Earthwards 2.0: Johnson & Johnson Seeks to Evolve Sustainable Product Innovation

09 Wednesday Jul 2014

Tags

andrew winston, Brand Management, CSR, CSRwire, earthwards, environment, Environment, ESG, health care, healthcare, hunter lovins, Innovation, lifecycle analysis, marks and spencer, Sustainability, sustainability, sustainability strategy, unilever, waste

In recent posts, I explored the genesis of Johnson & Johnson’s proprietary Earthwards^® process and how it has been used to help develop greener products to meet customer needs. For Johnson & Johnson, the process of instilling a sustainability mindset began with introspection and questioning: How does an organization with multiple product lines and a global workforce develop and define greener products? And the process began with a tool called GAIA, or Global Aquatic Ingredient Assessment.

In the beginning, GAIA was operating almost exclusively with R&D because it was a science-based tool with specific emphasis on measuring downstream ecosystem impacts. Implementation of the Earthwards process accelerated broader adoption and has helped spur greener product innovation based on lifecycle thinking that is, in part, quantified by tools like GAIA. But Earthwards, despite its rigor and initial success, is still in its infancy.

In 2012, Senior Director for Worldwide Environment Health and Safety Al Iannuzzi enlisted a team of experts that volunteered to examine the Earthwards process and recommend areas for improvement. What’s next? I explore the future of the program through the eyes of two well-respected sustainability experts who recently weighed in as part of that expert team: Andrew Winston and L. Hunter Lovins.

_____________________________

By now, you’ve probably caught a glimpse of that new inspiring Honda Civic 2013 commercial, framing innovation as believing that ‘things can always be better.’ For Winston, making things better begins by asking questions. “As we pursue sustainability in the future, asking the right questions will be as important as the answers we get,” he said.

For the people at Johnson & Johnson, the concept of continuous improvement is a driving force. So it makes sense that their efforts to evolve the current Earthwards methodology into a better process began with some honest introspection and engagement with a few external experts, including Winston and Lovins.

In a recent phone call with Winston, I asked him his impressions of the Earthwards process.

He believes that the Earthwards process is a solid program with appropriate categories and logical steps that “empowers product developers with information and helps them understand the choices. It’s a well-designed system, but does have its pros and cons.”

I asked him to elaborate.

“They have the right categories, seven in all, but the concern is that a product could be improving in three distinct areas, but these may not be the most important areas to focus on in order to address the products’ greatest material impacts. There’s a fine line between simplicity and enabling efficient assessments.”

Of course there are trade-offs. But the biggest challenge internally is giving employees the time and information they need to become comfortable with the Earthwards process and appreciate the impacts of improvements across the lifecycle.

“It is a fair point,” said Iannuzzi. “Our Review Board, including three external experts, also helps to keep the process objective, making sure that the brands focus their improvements on meaningful areas. To make this even more robust, we will require each application to address the lifecycle screen hot spot areas identified in step two of the Earthwards process, the lifecycle screen.”

Sufficiently Ambitious or Room for Improvement?

There is broad agreement among the experts that Johnson & Johnson has a long history of – and
interest in – environmental protection and sustainability. “The company has cared about its impact on the environment and on people, and taken a position of responsibility,” Lovins noted.

While both Lovins and Winston said that the Earthwards process is one of the most comprehensive sustainable product tools in the industry, and in Lovins’ view, “a strong and rigorous process.” She also feels there is opportunity for the company to become even more aggressive in making this a companywide initiative.

“They need to examine the inadequacies of the Earthwards process, align it with tougher science-based goals and then make a commitment to hold every product to those goals.”

Winston had similar sentiments, specifically around the 10 percent benchmark Johnson & Johnson has set for improvements against Earthwards’ sustainability criteria. “The problem with a goal like 10 percent is that it’s kind of an internal-looking, corporate improvement. These goals at the product level need to be shooting for more dramatic increases.”

