some parts of Romania, due to lack of education and awareness.

A company such as GSK may have important global priorities addressing some of the world's most serious healthcare challenges (GSK is the best performing company in the Access to Medicine Index 2012), but the local challenges faced by the Romanian subsidiary are no less important, and yes, even in Europe, there is much to be done. The challenge is not about selling more drugs. The challenge is to help support the healthcare infrastructure, so that the people get healthier, live better, and build a strong economy in which healthcare has a respected place. Enhancing access to the medicines that people need in an equitable, service-oriented healthcare system strengthens the economy as well as the people. GSK's local engagement in Romania is about continuing to build trust in a positive way with all local stakeholders in order to be able to continue contributing to this shared objective. If that happens, GSK Romania will gain a positive outcome: better business. The focus is on patients. Invest in them and everyone benefits. Everyone I have spoken to in GSK Romania – that's all the senior management and tens of managers in their teams – have a passion for this higher purpose. They both value trust and understand the value of trust. 

GSK Romania employs around 1,000 people in Romania, in pharma and consumer health businesses, supported by a GSK distribution company, Europharm Distribution, and a manufacturing plant in Brasov. GSK Romania launched this second report with the objective of transparently disclosing its material sustainability performance in 2012. It's a G4 CORE level report, one of the first in the world –I count less than 15 published G4 CORE level reports to date.

The report was written to align with GSK's global reporting (see GSK plc's global report for 2012 here) and is structured accordingly into four main narrative sections: Health for all, Our behavior, Our People, Our Planet, and supplemented by sections on the state of healthcare in Romania, governance and stakeholder engagement.

As part of the materiality process, we held, in Bucharest, for the first time, I believe, in Romania, a stakeholder engagement round table dialogue, to which several healthcare experts representing government, NGOs, community partners, media and more were invited for open discussions about what's important to them and their expectations of GSK Romania. Although my Romanian is not what it could be (I haven't even learned the Romania for "ice-cream" yet!), I was able to participate a little and also observe passionate discussions and hear summaries in English. Both participants and the GSK participating managers (who agreed to this process not without some trepidation) agree that this had been a truly valuable exchange, and important insights were gained which are helpful for GSK's strategy going forward. 

GSK selected 17 material issues as the focus of this G4 report.

Some stories from GSK Romania's report this year:

• GSK products reached 20 million consumers and patients in Romania. 
• Every day, almost 3,000 doses of GSK vaccines were delivered to Romanians to protect their health. 
• 62% of the workforce were women and 62% of managers were women. 
• GSK moved to a direct distribution system to pharmacies, in order to increase availability of medicines, with results after one year showing that instances of out-of-stock reduced from 75% to 38%, and an increase of 23% in pharmacies that did not experience a single out-of-stock during a 12 month period. 
• GSK partnered with the Ministry of Health and the Foreign Investors council and led a campaign to address one of the most serious challenges for healthcare in Romania: the migration of healthcare professionals out of Romania. Over 14,000 doctors have left Romania to work abroad since 2007. GSK led the development and launch of the campaign "My profession: Doctor in Romania" to focus public attention on the issues and help retain doctors in Romania. 
• GSK Romania partnered with the Romanian Paediatric Society to launch a program to support child healthcare focused nutrition, safety and vaccination. 
• GSK published its entire set of ethical policies online in a new Ethical Platform section on the GSK Romania website. Absolute transparency in the way GSK works is now available for all. 
• In 2012, GSK Romania advanced two creative and highly effective patient advocacy campaigns to support patients with HIV and lupus. 
• Following the announcement to close GSK's manufacturing plant in Brasov by 2015, GSK has put plans in place to support all of the factory's 243 employees and help them through this transition and take up other options. 
• As a healthcare company, GSK Romania invests in the health of its own employees and launched a new Partnership for Prevention health program so that employees can feel better, do more and live longer. 
• GSK Romania reduced energy consumption relative to business growth and achieved a 5% absolute reduction in water consumption. 100% of waste is recycled or incinerated – none is sent to landfill.    

