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This article was first published on LexisLibrary on 19 February 2014. Click here for a free 24h trial of LexisLibrary.
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Is it realistic for corporate bodies to expect a return on investment for their CSR activities? Yes--CSR activities can improve corporate reputation, mitigate risk, and lead to innovations that will benefit the company's competitiveness. It's just a matter of developing and measuring the right performance indicators. To expect a return on CSR activities, companies should take a strategic approach to CSR activities and include CSR strategy in all aspects of the business. What metrics should a corporate body use to assess the impact of their CSR policies? Although this area is still very much in development, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Sustainability Reporting Guidelines which include general and industry specific CSR metrics as well as an implementation manual for organisations of any size is a good starting point for developing CSR metrics. However, the GRI Guidelines are not an exhaustive list of CSR metrics. Companies should consider the underlying values and intentions of their CSR policies to ensure that they develop metrics and reporting systems to measure the success of those intentions. Are CSR policies the preserve of large corporate bodies? How can smaller organisations include CSR in their business activities? All organisations should consider incorporating CSR policies into their operations. Small organisations may not have the same extent or depth of policies and activities as large corporations, but they can still benefit from setting human rights, labour, supply chain, environmental and other standards as well as conducting activities to improve efficiency, productivity, innovation and transparency. In the mining industry the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada's E3Plus program is a great example of a system designed for smaller companies. Communicating the organisation's CSR policies and activities and engaging with its consumers, investors and employees are effective ways to improve reputation and community relations for organisations of any size. What are the rules surrounding the structure of CSR policies? The rules regarding CSR policies depend on the type of policy, location of the organisation and the organisation's activities, industry, investor relationships and any voluntary standards agreed to. For many types of CSR policies, few standards exist--but for others, such as transparency of payments to public officials, domestic legislation in the organisation's home country, countries where the organisation's stocks are traded, and countries in which the organisation operates, as well as any voluntary standards that the organisation may have signed onto may apply. To ensure that CSR policies are compliant with domestic and international laws, fulfil their purpose and can be effectively used as risk management tools, we encourage organisations to dedicate adequate time and attention to drafting such policies and consult legal counsel. Interviewed by Anne Bruce. The views expressed by our Legal Analysis interviewees are not necessarily those of the proprietor.