Some of J&J’s leading products are doing more than the required 10 percent anyway, so why stop there?

According to Iannuzzi, Johnson & Johnson sees the potential to raise the bar, perhaps substantially on some dimensions, but also recognizes the need to balance meaningful improvements within the original intent of Earthwards.

“J&J is always up for a challenge, but we want to make sure we don’t raise the bar so high that it becomes detrimental to Earthwards’ intended purpose of widespread adoption,” said Iannuzzi. “If we make the bar so high that almost no product can get there, no one would pursue it.”

New Blueprint Needed?

According to a recent study commissioned by Johnson & Johnson titled The Growing Importance of Sustainable Products in the Global Health Care Industry, 54 percent of health care organizations globally say green attributes are very important in their purchasing decisions of health care products and supplies. And this trend appears to be gaining traction, as 40 percent of global hospitals expect their future request for proposals to include sustainability criteria for the products they purchase. Among the greatest concerns hospitals share are the amount of energy they use and the volume of waste they generate.

With data like these indicating that the strongest push for sustainability is coming from within the healthcare sector, how will this influence the evolution of the Earthwards process?

To get at the heart of this question, Winston suggests that Johnson & Johnson ask itself whether doing better than 95 percent of its competitors is good enough.

In fact, Winston said Johnson & Johnson should go further than others and has challenged the company to raise the requirements for Earthwards recognition. For example, the baseline could be higher than the current 10 percent improvement needed to achieve recognition in the different categories, especially in the energy efficiency category, in light of the general scientific consensus that greenhouse gas emissions need to be reduced by 85 percent by 2050.

Iannuzzi responded: “We plan to better understand the greenhouse gas emissions impacts of the improvements we make this year with the Earthwards process and consider ways to further encourage them in our products.”

Lovins suggests the company be more transparent with customers about where it is in the process of sustainable product development and where it is going. Iannuzzi’s team is already responding by sharing more content on www.earthwards.com including more information about the 36 products that have received recognition so far and other external-facing efforts like a six-part series with CSRwire.

Internal Certification Process, Not a Sustainability Strategy

Coleman Bigelow, Johnson & Johnson Global Sustainability Marketing Director, sees the Earthwards program as an internal product stewardship and green marketing process rather than a long-term sustainability strategy like that of Marks & Spencer’s Plan A or Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan.

The Earthwards process ensures “every product we produce has undergone a lifecycle screening and is as sustainable as possible. For the first time, we have a process that offers something to the developers, the R&D folks, as well as the marketers and sales associates,” Bigelow explained.

Iannuzzi, a Johnson & Johnson veteran of 28 years who has spearheaded the Earthwards program internally from the start and is a popular sustainability champion among the team, doesn’t foresee the company taking an approach akin to GE’s Ecomagination with a separate structure, either.

“Our philosophy is to embed sustainability into every product, not create something special or separate,” Iannuzzi explained. That said, the company does plan to track how much of its revenue stems from Earthwards recognized products. So while it is not its own revenue generating business unit, per se, it certainly could prove to save the company money over the long haul as well as drive innovation internally.

When I asked Iannuzzi about Earthwards’ ten-year plan, he reflected.

“Ideally, I envision it as a way of showing customers how we are coming up with more innovative products using sustainability as the driver. This means moving Earthwards process away from being an add-on and moving it toward full integration. External communication will also be key.”

“But right now, it’s not as well integrated as we would like,” Iannuzzi admits.

Regardless, Winston seems convinced that Johnson & Johnson’s efforts have been both aggressive and innovative as a whole. The next tricky move for the company, say the experts, is to be mindful of how quickly the Earthwards program grows in scope without losing sight of the program’s quality.

As the team at Johnson & Johnson prepares for Earthwards round two, the experts’ advice should help the healthcare company scale its journey from green to greener without losing sight of the ultimate goal: A sustainable planet for future generations.

For now, it’s back to the white boards.