Take a look at Valuing your Trust. Please give feedback.

In the meantime, catch Pascal Prigent, GM GSK Romania, talking about the report:




PS: Come meet the folks from GSK plc and GSK Romania speaking at the Smarter Sustainability Reporting Conference on 25th February 2014 in London. Contact me for a registration discount!

elaine cohen, CSR consultant, winning (CRRA'12) Sustainability Reporter, HR Professional, Ice Cream Addict. Author of Understanding G4: the Concise guide to Next Generation Sustainability Reporting  AND  Sustainability Reporting for SMEs: Competitive Advantage Through Transparency AND CSR for HR: A necessary partnership for advancing responsible business practices . Contact me at www.twitter.com/elainecohen   or via my business website www.b-yond.biz   (Beyond Business Ltd, an inspired CSR consulting and Sustainability Reporting firm)

We love Sustainability Reports!

This week, in Bucharest, I had the opportunity to deliver a Sustainability Reporting training workshop attended by Corporate Responsibility leaders in several large and leading companies in the Romanian market. The training workshop was organized by ResponsabilitateSociala.ro, who is running the exceedingly popular European CSR Lessons, taking place as I write (16-17 May 2013, and which I regrettably was not able to stay on to attend) and was hosted by GSK Romania, the first GRI-based sustainability reporter in the Romanian pharma sector,  and 2nd runner up in the CRRA'13 online reporting awards in the First Time Reports category.

 

 

My training covered a review of global trends, a taste of what might be to come on the Sustainability Reporting horizon (including some explanation and speculation about the upcoming G4), guidance in the process of developing a report and the essential indicators worth reporting on for any business, small or large. With a range of participants from different companies and sectors (energy, telecoms, food, technology, communications, pharma and beverages), we had a lively discussion and debated fascinating reporting dilemmas and questions. With the European Directive for Reporting doing the rounds with decision-makers in Brussels, Romania has a long way to go in order to develop a sustainability reporting culture, with relatively few reporters on the current landscape in that country. A few companies show leadership:

 

Siveco: An IT software and solution provider which as been reporting since 2008 and has now published four sustainability reports, the last one for the year 2011. Siveco also participates in the UN Global Compact and has published three COP's, the last one covering 2012. This privately owned IT company, employing 1,200 people, demonstrates and authentic and serious approach to sustainability and the development of digital Romania.

 

Petrom: Petrom, an integrated oil and gas company employing around 30,000 people, has come a long way in reporting. Starting with a Health Safety and Environment Report (HSE) for 1999-2000, in 2007-2008 Petrom switched to publishing online sustainability reports, with the most recent for 2011 being available as a PDF download.  The report is clearly written and contains progress against prior year targets and new targets for the coming year.

 

Cosmote: Cosmote's last report covers 2011 and is a GRI-checked Application Level B report, the company's second, though Cosmote Group, based in Greece, Cosmote Romania's parent company, has been reporting annually on sustainability performance for several years. Cosmote Romania is a large mobile telecommunications operator with a network covering 90% of Romania. Cosmote Romania's report is a serious affair, with detailed reporting against GRI indicators and specific updates on progress and new targets.

 

Heineken Romania: This second and most recent report covering 2011 is called "Brewing a Better Future" and covers similar themes to the global Heineken, though it takes less water to brew a pint of beer in Romania than it does elsewhere in the Heineken world. That's definitely worth reporting.

 

There are a few more companies who have reported in the past, but whichever way you look at it, both the extent and maturity of reporting in Romania is still in its early stages. With most of the participants in the workshop having a desire to start reporting, or take their existing reporting to the next level, I am looking forward to seeing many more reports coming out of Romania in the future.

