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)

The Case for Sustainability Case Studies

How can you use Case Studies to galvanize markets? I have two fine examples from my personal experience this week in Eastern Europe. The first: Ukraine. The second: Romania.

On Monday 14th May, I was pleased to attend the launch of the Fourth Annual National Case Study Contest in Kiev, Ukraine. On Wednesday 16th May, I was also pleased to attend the second day of the European CSR Lessons Conference in Bucharest, Romania. Both events show how the development of Case Studies are contributing to increasing awareness, recognition and sharing of best practice as a platform for market development in these two fabulous and energetic markets where CSR is emerging with the help of committed and dynamic leaders.

What is the value  of a Sustainability Case Study?

A Case Study helps develop Internal Dialogue and Learning: In order to develop a full Case Study, which offers much more depth than a short paragraph on a website or in a Sustainability Report, a comprehensive dialogue must be held within an organization to establish the background, full story of activities conducted, description of outcomes and aggregation of learnings. This cannot be done by one person alone. A great Case Study is the result of internal collaboration which engenders dialogue and teamwork and expands learning for entire teams and companies.

A Case Study helps Focus on Outcomes: By its very nature, a Case Study is not complete without a description, quantitative as well as qualitative, of the outcomes of activity. By its very nature, a Case Study cannot be written until an activity or a process is complete and has delivered a change in the status quo. Far too often, especially in Sustainabiltiy Reporting, or even in internal decision making processes, the focus is on "doing" rather than "delivering an outcome". A Case Study, well-written, encompasses both, and helps link what is done to what has changed as a result. In terms of sustainability, this is of course key. It is unfathomable that we have thousands of companies "doing" sustainability without being able to explain the noticeable impacts of such activity.

A Case Study is an Organizational Story: Often a Case Study will tell the story of an organization's culture and showcase the way things get done. This becomes an organizational story, which can be told and retold in order to inspire additional sustainability activities in the company and reinforce a culture of sustainability and responsible practices. Moreover, a Case Study is one of the few platforms where company can tell its own story in full. There is little media coverage of individual, successful sustainability interventions. Case Studies can fill that gap.

A Case Study is a Learning Tool: Because a Case Study of necessity contains detail of all the stages of an initiative, the Case Study becomes a learning tool for an organization and for external stakeholders. By developing a Case Study, an organization contributes to the body of knowledge in the field, which is important, given the relatively limited knowledge about what is actually happening in companies today. There are many headlines, Press Releases and  short references to Sustainability practices available via different channels. The depth of a good Case Study creates not only awareness but also knowledge of what can be done, and how and what works best.

A Case  Study is a  Tool to Engage Stakeholders: Beyond the internal learning and dialogue, a Case Study can be used to engage external stakeholders either in the preparation of a Case Study in which they were involved or were impacted, and/or in the discussion of case studies completed. This both enlightens stakeholders about the sustainability activities of the company and also involves them in evaluating the sustainability initiatives. The insights of external stakeholders about possible reapplication, extension or development of a concept could be valuable for a company in determining future goals.

A Case Study is a Platform for Building Reputation: While Case Studies alone cannot build trust, and they are best in combination with existing, transparent, sustainability communications on a broader level, Case Studies can contribute to building reputation by showing how companies identified a risk or an opportunity, addressed either or both, and delivered focused action. This confirms the sustainability capabilities of a company and demonstates their commitment, which has positive reputational value.

Case Studies build Transparency Muscles: Many companies which are not ready to deliver a full, transparent Sustainability Report can develop their transparency muscles through publishing Case Studies. Often, this carries little risk because Case Studies tend to focus on successful examples of practice. The publication of a Case Study is a way to create awareness for corporate sustainability activities without the necessary rigor of producing a GRI-based or UNCG or other form of report, which demands much higher resources and much greater transparency. In the absence of broader sustainability communications, a Case Study becomes a pilot for transparency, and starts getting those muscles into shape.