About Andrew Winston and L. Hunter Lovins

A globally recognized expert in green business strategies, Winston is the author of Green Recovery and co-author of Green to Gold, the international best-selling guide to what works – and what doesn’t – when companies go green. Winston is also founder of Winston Eco-Strategies, a sustainability consultancy dedicated to helping companies use environmental strategy to grow, create enduring value, and build stronger relationships with their stakeholders. He writes extensively on green business strategy, including a weekly column for Harvard Business Online and guest byline articles on Huffington Post.

Lovins is an award-winning sustainability consultant, featured speaker at conferences across the globe and author of Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution. Lovins is also president and founder of Natural Capitalism Solutions (NCS), which creates innovative, practical tools and strategies to enable companies, communities and countries to become more sustainable. Lovins is also a professor of sustainable business management at Bard College and Denver University, and consults for large and small companies, and governmental clients.

Originally written for and published on CSRwire’s Commentary section Talkback on March 13, 2013.

Greener Products: Johnson & Johnson’s Blended Formula

09 Wednesday Jul 2014

Posted by Aman Singh in CSR, CSRwire

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

al iannuzzi, Brand Management, change managemet, consumer products, CSR, CSRwire, earthwards, ehs, environment, gaia, green, green products, johnson and jonhson, lifecycle analysis, marketing, ray sharples, Sustainability, sustainability

A “fully sustainable company” remains an aspirational goal for many organizations – yet the road to this ambitious endpoint is filled with challenges waiting for innovative solutions.

To get started, a company must assess its environmental impacts and consistently work to minimize them. But can a company ever become a “fully sustainable company” and, if so, what’s the right roadmap to getting there?

In last week’s post, Al Iannuzzi, Senior Director for Worldwide Environment Health and Safety at J&J wrote, “We believe in greener products.” He was instrumental in mapping out Johnson & Johnson’s EARTHWARDS process to improve product sustainability and its successful adoption across the business units.

Earthwards is a proprietary process that guides Johnson & Johnson teams to holistically identify, address and improve their products’ biggest environmental impacts across a broad range of areas. For Johnson & Johnson, this accounts for a major leap in its journey to becoming a more sustainable enterprise.

Earthwards & GAIA: The Need For Tools

While Earthwards is now the criteria used to assess the sustainability of Johnson & Johnson products, it also requires business specific tools to help make products greener. A key tool for the Consumer Products division is the Global Aquatic Ingredient Assessment, or GAIA for short.

I sat down with Ray Sharples, Manager of EHS & Product Stewardship for Johnson & Johnson’s Consumer Division, to discuss the impetus for GAIA.

According to Sharples, there was a need to develop a tool to measure the environmental impacts of the products Johnson & Johnson puts into the marketplace. To address this need, in 2010, the Johnson & Johnson Consumer Product Stewardship team set out to create a new tool to quantify the impacts of various formulas.

“We needed a way to assess which materials were “better” among our ingredients so we could make improvements in the environmental attributes of our products,” Sharples said.

Interestingly, this technical and scientific process at Johnson & Johnson spurred opportunities for innovation and got employees engaged in the development of greener products. As part of the Earthwards lifecycle thinking, GAIA now plays a role in helping products achieve Earthwards recognition.

Johnson & Johnson started the GAIA scoring system in 2010. GAIA rates the ingredients in a Johnson & Johnson product. GAIA scores are primarily based on scientific issues such as persistence, bioaccumulation and toxicity along with other factors, which, in some cases, can reduce the score of an ingredient.

“The intent behind GAIA was to guide product developers around the world to choose environmentally preferred ingredients,” Sharples said.

“The use of ingredients that are readily biodegradable and have minimal environmental impact to the ecosystem allows us to reduce our global environmental footprint. By making this process more streamlined and quantifiable, we’re not only increasing our environmental successes, we’re making it a part of everyday life,” he explained.

