There may be many terms covering CSR management, but that doesn’t mean companies are successfully integrating it. Andrew Dunnett demonstrates how the CSR Academy can bridge the gap between ‘talk’ of CSR and the ultimate objective of integration.
‘Mainstreaming CSR’, ‘building in’ rather than ‘bolting on’, ’embedding CSR’, making it ‘part and parcel of all we do’; the phrases are familiar, but what is the reality of managing CSR in today’s business world?
As a CSR manager at a recent CSR Academy Masterclass recently explained, his global company has a chief executive who has embraced CSR with conviction, the company produces a CSR report, has a strong community investment programme and enters the usual array of awards.
But, asked the manager, is CSR integrated? Is the company mainstreaming CSR? Is CSR truly an integral part of what the company does day-to-day? Put practically, are managers assessed on how the company engages the society within which it operates, do they question the business on a more sustainable future, and are day-to-day decisions made which take account of the social and environmental as well as the financial impact? It appears not: such skills and competencies remain the preserve of the CSR team.
This experience is not unique and the company in question is likely to be ahead of many in the CSR stakes. The company is trying to respond to a growing awareness that CSR is not just about how companies give money away, important though that is, but about how companies make money in the first place. That involves day-to-day management decision-making across business functions and at all levels in the company.
Clive Mather, CEO Shell Canada and chairman of the CSR Academy offered his own prognosis at a recent conference: “Under remorseless pressure to outperform the competition, businesses have struggled to embed CSR deep in the organisation, to support and to challenge the leadership. There has been a rapid growth in ethical statements and social reporting but this has not always permeated the mainstream of life at work.”
“I suspect for many organisations the external presentation of CSR is not yet fully matched by the internal reality of their operations,” he added.
To open a gap between external presentation and internal reality is a position open to misinterpretation and a cause of concern for many CSR specialists. But how can companies match internal operations with their external presentation? There is no quick-fix solution to bridge this divide between talk of integration and the realisation of the objective. The key is to integrate CSR into the employee life cycle, according to research behind the establishment of the CSR Academy. If managers across the business are expected to take into account an increasing range of factors relating to the financial, environmental and social impact of business operations, then the competencies and skills they require must be listed. The Academy’s unique CSR Competency Framework (http://www.csracademy.org.uk/competency.htm) was developed for this reason, so that CSR practitioners and HR specialists could work together in developing a culture from recruitment to appraisal to succession planning, where the business has employees with the necessary skills and the competencies to meet this challenge.
But what is the business case for mainstreaming? Mather sees a clear business case for taking this approach: “Those seeking trust, need to put more effort in to building relationships, to engaging with society, to face up to growing expectations and regaining the trust that is essential to the functioning of those businesses.
“That means you need to make sure you invest as much effort in relationships and culture as you do in production and profits. You need to invest in leadership – those with the purpose, passion and care for people to sustain the organisation. You need to frame all your decisions in a wide view of your obligations to society and turn this into good business.”
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