Case Studies build Discipline: Finally, the development of a Case Study requires discipline and rigor. Used as a leadership exercise, this can help build management and communication skills, and teamworking, within an organization.

Events framed around the development of Case Studies are attractive propositions. The development of a single Case Study is usually not a massive organizational resource burden. Participation in such events often accessible to companies where more extensive disclosure requirements might exclude many from participating. In Ukraine and Romania, this is well understood and both are using the Case Study concept as a way to drive sustainability and awareness  in their nascent markets.

To read more about the Ukraine Case Study experience, go to this post:

To read more about the European CSR Lessons Case Study conference, go to this post.

For ice cream, go to your local ice cream parlor or get yourself one of these (a kind gift from my friend, Paul Scott, MD of CorporateRegister.com)

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/en  (BeyondBusiness, an inspired CSR consulting and Sustainability Reporting firm)

CSR: 8 short questions, 5 long answers

For those of you who don't speak Romanian (which I don't, though I have downloaded an App :)), I thought I would provide a translation of my recent interview which appeared online here. The interview is with ResponsabilitateSociala.ro,  the premier portal in Romania for all things relating to CSR. Andreea Giuclea, editor of ResponsabilitateSociala conducted the interview and was responsible for asking me many thought-provoking questions. ResponsabilitateSociala is hosting the annual Europe CSR Lessons on 15th and 16th May in Bucharest, with a fine line-up of speakers and fascinating case studies. I will be presenting a home-grown case study from my own market on Wednesday 16th May. More about that after the event.

When Bing Tanslate came up with an interesting "English" translation of my interview in Romanian, I realized that I had to step in. This is just one example:

"They may advise you to report the more honest and transparentin a way that allows the 2nd really imactul to evaluate their activity. Finally, we advise you to be realistic and authentic, and to accept the fact that lies on a road that stretches over many years and a day trip."

Here is the interview in full. Bingless. 

As CEO of a CSR consulting firm, you work with companies that are trying to develop responsibly. What is the main advice you offer them?

We recognize that companies have to start where they are. As consultants, we are always looking to help our clients deliver more progress, better results, faster implementation and broader and deeper assimilation of sustainability principles in the business. However, we recognize that companies can only do so much and that they have to pace themselves. Sustainability is a long-term effort and must follow a strategy which has a scope and a timing which is right for each business.

We therefore advise companies to look at their broader role in society and how their sustainability performance is positioned in the context of the contribution they make to a better world. We advise companies to find the right focus for their business and drive their performance in that focused area as hard as they can, while ensuring a minimum baseline across key sustainability indicators. We advise companies to ensure they bring along all their employees and external partners – sustainability works best when it forms a culture which is embedded in the business and is done in partnership.

We urge companies to measure not only performance, but outcomes and consider the question: what is different in the world as a result of our sustainability performance? We advise companies to report as honestly and as transparently about their business in a way which enables stakeholders to gain a true appreciation of their impacts. Finally, we advise companies to be realistic and authentic, acknowledging they are on a multi-year journey and not a day-trip.

Could you tell us what is your opinion of the current phase of corporate social responsibility? What are the main challenges that the field is facing?

Worldwide, I believe sustainability is in a dynamic phase and moving towards a more holistic representation of the concept. Rather than just trying to "be good" or "do good", there is more of a realization these days that sustainability is a way of business, not just a project which runs alongside the business. No longer just about values or philanthropy, companies now see they can make money through sustainability.

This means that companies are looking for the "shared value" aspects of sustainability activity which are generated through different business models. Regulation is also getting keener in many countries and carbon emissions, energy, water and other natural resources are becoming more expensive. Financially, companies are realizing that their financial balance sheet has the potential to be significantly affected by government intervention with carbon taxation, water taxation, landfill costs etc.

