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Three CSR Trends to Monitor in 2019
Workers are demanding more from employers and — as a result of some effective organizing — are starting to get results.
Workers in the tech industry, specifically Google, have been at the forefront of this trend. In 2018, employee outcry led to the end of an artificial intelligence contract with the Department of Defense. In November, workers staged a walkout to call for the end of mandatory arbitration for sexual harassment claims a Google, which led to several other tech companies doing the same. Google eliminated mandatory arbitration for all employment disputes in February.
Other tech employees have used their status as shareholders to push for change. Several current and former Amazon employees recently introduced identical shareholder resolutions calling on the firm to release a comprehensive climate change plan. A petition in support of those resolutions has over 7,000 signatures from Amazon employees.
If the labor market stays tight, expect these movements to expand or intensify as workers seek to influence employment conditions, social activism and public policy.
Trend 2: Firms Focus on ESG Risk Management
As employees and consumers continue to assess a company’s impact on politics and society, firms continue to look for ways to mitigate risk.
One strategy is embracing environmental, social, governance (ESG) reporting and goal setting. In April, S&P Global Ratings launched ESG Evaluation, a new benchmark for ESG reporting that includes an analysis of future preparedness. In its evaluation, the ratings giant views it as “a relative analysis of (a firm’s) ability to operate successfully now and in the future using both public and private data confidentially provided to our teams of analysts rooted in a company’s business and industry.” They say it could help organizations attract short- or long-term investments.
Whether they pursue this option or not, firms must start thinking about ESG’s role in sustainable investing. According to EY, this strategy has grown 107.4 percent annually since 2012 and now accounts for almost a fifth of the assets under management in the wealth and asset management industry. As more Millennials begin to experience wealth transfers from older generations, this approach will continue to gain popularity with a socially-conscious generation. In addition, according to the Pew Research Center, Gen Z, the youngest cohort in the workforce, has similar social and political views to Millennials, suggesting that their financial strategies could resemble their older peers.
Trend 3: Continued Expansion of Transformational Philanthropic Giving
Building on several landmark philanthropic efforts, such as the AT&T Aspire educational programming initiative, more companies are starting to make transformational philanthropic gifts in addition to their existing charity programs. JP Morgan recently announced another $150 million in loans and grants in the city of Detroit as part of their $500 million “AdvancingCities” initiative. Pharmaceutical firm AbbVie gave $100 million to the Ronald McDonald House Charities (by far the largest gift from the company and to the charity).
Firms are also diversifying the types of gifts they distribute to charitable partners. AT&T recently partnered with the Argonne National Laboratory to develop a Climate Change Resiliency Project to anticipate and plan for future environmental impact. In addition to using the project for business purposes, such as planning for maintenance, disaster recovery and future construction, the telecoms giant also plans to make the regional climate modeling data available to the public for additional analysis.
Have you had any experience dealing with these trends? Email us and let us know how you started focusing on a particular issue or trend, what you’ve learned along the way, and what you wish you knew at the beginning of the journey.[/vc_toggle][vc_separator]
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Introducing the CSR Book Club
Our first book will be The Battle to Do Good: Inside McDonald’s Sustainability Journey by Bob Langert, the former head of corporate social responsibility and sustainability for McDonald’s. We were looking for an in-depth case study that had sustainability solutions at scale and had concrete examples of how to get buy-in from senior executives for our first book, and this one fits the bill.
If you’re of a certain age, you remember plucking your Big Mac out of a Styrofoam clamshell container. Those days are long gone. What sparked that change? What worked and what didn’t? What lessons can organizations in different industries learn from the Golden Arches? Join our book club and find out.[/vc_toggle][vc_separator]
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One Last Thing
On a Twitter session a few weeks ago we came across this short tweet thread from Lane Green, a columnist and editor for The Economist.
As an editor, I have turned an implicit preference into an explicit one: more good news will come through in pages I have any control over. The relentless focus on bad news really does do harm: people think "nothing is working, everything is awful" and vote for awful leaders.
— Lane Greene (@lanegreene) April 24, 2019
So what’s the takeaway? If you have good news to share, pitch it early and often. There is a need and an audience for it.
When you have that check-in call with a communications colleague, ask about the positive stories that the organization has to share. When you’re talking with a reporter or other news source, lead with these stories. We might be entering a moment in which people are tired of the “if it bleeds it leads” editorial mindset, and there could be a real opportunity for those with an alternative narrative.