 

However, that wasn't the point I wanted to make in this post. I don't do a lot of training, so when I do, it's quite special. Training always help you see things through the eyes of others, through the questions they ask and the comments they make. Their takeaways from the training session help you understand how you are making an impact. One of the most significant messages, for instance, that some of the group confirmed coming out of this session, was a new understanding of the way materiality fits into sustainability reporting. So many companies report without considering the real issue of their role in society and the material issues that arise from that role, and yet, that's the compelling core of reporting. We all know that materiality is going to become even more of a focus with new GRI G4 framework and organizations such as SASB that are creating a new standard for identifying and reporting on material issues. Reporting is not just about transparency. It's about relevant transparency.

The overwhelming feeling that I always come away with from such events is that, all around the world, whether it's in Romania, or Slovenia where I ran a similar event in the early part of the week, or in any of the countries I have visited to spread the Sustainability Reporting message, it all comes down to people with passion who are doing the best job they can with the tools they have available and the knowledge they have acquired. We think of reports as words on paper or on a screen. But they are people. They are a reflection of an increasingly complex business environment with ever-more challenging demands in a reporting landscape which is getting more difficult to decipher. Hopes for harmonization in reporting seem still to be a distant aspiration. The act of training groups of passionate people just brings home to me that all reports are good, all reports are an attempt to do better, all reports are worth the words they contain because each word is one that a person somewhere, doing the best job they can with the best of intentions, has put herself, or himself,  on the line to deliver.  That may sound shmaltzy, and it's sometimes difficult to get that when you read clumsily written reports, or ones that don't quite match up to expectations. But it is worth keeping in mind.

Sustainability reporting is a reflection of people, not of companies.
If you love people, then you must love sustainability reports!
In Bucharest, we all agreed on that!  

 

 

  

Elaine Cohen, CSR consultant, winning (CRRA'12) Sustainability Reporter, HR Professional, Ice Cream Addict. Author of Sustainability Reporting for SMEs: Competitive Advantage Through Transparency AND CSR for HR: A necessary partnership for advancing responsible business practices Contact me via www.twitter.com/elainecohen   or via my business website www.b-yond.biz   (Beyond Business Ltd, an inspired CSR consulting and Sustainability Reporting firm)

Is reporting bad news?

As mentioned in my previous post, the annual  CR Reporting Awards CRRA '13 Winners were announced during a special, one-day, by-invitation-only CR Perspectives conference hosted by CorporateRegister.com in late April. The conference shared the results of the CR Perspectives survey, which was completed by hundreds of people around the world and yielded some very interesting results. A full analysis of the results will be published and made freely available by the end of May on CorporateRegister.com.

I chaired the CR  Perspectives conference, which gave me the opportunity to hear and share CR Perspectives with a full-house of fascinating people from all over the world, including China. 

Paul Scott, MD of CorporateRegister.com, a fully-fledged Sustainability Reporting authority and celebrity, told me: “As CR reporting continues to evolve, CorporateRegister was very pleased to offer a forum where recent developments and the direction of reporting could be debated by an informed audience of practitioners. CR reporting developed organically, and as it matures we find various organisations attempting to steer it one way or the other. What our CR Perspectives survey has shown is that people involved in reporting make up their own minds, and we could be in for some surprises.”

CR Perspectives opened up with  Richard Howitt, MEP and European Parliament's spokesperson on Corporate Social Responsibility who spoke about the recent non-financial reporting directive which has been proposed by the European Commission, which, if adopted, will require companies of 500 employees and more to disclose information on "policies, risks and results as regards environmental matters, social and employee-related aspects, respect for human rights, anti-corruption and bribery issues, and diversity on the Boards of Directors." Richard is optimistic that this will go through all the necessary approvals to become law within the next six months or so - resulting in another 18,000 companies delivering sustainability reports - integrated or standalone- a big increase from the 2,500 that Richard says make some form of disclosure today. Richard talked about ethics and trust  in business as being part of the economic crisis we find ourselves in today, and that these are not only part of the crisis, but the route out of the crisis. He believes the European Directive will help Europe to catch up with progress made in other countries such as South Africa, Denmark, Brazil and more, where non-financial reporting has already been advanced in some form. Interestingly, Richard said that non-financial reporting should not be a big financial burden on companies. He quoted a figure of GBP 4,200 additional cost for each company to produce this information, less for smaller businesses. I am not quite sure how this was calculated but I wouldn't bet my last ice-cream on that one. However, Richard Howitt's perspectives were a great starter for what turned out to be a fascinating, packed day of discussion and ... well.. perspectives.