The move to an integrated approach to sustainability, characterized by the integrated reporting model, is taking time to be fully understood but is showing signs of reaching a wider corporate audience. Finally, the use of web-based tools to connect with stakeholders and online interactions to gather stakeholder feedback are becoming more acceptable.

Beyond Business is a firm based in Israel that works with local and international clients. From this point of view, what regions do you think are more open to CSR initiatives and how can you explain it? Are there any cultural differences regarding the approach towards social responsibility?

Broadly, the approach to sustainability is more governed by the size and global nature of a business, rather than its location. Global companies, which are generally leading the sustainability pathway, operate in the same way in every market in which they are present. This has the effect of leveling out local and cultural differences. Local companies in every market are impacted significantly by the standards established by leading businesses, as they are often suppliers to these businesses. Microsoft, P&G and Wal-Mart, for example, require their suppliers to report on sustainability performance.

However, in a more general sense, there are some differences in culture and focus, depending on the state of business and sustainability practice. Local companies in emerging economies, for example, are primarily concerned with ensuring compliance and attention to quality, safety and employee standards, while focusing their efforts on those aspects of sustainability which will deliver shorter term cost advantages, such as energy and raw materials savings. In some areas, such as India, sustainability is more about citizenship and philanthropic activities. In some countries, such as Japan, sustainability is very systematic and driven by quality frameworks, whereas in other countries, such as Africa, it's more about social equality and empowerment.

You also offer Sustainability Reporting consultancy. How important is for a company to be transparent about its CSR activities?

We see transparency as a catalyst for performance. The very act of preparing a Sustainability Report causes a company to confront many issues within its business which have never been addressed previously in the same way. Different questions are asked and new measurements are required. Core deliberations about disclosure cause serious discussions in the business at the highest levels. Making a public commitment to targets and action plans carry a certain pressure to deliver, far more than with targets communicated internally.

Additionally, Sustainability Reporting is a source of pride for employees and serves to support employee engagement. Therefore, most companies find that reporting serves as a management tool to help define and determine performance levels, set targets, engage employees and make progress.

In addition, of course, transparency is the basis of a trusting relationship with stakeholders – research has shown that readers of Sustainability Reports increase their level of trust in the reporting company, even if the report is not of the highest quality. (See specifically the recent report from ACCSR, on readers' perceptions of Sustainability Reports) A strong level of trust from stakeholders is massively significant and can help the company move forward and overcome challenges and risks. Often, the Sustainability Report is the only place in which the company can tell its own story, as reports in the press may be misrepresentative.

What are the main challenges you face when trying to convince companies about the importance of CSR reporting?

More and more these days, we do less in terms of "trying to convince" companies to report. We prefer to talk to companies about Sustainable Business Strategy, and help them understand why and how this is beneficial for their business as well as for society and for the planet. The Sustainability Report is part of this discussion. Our reputation as Sustainability Report consultants often brings companies to approach us after they have made the decision to report and are looking for the expert support to deliver the best document they can.

However, we still spend much time and energy in helping develop awareness in the market, through our writings, conferences and our work with different corporate groups. One initiative, which we started in 2009, is called the Transparency Index. We evaluate and publish a ranking of the website transparency of leading public companies in different markets in the world to see how they are reflecting sustainability issues in an accessible way through their web platform. For the first few years, we covered the Israeli market only, but now, in partnership with the Center for CSR Development in Ukraine, we are expanding this into a global index which will be launched later this year. Web-based transparency is also influenced by the presence of a Sustainability Report.

In general, we find that companies which are on the sustainability journey are more ready to report because they have accepted that transparency is an inseparable part of the overall process. Often, they are subject to pressures from their customers or even competitive pressures to report. Those who have not, often talk about the complexity, cost and lack of investor pressure to report. However, these are companies who have not quite understood what Sustainability Reporting is all about. Even as an SME, you might say a micro-business, my consulting firm Beyond Business published a first Sustainability Report (which won an award as the Best SME Report in the global CRRA '12 Awards in April 2012), and we intend to report every two years. As a consulting firm, this is important for us to "practice what we preach" and demonstrate that any reason for not reporting on sustainability is simply an excuse and not a justification.