Getting a Lift From Earthwards

GAIA was operating almost exclusively with R&D because it was a science-based tool with specific emphasis on measuring downstream ecosystem impacts, but Earthwards changed that.

“Incorporating GAIA as one of the tools within the lifecycle thinking of Earthwards has been really important in mainstreaming GAIA across Johnson & Johnson Consumer group,” Sharples said, pointing to the much broader implementation of Earthwards across the company’s various business units and divisions.

“GAIA soon took off in the Consumer group, as brand teams tried to obtain Earthwards recognition. We’re now using GAIA as a way of educating and engaging our employees on key considerations for
sustainable product development,” he added.

Under the GAIA tool, a product with a score between 80 and 100 is considered environmentally preferred, which means the product consists primarily of biodegradable ingredients that minimize its impact on the ecosystem. “Sixty-five percent of our new formulations today achieve a GAIA score of 80 or higher. Our goal is to ensure that 80 percent of all new Johnson & Johnson consumer products score between 80 and 100 by 2017,” said Sharples.

Why stop at 80 percent?

“One-hundred percent is just very, very difficult to reach. Even reaching 80 percent will be challenging because of the complexity involved in our formulations,” Sharples explained.

GAIA: Hidden Opportunity?

GAIA offers obvious benefits and some less obvious ones. The tool, for example, has often led formulators and R&D teams to find opportunities that they would have previously missed. And making product improvements first through GAIA can help a product development team uncover other lifecycle improvements towards an Earthwards recognition.

Examples of products that first went through the GAIA process and then advanced to achieve Earthwards recognition include Johnson & Johnson’s Baby First Touch Zinksalva (Nappy Cream) and Baby First Touch Shampoo, both marketed under the Natusan brand in Europe.

Creating Change

Sharples’ comments reminded me of a keynote speech by Jeff Swartz, Timberland’s former CEO:

“Sometimes you have to stop wanting the consumer to dictate market trends, innovations and movements. Sometimes you have to take a stand and lead the market.”

But not all issues are as easy to remedy.

For example, zinc oxide is a “red” ingredient under GAIA and therefore, one that Johnson & Johnson aims to
avoid. But when it comes to sunscreen, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration [FDA] has approved zinc oxide as an active ingredient in these products and alternative sunscreen active ingredients have other potential environmental concerns.

So how does the company choose its next step?

Challenge the FDA? Continue with the status quo? Change its product formulation? And who takes on the cost burden of changing the formulation of a successfully tested product? The company? The government? The hospitals and health care institutions? Consumers?

These questions are complicated and require equally complicated solutions.

Like Johnson & Johnson, there are numerous companies aspiring to produce sustainable products, using renewable energy, pursuing zero waste and achieving other targets to ensure their impact on the planet and society is a net positive.

So far, their responses have been piecemeal with Johnson & Johnson’s Earthwards serving as an excellent example of the holistic approach needed in the marketplace. But is there a truly “fully sustainable company” that has figured it all out? If you know one, drop me an email.

Originally written for and published on CSRwire’s Commentary section Talkback on February 27, 2013 and part of a series on Earthwards, a Johnson & Johnson program.

IKEA’s Sustainability Strategy: Save the World, One Product At a Time

09 Wednesday Jul 2014

Posted by Aman Singh in CSR, CSRwire

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

CEO Network, Chief sustainability officer, CSR, CSR report, CSRwire, energy efficiency, environment, Environment, ESG, ikea, led, lifecycle, product development, steve howard, Supply chain management, Sustainability, sustainability, waste, wind farms

154,000 workers.
47 percent of all managers are women [compared to 17 percent of the American Fortune 500’s board seats or the female representation at the recently concluded World Economic Forum].
338 stores worldwide.
8 percent comparable store sales growth in FY2012.
A third of total energy consumption met through renewable energy.

