Typically, the focus of CSR sites is on philanthropy. But we
have started the process of redefining CSR. From our earlier
belief that CSR means Corporate Social Responsibility, we now
have come to the clear view that for each stakeholder, sustainability
of work is critical because it helps to serve more communities
whether within the country or in countries other than one's
own country.
Earlier, we were of the view that only developing and underdeveloped
countries must move upward and become a developed country. But
visiting many countries, we realised that many progressive and
so called developed countries face same issues, but human behaviour
may be different. e.g. we know accident is a far bigger issue
in a country like India and people fear of police at the accident
venue but when we visited UK, we saw one youth hit by a vehicle
and was lying on the road but immediately citizens came for
help.
While philanthropy is critical, one must know how they make
money which is used for philanthropy. So a corporate may invest
millions of dollars in philanthropy but its business processes
or human rights and other policies may not be anywhere near
perfection. So, we have started the concept of sustainability
in the form of a sustainability tree (yes, we believe that one
must take care of nature and why sustainability tree, we have
stopped printing the calendar so that we can save trees because
paper means cutting of wood).
We will share the examples of each branch and leaves of sustainbility
tree by March 2016. Stakeholders must share their practices
so that other stakeholder can learn them.
With this, we have covered internal and external stakeholders.
Enlightened companies across
the world are moving from stakeholder managemnet to stakeholder
engagement through communication and dialogue.
Just look at what you see as your current stakeholder groups.
And compare them to the potential stakeholder groups listed on
CSRidentity.com. You will realise that you need to engage with
not only more stakeholder groups, but also do it creatively, and
with defined frequencies, and with built in emergency plans.
Of course, as happens in every business aspect, you can apply
80 : 20 rule, where you can define on priorities or ranking the
groups, and your time and other investments in them. You can not
neglect any stakeholder.
All are advised to use the following structure of stakeholder
engagement.
Stakeholder
List of potential stakeholders is shared on CSRidentity.com
Key concerns
You many have some concerns working with some stakeholders,
and they may change from time to time.
Key risks / opportunities
Working with stakeholders sometimes offers some risks and
many times, great opportunities. List all possible ones for
better action plan
Action Plan
Communication
Decide on frequency of communication for each stakeholder
group..
Dialogue
Decide on type of dialogue and act on it.
Engagement
Management to Engagement is the mantra.
Recommended review every six months to a year, depending on the
stakeholder group.
We are currently analysing how companies across the world are
addressing stakeholder engagement and would present key action
plan your company can have for each of the stakeholder group.
AccountAbility has been at the forefront of developing tools
and standards for quality stakeholder engagement for several years.
The AA1000 Stakeholder Engagement Standard (AA1000SES) - the first
international stakeholder engagement standard - was published
in 2005. A substantial international multi-stakeholder review
commenced in early 2009 and a draft is now ready for public review.
Alan Knight, Head of Standards at AccountAbility launches the
revision process of the AA1000SES and opens the new re-developed
wiki, where the standard will be revised using collaborative drafting.
The standard will be revised in a similar way to the AA1000 Assurance
Standard (2008), which was the first corporate accountability
standard to be revised using a web-based wiki platform.
Business software maker SAP has changed the face of sustainability
reporting to be more user friendly to readers, while also providing
new interactive stakeholder dialogue capabilities through its
website and social media. Listen to Sami Muneer speak on the company's
journey in the process, setting goals, feedback so far from employees,
and what he believes the future of sustainability and corporate
responsibility holds for reporting and stakeholder communications.
We all need to grow our businesses but not at the cost of the
planet. We're teaming up with suppliers, customers and consumers
to see how we can all reduce our impact on the world.
A Unilever Communication