You are the author of the book ”CSR for HR: A Necessary Partnership for Advancing Responsible Business Practices”. Could you tell us in a few words what is the role played by the HR department in establishing a CSR strategy?

The Human Resources function in any business has an important leadership role to play in contributing to the definition and execution of sustainability strategy in any company, and also in establishing Human Resources practices which are sustainable. Sustainability done well requires changing the culture of the business. The Human Resources function has the specialist knowledge and skill to drive culture change processes.

To embed sustainability, HRM needs to be clear about the contribution of employee engagement and employee practices to delivery of an overall sustainable business plan. Many HRM processes are inextricably linked to sustainability themes – compensation, recruitment, diversity and inclusion, safety, health and wellbeing. HRM can also make a profit-supporting contribution to sustainability. Wellbeing programs, for example, are now known to deliver up to four times the investment for companies, in increased employee productivity, reduced health costs and insurance premiums, reduced absenteeism and turnover. HR needs to get better at measuring their contribution and tabling the benefits in a clear way. Regrettably, most HR Managers have still not understood this.

From your experience, can you give us some examples of how businesses can become more sustainable? Do you admire any companies in particular for their approach towards sustainability?

I think the first thing is for a company to make the decision to define a clear strategy that integrates sustainability thinking into business processes and define what the desired outcome is. In the current line-up, it is hard not to ignore Unilever as a company which has made bold statements about sustainability, "decoupling" environmental impacts from corporate growth and trying to engage consumers in behavior change, with a CEO who is very vocal about the importance of this approach and carries much influence.

There are many companies I admire, ranging from large global corporations to smaller local businesses in different countries. Pepsico, Marks and Spencer, BT, Novo Nordisk, GlaxoSmithKline, Intel, IBM, Microsoft, Walt Disney, Vodafone, Telefonica of Spain, Westpac Bank of Australia, Kesko of Finland, Natura Cosmeticos of Brazil, Novus International from the U.S., Netafim of Israel, – some of whom are my clients - are all showing sustainability leadership in many different ways.

I think the important thing here is not to try to reduce sustainability to one single denomination. Sustainability is a complex set of factors and no company is totally perfect. As long as a company is stretching itself to do what it can from where it is, and making demonstrable progress, I have admiration for that.

How do you see the evolution and future of corporate social responsibility?

There is a lot of debate about whether CSR or Sustainability will remain as a distinct function in business or whether it will become absorbed into the fabric of each business and part of the general responsibilities of managers and the way they do things. I don't believe this latter approach will work. I believe that Sustainability will always be a required focus of every business, acting as a platform and a guide and a set of checks and balances for each business.

I believe sustainability is growing into an important profession which will rank alongside the business leadership with its own voice and contribution to successful sustainable business strategy. Of course, it does become part of everyone's role, but without leadership, no business function has impact. Just as businesses have absorbed Quality as a Way of Life, but there is still a Quality Manager in most businesses, so Sustainability cannot survive without its own distinct strategic leadership within the business.

Over the coming years, I believe we will see more regulation around sustainability themes, especially transparency and reporting, and therefore the number of companies which deliver Sustainability Reports will increase substantially. This will have the effect of catalyzing sustainability performance and creating a new competitive threshold for all companies everywhere. Companies which do not participate in this movement will lose ground and become the exception.

For those companies which are still undecided about sustainability, the time is now! In Romania, I believe there are massive opportunities, with a growing economy and a stronger presence in Europe and in the world. This is the time for companies in Romania to align with leading business practice and become more prominent in their adoption of a sustainability approach.

I am looking forward to the European CSR Lessons Conference and to being back in Bucharest. They have fabulous ice cream in Bucharest :)

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/en  (BeyondBusiness, an inspired CSR consulting and Sustainability Reporting firm)