Is IKEA‘s newly minted sustainability strategy working? Titled People & Planet Positive, the strategy was borne out of the retailer’s business mission: to create a better everyday life for the many people. The 2012 report marks the first update for the superstore whose goals start from the obvious – a fourfold increase in sales by 2020 – and go on to include the other two pillars of sustainability – engagement of customers, employees and suppliers, energy dependence, as well as community development.

In typical European fashion – understated with an emphasis on data – the release headline read: The IKEA Group is Growing and Financially Strong. Mind you, the release announces the retailer’s 2012 Sustainability report, not the latest quarterly report on financials. What better way to position sustainability?

I spoke to Chief Sustainability Officer Steve Howard briefly on the cusp of the report’s release. Excerpts:

Aman Singh: What are some of the key highlights of the 2012 Sustainability Report that you would want every CSRwire reader to know?

Steve Howard: We’ve divided the report into two parts. First is the forward-looking piece, which talks about our new sustainability strategy and lays out our 2020 goals. Implementing these goals has meant a huge amount of work and unleashed an incredible amount of enthusiasm across the workforce.

The second piece deals with our impact. In terms of our operations, extending our work on energy has been significant. We completed installing 50,000 solar panels across our business locations by the end of FY 12. Last year, we committed to invest $2 billion in renewable energy by 2015. We’re already committed $500 million of that.

IKEA now owns wind farms in six countries. Thirty-four percent of our energy came from renewable sources last year. We’ve committed to reach 100 percent by 2020. Not bad for a furnishing company.

In our supply chain, we committed to reaching 100 percent compliance with our suppliers. We have 80 auditors working on this goal as well as independent team validating the work of our auditors. [Once we rolled this out] some suppliers agreed to collaborate while others decided not to. So we parted ways with as many as 60 suppliers. That has real business consequences – for us as well as the suppliers.

This goal has been a real test for us on how serious we are with our promises and commitments. Because our strategy is embedded and understood across divisions, our decision to part ways with 60 suppliers was not received with any criticism. We’ve also worked with our supply chain partners on funding projects and have reached more than 100,000 farmers on improving farm conditions, water conservation, etc.

Again, our goal is to reach every single one of our farmers by the end of 2015.

One of IKEA’s goals is to have at least 95 percent of coworkers, 95 percent of suppliers and 70 percent of consumers view IKEA as a company that takes social and environmental responsibility seriously. How’s that going?

Most of our suppliers, customers and coworkers are in the “I don’t know” category. They judge us and have opinions about IKEA but don’t know what we do on sustainability. What we also know is that people care. Once we communicate the urgency, they do care about things like climate change, the future of their children, etc.

Moving forward, we will strengthen our customer communications. For example, last year we replaced the doors of one of our frame cupboards with honeycomb fiber, which is as strong as solid chipboard but uses 40 percent less material. Cupboards need strong doors, not heavy doors. And this reduces the cost to produce the cupboard, therefore, reducing the price for our customers, which makes it a better customer proposition.

Similarly, the VIDJA lamp was redesigned last year to take out unnecessary components [as many as 24 of the 33 original components were removed] and replaced with LED lights, resulting in half the weight and the same performance. Additionally, we can now load 128 VIDJA lamps on a pallet vs. 80 previously, which means we can ship more at once, reducing our fuel usage and shipping costs.

Just like that, every IKEA product has a story. That’s the direction for our business. Soon everything will be traceable back to source but it’s a lot of hard work and we are starting to talk about these stories. But it will take us some time to get the communication across to our customers globally.

That’s emblematic of a true lifecycle approach. With thousands of products and a growing footprint internationally [IKEA is in China and will soon debut its first store in India] there must be some challenges in balancing sustainability goals and growing scale?

While having a mission and being a values-led business helps, it all comes down to a significant execution and implementation effort. Our people are motivated to lower prices and find sustainable solutions. I use three numbers to talk about sustainability within IKEA:

1.5 planets: needed to provide resources for today’s population
3 billion: extra consumers expected to overcome poverty across emerging markets by 2030
6degrees centigrade warming: A catastrophe.

