Conferences, conventions, forums…sometimes it feels as if groups hold meetings just for the sake of feeling important. But the COMMIT! Forum was not one of those meetings. More than any other group, CR professionals benefit from convening opportunities due to the changing dynamics of sustainability in business. Compared to other fields, CR is less defined, less mature, and less homogeneous. Accountants, for example, must all abide by FASB or IFRS standards. Doctors must all abide by the Hippocratic Oath. And while the GRI provides a framework that is helping to create a similar standard, the diversity in opinion at the COMMIT! Forum was a sharp reminder that the field still has a long way to go to reach codified uniformity. Here are some of my most notable takeaways from the conference:
- What gets measured, gets managed: It may be an oversimplification to say that what gets measured will get managed. After all, poor management can ignore issues even when there is good data to support action. But data collection and measurement is an important first step towards change, and was a key theme throughout the COMMIT! Forum. Without measurement you cannot easily identify where a problem lies or how to build an actionable plan to solve it. Measurement is critical to benchmarking progress and tracking results. Many outside the CR community may assume that sustainability is just a bunch of touchy-feely ideas, but the GRI and Carbon Disclosure Project are helping to track and measure company’s performances. As the GRI matures, it will become an important tool for companies to benchmark, set goals, and manage their CR.
- Transparency ≠ Performance: The GRI is an important step towards industry-wide transparency, which is essential to building trust and solving challenges. We should applaud companies for making strides towards increased transparency. A transparent company can be monitored, rewarded, and punished. Yet a transparent company can also be irresponsible, especially if penalties are not considered harsh enough to deter poor behavior. Both the NYSE and Bloomberg now display CDP scores alongside stock prices, but it is up to investors to use these tools when making investment decisions. The CR field must guard against complacency—transparency is essential but not the end goal.
- Intangibles are the dark matter of CR: The CROA 100 list emphasizes environmental responsibility and climate change over social and ethical aspects of CR. This is understandable given the relative ease in measurement and comparison. However, the intangibles give color to a company’s CR policies and illustrate whether a company is truly responsible. The role of ethics was a recurring question during panels and keynote Q&A sessions. Ethics are incredibly hard to pinpoint, define, and measure—the ultimate intangible. Yet sustainability loses its purpose if the ethical backbone falls away. Without ethics, sustainability is just another P&L driver. Intangibles such as brand equity and human capital engagement are also important benefits of CR policies, yet they are not captured in many metrics. As CR evolves and matures, capturing these intangible drivers and benefits will be the next challenge.
- Financial returns are king: In the world of corporate responsibility, ROI still reigns supreme. If you can show a CFO/CEO how sustainability can improve the bottom line, the match is yours. CR professionals may be hippies at heart, but if we intend to conquer the corporate world, we’ll need to make sure we’re hippies dressed in Ferragamo suits accompanied by cold hard data and flashy PowerPoint decks. Luckily, conferences like the COMMIT! Forum will help us get there.
Becky Meisels is a 2nd year MBA candidate at Georgetown McDonough School of Business where she serves on the board of her Net Impact chapter and works with the Global Social Enterprise Initiative. Prior to business school, Becky worked in communications consulting with experience in crisis management, strategic planning, brand management, and media relations for both private companies and nonprofits. She can also be found on Twitter @IdealistBiz