Greetings from CSR Network Chair, Maureen Kline
I am happy to announce I am stepping up as the new Chair for the Public Affairs Council’s CSR Network. We have a great group of people in this network, and I am looking forward to working together in sharing our knowledge, pitching ideas and asking burning questions, and developing the network further.
In my role as Vice President, Public Affairs & Sustainability for Pirelli Tire North America, I am particularly interested in the alignment of public affairs and CSR/sustainability. I believe sustainability provides a roadmap for value creation for all a company’s stakeholders, translating to a stronger bottom line, while at the same time ensuring companies use their influence to build a more inclusive and balanced society for future generations. This is an exciting time to be corporate leaders, and we have much to learn from each other and to collaborate on through trade associations and across industries. We still have much to learn about sustainability. The Public Affairs Council can provide an excellent forum for that learning. Please join me, Nick and Christian in building on the great work done so far.
Maureen Kline is a corporate executive with a background in public affairs, sustainability, journalism and communications. She manages government and regulatory affairs for Pirelli Tire in North America and is a board member of Pirelli North America Inc. To learn more about Maureen, please click here.
CSR: How to Avoid Greenwashing
By Maureen Kline
Until recently, perceptions of corporate social responsibility and sustainability programs grew out of corporations’ desire to simultaneously comply with advancing government regulations and address corporate reputation stains. However, we know now that window dressing no longer works, if it ever did. In order to incorporate impactful sustainability into their operations, corporations must learn to communicate about their sustainability journeys in an authentic and meaningful manner that is in line with the wider expectations of society. In this article, I discuss how to engage with sustainability, as well as methods and techniques to effectively navigate these changing waters.
Companies provide jobs, as well as goods and services of societal worth. But they are now being asked to leave the world a better place than they found it. Yes, it’s a phrase camp counselors might use to encourage children to pick up other people’s trash, but it’s fundamental to sustainability.
CSR and sustainability (or simply “sustainability”) are an evolutionary journey that starts from deep within an organization. This journey generally has three phases. Phase one is “do less bad.” Phase two is “do more good.” And phase three is “be net positive.” All stakeholders need to be involved to do less bad and more good, with the ultimate goal of becoming a regenerative, net positive force in society.
Businesses can no longer simply take resources that belong to everyone, extract profits, and leave a trail of trash for future generations to pick up. It is increasingly becoming the duty of corporations to address and pick up some of the “trash” they’ve left behind – like pollution, human rights abuses in supply chains, corruption and economic inequality.
Sustainability today is as much about authenticity as it is about environmental compliance or corporate philanthropy.
Communicating this journey includes sharing goals and the roadmap to achieve them. What was the essence of the company when its founders created it, and where is it headed now? What does its roadmap show about value creation for all its various stakeholders? How will it lift people in its supply chain out of poverty? How will it leave places it touches environmentally better off?
Most importantly, communicating about sustainability must be authentic because audiences are sophisticated. The sustainability communications process is not about diverting attention to one shiny accomplishment, nor is it about pushing a storyline that will not hold up under investigation.
Designing realistic, yet courageous goals and a roadmap to achieve them is a major strategic exercise for the board. Public affairs professionals can make valuable contributions to that process with feedback on public reputation, strengths and weaknesses, stakeholders’ expectations, and the big picture on trends.
A good reputation is not something money can buy.
Once the company has a clear roadmap to communicate, the emphasis should be on the journey: where the organization came from, what it expects to achieve, how it interprets its role as a “corporate citizen.”
Years of hard work and investment in a sustainability journey can be undermined by a single lobbying effort that is misaligned. It is vital to recognize that advocating for some policies may be beneficial in the short-term, but could undermine a good reputation and have a net negative impact over the long–term.
Stakeholders will tend to forgive an imperfect company if it shows it is serious about a path to creating value for all stakeholders over a reasonable timeframe.
Societal expectations of a company are proportional to the wealth and influence of the company.