These numbers are real. And hit hard. We’re over-consuming against the urgency of climate change. This hits the heart of business: we are either sustainable or bust. We have to do whatever is needed. And we know that.

We can help our customers save energy by switching over to LED lights. We’re essentially banning non-LEDs by committing to sell and use only LED lights in our products. We can help people save water in a meaningful way by using energy-saving equipment. Simple things like LEDs, for example, can reduce our customers’ expenses by 30 percent. That’s equal to a 10 percent pay raise!

This is our opportunity…and it’s highly motivating.

How does reporting on these metrics help? Whose reading the report?

We just want to be transparent. We’re not expecting IKEA customers or coworkers to rush to read our sustainability report. It is meant for a specialist audience that believes in the phrase, you can only manage what you can measure.

Businesses – and management teams – like to have clear targets so that they can report against them [and benchmark, analyze and improve performance]. So why not use the same logic for sustainability?

Originally written for and published on CSRwire’s Commentary section Talkback on January 21, 2013.

Practicing CSR: Edelman’s 2012 Corporate Citizenship Report Reveals Tough Love

08 Tuesday Jul 2014

Posted by Aman Singh in CSR, CSR reporting, CSRwire

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Brand Management, Business, CSR, CSR report, CSR reporting, CSRwire, disclosure, diversity, Edelman, human rights, iirc, john edelman, Leadership, marketing, PR, pro bono, supply chain, Sustainability, transparency, voluntary disclosure, volunteerism, work culture

When a PR and marketing firm publishes a corporate citizenship report, there’s a tendency to view the results – and the commitments – with a pinch of salt. After all, they’re traditional masters of spin. Right?

Wrong, says John Edelman, the namesake PR agency’s managing director for global engagement and corporate responsibility. Here’s how Edelman’s press release describes the firm’s commitment to corporate citizenship:

“Some call it corporate social responsibility. Others call it sustainability. For Edelman, global citizenship resonates most as a term describing the larger responsibility business has to society. The firm recognizes its place in the world as global citizens, local offices and individuals.”

“We’re incredibly pleased [that] we were able to provide over $5 million in cash, non-cash (volunteerism) and in-kind giving in FY12 to the communities in which we operate. Giving back has always been a big part of our agency’s heritage and helping our communities is just one of the ways in which we can be responsible global citizens,” John added in a recent conversation over email.

So what does the report detail beyond the private firm’s green commitments and philanthropic donations?

Human Rights & Supply Chain

Reminding me that citizenship at Edelman has only been a global function for two years, John pointed to two major accomplishments. “The introduction of our human rights policy and our supplier code of conduct. When I started in this role, we began to see more and more client requests and requests for proposals (RFPs) in regard to our citizenship policies. Our development of these two policies in FY12 is directly related to stakeholder expectations of Edelman as a global company,” he wrote.

The firm also joined the Supplier Ethical Data Exchange (Sedex), a web-based platform and registry where companies report on CSR-related initiatives around business and labor practices, health and safety and the environment.

For the past two years, the firm has used the GRI framework as a baseline for its CSR reporting. In 2011, the firm also became “one of 80 companies to join the International Integrated Reporting (IIRC) pilot program…as part of our commitment, our report reflects elements of the Integrated Reporting framework, such as identifying our capitals and transforming that capital to value.”

Challenges of Setting CSR Goals…

I have often said/written that the challenge of contextualizing what corporate social responsibility means for the service-based industries is uniquely harder than the consumer products sector. Not that the pressure is any less, as evidenced by the increasing numbers of CSR reports publishing in the last two years, but I do believe that B2B firms must dig deeper to identify – and fulfill – their responsibility to society, employees and the environment.

What’s been a unique CSR challenge for a firm that relies on its talent and has an immense global presence?

