It’s hard to believe we are already in the third month of 2014! Whether you are among the CSR professionals already planning their next sustainability report, or whether you remain in the phase of thinking what you achieved last year and what your current aims are, continue reading to gain a few interesting tips.
To evaluate what is going in the market you operate in, it always wise to begin research on past and current trends. Since last year CSR trends have not changed much, but they most certainly have brought new ideas to the table of corporations wanting to go that extra mile for society and to the environment. CSE, a boutique firm specialized in global sustainability (CSR) consulting, coaching and training, would like to give away a few tips!
Nowadays it should come as no surprise that we are experiencing significant issues as a result of the depletion of natural resources. What has this led? The word that comes to mind is innovation! Companies realizing that there is a massive risk involved with exhausting natural resources, have turned to finding new materials, being no other than recycled materials. Clearly, with companies like H&M and Nike excelling the art of “finding another way of creating”, have created a trend in the global market for companies to think out of the box and get “down and dirty” with creating products from existing materials, opposed to depleting unnecessarily. Last year this trend really took off and is ,undoubtedly, here to stay!
Transparency! One of the top buzz words in any leading company. Why? Simply put because the significance of transparency for stakeholders and shareholders decision making has become absolutely transparent! This has led to a series of new guidelines, such as GRI, assisting companies to communicate more effectively and to the right audience, the stakeholders who matter to them the most. This urge has got many companies looking into their sustainability report and reassessing via GRI “Materiality Assessment”. A materiality assessment essentially is an exercise in stakeholder engagement designed to collect valuable information and insights on specific environmental, social and governance matters.
The outcomes of this exercise are extremely important for companies, as it can be utilized toward strategic planning, operational management and investment decisions for the future. Also, it is extremely useful for the Sustainability report itself as it assists in making it more targeted. CSE predicts that this is something which will be strongly adopted, as companies are constantly looking into ways of improving their practices and overall performance and good communication holds the key.
Employee Engagement has also gained tremendous attention by corporations! Although it is something that should have always been in the corporate priority list, given that an “engaged employee is fully enthusiastic about their work and will take positive action to further expand its reputation and interests, it only recently triggered attention! What triggered it? I believe Dan and Seijts (2006) have it spot on: An organization with ‘high’ employee engagement might therefore be expected to outperform those with ‘low’ employee engagement, all else being equal. Henceforth there is a business case, but also a case to be seen as a respectful employer.
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