The more powerful corporations become, the more they are expected to lead. With great power comes great responsibility; stakeholders today want businesses to be positive role models.
In practice, a powerful way for companies of any size to embark on a sustainability journey and to communicate authentically is through sustainability reporting. Sustainability reporting creates a platform of transparency through goal-setting, monitoring progress on a continuous basis and reporting back to stakeholders. These goals should be ambitious yet realistic and based in science and data.
The audience for a sustainability report should be a company’s stakeholders, starting with environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) investors. These investors bring a broader lens than traditional investors to financial analysis but are still highly technical and demanding. In many parts of the world, including the European Union, non-financial ESG reporting is obligatory.
The good news is companies don’t have to start from scratch. They can leverage existing frameworks, such as the Global Reporting Initiative, the International Integrated Reporting Framework, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, to get a jump start on sustainability reporting.
Over time, organizations should fully integrate sustainability within operations, strategy and supply chains, in line with the broader societal context. This integration, one step at a time, is what is needed to ensure they are on the journey from “do less bad” to “do more good” to “net positive.” From the vantage point of the sustainability journey, companies can communicate about a roadmap that is authentic, ambitious and necessary for society at large. [/vc_toggle]
Building Diverse and Inclusive Advocacy Teams and Campaigns
By Christian Roatta
At the Council’s 2020 Digital Media and Advocacy Summit, Camonghne Felix, vice president of strategic communications at Blue State, and Mia Masten, director, advocacy and public affairs at Pfizer Inc., led a keynote panel on how organizations can re-examine their advocacy, communications and digital teams to ensure they are representative of the communities they serve.
Felix and Masten leave us with five actionable takeaways to cultivate a more diverse and inclusive environment, both within our organizations and across the industry as a whole.
- Be intentional and proactive when hiring a diverse workforce.
Building a diverse and inclusive workforce starts with proactively identifying internal gaps and collaborating with those who can help. Establishing metrics can identify shortcomings. Who is represented in your workforce and who is not? Every level of your organization, from intern to C-suite, should be representative of the wider community. Organizations should also make it widely known that diversity and inclusion is a priority. This requires more than internal and external messaging; it necessitates partnering with organizations that can make these efforts more effective. Partnering with historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), for instance, is one way of recognizing qualified candidates and integrating them into your team or campaign.
- Bring the C-suite into the conversation.
While it might seem daunting to involve senior management, Masten and Felix shared several points to bring to leadership.
Having a diverse workforce is key to maintaining competitiveness both in the U.S. and abroad. Companies with inclusive cultures perform significantly better than their more homogenous industry partners. According to a McKinsey study, organizations with limited cultural and gender diversity were less likely to achieve high profits. Without diversity, an organization will lack the variety of thought, opinion and experience that generate bright ideas and move a company forward.
Diverse companies are better able to serve their customers. Over the coming years, more than half of youth in America will be persons of color – future customers and constituents. A company will be left behind in the respect they have from customers and stakeholders if it is not evolving with their audiences. The McKinsey study also shows that more diverse organizations outperform when it comes to customer engagement.
Finally, making organizational changes that emphasize diversity and inclusion is the right thing to do. Members of senior management also have a stake in and have been affected by this social movement. Appealing to the C-suite on a personal level may make it more likely they will pursue meaningful systemic change.
- Speaking up requires courage – become an ally for your coworkers.
Some employees may feel that there is risk involved with speaking up to senior management. However, Felix reminds us, “We all sleep better at night when we know that we are doing the things that really need to happen, and I often find that the risks are often not as big or as drastic as we perceive them or project them to be.”
This moment requires courage. There are some things you do can every day that make a difference. When becoming an ally for others in your organization, it starts with recognizing your own privilege and asking yourself how you can use it to add to the conversation. Whether it is from a position of power or in conversation among peers, have this dialogue with whomever you can. Remember that your collective voice is strong, and partnering with allies reduces the perceived risk of addressing the C-suite.
