If not now, when? If not us, who?

The February survey covered three core issues: the drivers of Corporate Social Responsibility, the importance of distinct activities in a CSR programme, and how effective respondents believed that their firm had been at implementing its CSR programme.

  • Four drivers of CSR – changes in the environment, supporting the priorities of the business, meeting the changing needs of clients, and harnessing the aspirations of the firm’s people – are all seen as extremely important. Marketers view client needs as most important followed by business priorities. However, managing partners give most importance to people aspirations.
  • The three most important activities in a CSR programme are seen to be charities and sponsorship, diversity and workplace culture, and learning and development.The next group is community and education, policies and codes of behaviour and environmental management. Pro bono is important but last on the list.

  • When it comes to effectiveness, the element that is seen as most effective is ‘doing the right thing’. Coherency of programme and collaboration score higher than consistency of programme or presenting credentials consistently. The weakest area is seen as a lack of rigour in both the programme and in checking progress.

INFRASTRUCTURE

53% of firms now have an internal CSR Board or equivalent. This rises to over 80% for property firms and those with more than 1,000 employees. However, this remains a European phenomenon with only 27% of North American firms having created a CSR Board. For those firms with a CSR Board, representation is the most common method for member selection at 56%, followed by co-option at 37%, with elections only being held by 10% of firms.

Getting things done is often best achieved by appointing a specialist dedicated to the role. Over 60% of firms with over 1,000 employees have appointed a dedicated CSR & Diversity Manager or equivalent, although this falls to only 15% for small firms up to 250 employees.

Nearly 60% of firms with over 10,000 employees engage in formal reporting on CSR, although this is still unusualat smaller firms with only 4% of very small firms (less than 250 employees) producing an annual CSR Report. Larger firms are far more likely to produce reports for clients as well as internal distribution.

WHAT DOES CSR MEAN TO FIRMS?

  • The CSR agenda has changed to a mainstream business issue concerning senior management and involving a wide range of internal functions within a firm.
  • It helps form the glue that binds this diverse nation-wide partnership together.
  • There is a huge opportunity to get different parts of the firm to work together and create a new income stream from the sustainability agenda, but if top and middle layers don’t ‘get it’ soon, it is just a wasted opportunity and business will be lost.
  • We aim to be a leader in CSR, especially in our commitment to minimisng our contribution to climate change and to rigorous, independently assured CSR reporting.
  • It is the benchmark by which a firm’s success will be radiated outward for clients to notice and engage.
  • The effect that our people can have as ambasadors canbe monumental.
  • It’s at risk of becoming a topic that people are sick of hearing about, but it’s enormously important to behave responsibly as a business.
  • Profits are not all that we measure. Our goal is to serve five stakeholders: employees, clients, community, vendors and the environment.
  • The quality of CSR engagement is rapidly becoming a benchmark for a modern organisation.
  • It’s not a strategy but a way to do business.
  • We have changed the business to accomodate the best practices possible.
  • It’s one of the key ways of demonstrating the human face of our business.

157 members responded to the February 2008PM Forum Snapshot on Corporate Social Responsibility. 53% work for firms of between 251 and 10,000 employees; 52% for firms with UK as the primary market with 9% for the North American market; 51% are in the legal sector with 18% in accountancy; 68% work in marketing; 12% are from general management; 31% are managers; 35% are directors and 10% are managing partners.