 

Paul Scott shared the results of the CR Perspectives survey and I can't resist providing a glimpse of a few of the initial results, pending the full and final version later this month. For example:

• Over 95% of respondents agreed that CR Reporting builds trust. Great news!
• Mandatory reporting or disclosure was the thing that the highest number of people agreed would lead to better uptake of reporting (I proposed that reporters receive free ice-cream, but I don't think that gained too much ground). 
• Over half of the survey respondents agreed that improved standardization would lead to better quality reporting.
• 92% of respondents believe that an annual form of reporting is the way to go, with much less support for continuous updates throughout the year
• A whopping 63% of reporters supported country-specific reporting, as opposed to regional or global. This is validation for multinationals who commendably invest so much effort in producing local reports.
• Almost all respondents believe that all stakeholders are important audiences for CR reporting, which continues to make the reporting task a complex one, trying to meet the demands of multiple stakeholder groups.
• When asked what would make reporting more credible, the highest number of respondents said: bad news! Quantified data, assurance and use of a known reporting standard also came in with quite some support.

During the day, we heard from a range of CR practitioners and experts, including Jo Franses of Coca Cola Enterprises, Rupert Thomas of Royal Dutch Shell, Verity Lawson of BAT, Shannon Shoul of Nike, Core Olsen from Novo Nordisk, Sophie Guillou of La Poste, Joss Tantram of Terrafiniti  and Lois Guthrie, of the Climate Standards Disclosure Board, who is always an interesting contributor.

 

We debated with passion some of the big issues of the day, from the level of understanding that companies have of the value of reporting in a "survival"" context, to the use of reporting to drive corporate value. Of course, the concept of box-ticking came up, as it always does when people talk about reporting, and while a certain amount of that is always required, especially if we move to more standardized formats, the focus on materiality may well drive companies to think more deeply about what really matters rather than what boxes are available to tick.  

 

On credibility, given that the most significant credibility builder is apparently bad news, the one thing that companies don't want to report, I asked the panel what bad news they include in their reports and what they consider bad news to actually mean. The consensus seemed to be that bad news includes: failure to meet targets, failure to address material issues due to significant challenges, and worsening of performance such as in the area of safety or GHG emissions. For bad news to be noticed, it also should not be hidden way and minimized to the point that it's unrecognizable as bad news. This also gave me the opportunity to tell the story of the work I did with GSK Romania in helping to prepare their first, local, CR Report, called Valuing your Trust. In my first meeting with the General Manager, Pascal Prigent, I asked: "What can we not report? What do you not want to include in this CR Report?" Pascal looked me, puzzled, as if this was a rather odd question. His response: "Nothing. You can include in the report anything that is relevant to telling our full, honest and authentic CR performance in all the necessary areas." I didn't actually find too much bad news to disclose at GSK Romania, after interviewing all the management team and tens of others, and reviewing mounds of data and information, but the open approach of leadership and willingness to be fully transparent in the interests of building trust and credibility is something that more reporters would do well to emulate.

 

Now that we have established that bad news works, perhaps we can expect to be reading lots more bad news in future reports. This may be totally depressing but at least we will trust everybody:).

 

Watch this space for more bad news!

 

 

elaine cohen, CSR consultant, winning (CRRA'12) Sustainability Reporter, HR Professional, Ice Cream Addict. Author of Sustainability Reporting for SMEs: Competitive Advantage Through Transparency AND CSR for HR: A necessary partnership for advancing responsible business practices Contact me via www.twitter.com/elainecohen   or via my business website www.b-yond.biz   (Beyond Business Ltd, an inspired CSR consulting and Sustainability Reporting firm)