- Speaking out on social issues requires both the right message and the right messenger.
Many organizations have good intentions, but sometimes their messages may read as disingenuous. If engaging on social issues is not something your organization has historically done, invest in working with third parties and crisis communications professionals. It is important to consult those who both understand the audience and the subject matter. Knowing your shortcomings and bringing in experts to help can create genuine and effective messages.
- Authenticity is central to diversity.
Employers should strive to foster a workplace culture that encourages employees to be their authentic selves. This requires questioning the implicit biases we may have in our teams and operations. Are you less inclined to hire someone if they have braids or tattoos? Do gendered norms impact your organization’s internal decision-making process?
It is essential that people can be their true selves in the workplace. When organizations prioritize authenticity, the benefits of diversity multiply. The more your staff feels comfortable expressing their identities, the more successful your messaging and campaigns will be.
“No one wants to just be there to just be your person of color or your woman or this or that; all any person wants is the ability to let his or her light shine to the fullest and brightest extent that it can,” says Masten. [/vc_toggle]
Upcoming Events
Virtual Workshop: Strategic Philanthropy |October 22|
The most successful CSR programs contain a charitable giving plan, but what are the structural, budget and strategic priorities organizations need to evaluate before, during and after launch? This workshop will explore current best practices to help organizations maximize charitable impact.
Save the Date for the Corporate Social Impact Summit on November 9! Be on the lookout for more details coming soon!
Book Club
This month, the CSR Network would like to highlight Managing Sustainability: First Steps to First Class by John Friedman as part of our book club!
This book provides a compelling case, real-world examples and the tools to follow a proven strategy for aligning sustainability efforts with existing organizational priorities. It’s an ideal read for sustainability professionals or business strategists looking to build programs that integrate purpose and values-driven initiatives with corporate strategy. Friedman draws on his 30 years of experience in corporate communications, business and corporate sustainability.
We are always on the lookout for new books. If you have suggestions on what you think we should be reading, please contact Christian Roatta at the Council.
One Last Thing: Sustainable Finance in a Pandemic
By Christian Roatta
During times of crisis, businesses shift operations to protect their bottom line and returns on investment. It is for that exact reason we’ve seen a profound rise in sustainability-linked finance over the past few months. In today’s edition of One Last Thing, let’s talk bonds.
Bonds, for those who are unfamiliar, are essentially fixed IOUs between a lender and a borrower that stipulate when the principal of the loan is due to be paid and the terms for interest payments. Bonds are a common tool for organizations and governments around the world to finance projects and operations. While Nasdaq defines sustainable, green and social bonds according to separate criteria, these ‘sustainability bonds’ help finance projects that bring positive environmental and socio-economic outcomes.
Sustainability bonds have become much more common over the past couple years. Pandemic bonds in particular, which governments, companies and financial institutions used to raise over $150 billion globally by the end of May, have been increasingly sustainable in nature. These bonds include climate bonds, social bonds, blue bonds, green bonds, and many more – with Luxembourg becoming the first European government to directly sell a “sustainability bond” this month, raising over 1.5 billion euros.
Over the past several months, companies have been taking the dive into the world of sustainability bonds. In February, Verizon raised more than eight times its target of $1 billion selling its new green bond in a single day. In August, Visa issued its first green bond totaling $500 million. Most impressively, Alphabet, the parent company of Google, issued $5.75 billion in sustainability bonds just last month. This is the largest sustainability or green bond by any company and will finance clean energy, green buildings, clean transportation, affordable housing, and purchases from Black-owned businesses, among other initiatives.
This trend is slated to increase as the year progresses. Moody’s Investors Service raised its forecast for 2020 sustainable bond issuance to be as much as $375 billion.
If we should take away anything from these developments, it is that green, sustainable investment is rapidly becoming the safe bet not the quirky exception.
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