Sustainability has moved up in the corporate agenda over the past three years and become recognized as a source of innovation and new growth, according to a recent Corporate Sustainability: A Progress Report, published by KPMG International.
With sustainability becoming a strategic business priority, it isn’t surprising there is a call for reporting results. After all, what gets measured can be improved. And in today’s economy, sustainability strategy that boost the bottom line, increases profitability, or builds a loyal customer or employee base is yet another tool to be leveraged. Consequently, it isn’t surprising KPMG noted that firms were increasingly sharing their sustainability performance in a formal manner.
So whether you are a conglomerate informing shareholders, a private business updating associates, or a company interacting with a special interest group, what do you include in your sustainability report?
Ceres, a nonprofit that leads a coalition of investors, environmental organizations and public interest groups to address sustainability challenges, suggests 20 key elements, such as governance, performance, and stakeholder engagement, be considered when developing a sustainability profile. Its “Roadmap” offers detailed direction as to important factors to record, including a baseline of environmental and social performance, corporate management and accountability analysis, and a materiality assessment of risk and opportunities.
In 2001, Mary MacDonald and Kim Peters published The Sustainability Report, in which they identified trends at that time but also offered timeless recommendations for preparing such a document as well as templates that can assist even the novice communicator in creating a simple corporate sustainability report.
Recommendations include:
• Statement of how company values or vision is linked to sustainability, including profitability and growth
• Summary of sustainability challenges
• Executive summary with specific indicators key to the organization
• Performance indicators, with explanation or linkage to standards such as those issued by the Global Reporting Initiative
• External audit results, establishing report credibility
In June 2010, Adrienne Cademenos, of Business Social Responsibility, suggested keeping in mind only one or two audiences when writing. This permits a focus on specific key messages and the ability to refine content correctly for the most important stakeholders. Cademenos also advocates including descriptive pictures, case studies, quotes, and other tools that can help to make the contents of the narrative more understandable, particularly for those who may be encountering a sustainability report for the first time, such as members of the employee base.
While narrowing the audience may help with CSR report writing, most organizations use this document to communicate with multiple groups, ranging from influence makers at the state and federal level to employees who need to better understand the importance of sustainability to the company’s profits, according to the executive vice president of Atlanta-based Corporate Reports, Josh Dempsey.
In addition, Dempsey said there is an increasing focus on describing a company’s social contributions, not just its environmental achievements. And, he sees companies beginning to integrate corporate social responsibility with annual financial reporting, a trend consistent with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) 2020 goals.
Unfortunately, one of the challenges of sustainability reporting is measurement, as there is some lack of agreement upon the standards and metrics. Without consistent, reliable and meaningful measurement, it is difficult for shareholders, government agencies, customers, special interest groups and employees to determine how an organization stacks up against competitors, the industry average or even Wall Street targets. So although there are requests to see such documentation, one could say the “science” of sustainability reporting has not evolved fully.
Whatever the primary purpose, target audience, or content of your sustainability report, there is a reputational benefit to publishing one. It permits you to build relationships with key constituencies. It is an opportunity to share the story of your company’s CSR journey as well as demonstrate your ongoing commitment to the community — and even the world.
And in a time when the public tends to doubt the trustworthiness of business, whether you are a large or small company, it offers a chance for you to be transparent, proactively emphasizing that you are taking a long–term view of your business and interested in ensuring there will be a world for future generations.
Premium content from The Business Journal – by Ruth Kinzey, Contributing Writer
Ruth Ellen Kinzey, The Kinzey Company is a corporate reputation strategist, consultant, and professional speaker. Want to hear more about a specific topic? She can be reached at (704) 763-0754 or http://www.kinzeycompany.com.
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