According to John, “the environmental initiatives and goals have been the most challenging.” He explained:

“The biggest contributor to our carbon footprint is business travel, which accounts for 73 percent of our emissions. Business travel for client-facing projects is a key part of what we do every day. Other industries and companies have more control over Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions and can achieve reductions through direct actions. Given that we need to travel to service our clients, it’s harder for us to control our Scope 3 emissions. While we understand this challenge, we still need to work towards reducing our GHG emissions.”

“To that end, we are working individually with each hub office on setting a greenhouse gas reduction target and implementing practices such as increasing usage of video-conference facilities and purchasing 50 percent recycled paper.”

And it’s not just setting the goal that’s been hard.

…And Implementing CSR Programs

Implementing new programs across the firm’s markets has been a challenge as well, he said. “We want to be a guiding force without being too prescriptive. We want to empower our employees around the world to implement and take part in citizenship initiatives with the understanding that they need to balance these with their regular workload,” he added.

John points out the inherent paradox that organizations like Edelman must tackle: how do you compel employees to volunteer and donate their time, money and skills while expecting them to manage a full workload and often, as is common in the PR world, 60-80 hour work weeks?

Ultimately it comes down to the committed few, driven by their passion and subjective understanding of their society and environment.

Disclosure: Led by Demand for Transparency

Since inception, Edelman has been a proudly private company. So why bother reporting on its non-financial goals? Especially when their service/product is often perceived in the market as spin?

It all comes down to being transparent, says the veteran marketing executive.

“Transparency has never been more important and we strongly believe that whether you’re a private or public company, you must be accountable for everything you do. Being transparent is part of how we operate and it’s necessary for us to report on the progress and challenges of our citizenship journey.”

As an example he pointed me to a section of the report, which highlights that the firm’s carbon footprint at “15,518 metric tons CO2e [had] actually increased since our last footprint period.” “We provide explanations for that increase, such as improved data-capture practices and control data quality, particularly on business air travel,” he said.

CSR: Business Opportunity?

Which leads to another question: As a PR agency, what was the motivation behind launching the Business + Social Purpose division – led by the legendary Carol Cone – beyond the obvious business opportunity with companies evolving from cause marketing initiatives into more robust CSR strategies?

“It was clear that we wanted to ‘walk the talk.’ Working with clients on sustainability and citizenship is certainly a business opportunity, but beyond that, we needed to evolve and integrate our own practices. This is what we tell our clients: sustainability and citizenship should be integrated into the overall business,” he said.

Has the client-driven practice impacted cultural behavior and the firm’s organizational hierarchy?

“We have partnered with our Business + Social Purpose (B+SP) team members since we established Global Citizenship as a functional department. This partnership was important because citizenship was a new function, and we wanted to access the expertise of our people to evolve our own Global Citizenship capability.”

“As an example, we involved our B+SP team in our materiality analysis to prioritize our FY12 report topics. Through this analysis, we added an entire section on engaging with our clients, as a result of the dialogue with our B+SP members.”

Walking the talk? That at least is the objective, he said.

“We talk about the importance of the inside matching the outside, and the idea that your employees are your best ambassadors. Citizenship is an integrated part of our overall corporate strategy and having a unified message and integrated approach to it is imperative for effective impacts on our business and society, rather than having a siloed approach where citizenship sits on the periphery of the company’s strategy and operations.”

CSR Reporting: The Ultimate Reward

The ultimate reward of having a CSR strategy is when you can use the reporting function as a reflection on your organizational practices and improve them incrementally. As Edelman helps other organizations weave their way through and inculcate CSR into business strategy, it is important that the firm use the same philosophy internally.

“In the long-term, citizenship needs to be further integrated into our overall management systems. We have been making incremental progress year to year….During year one, we established a foundation; during year two, we have established some goals. In year three, we hope to develop metrics around CSR performance and eventually, we hope to create a citizenship scorecard that can be integrated into our management systems,” informed John.

How does the firm measure the impact it is driving with its clients?

“We believe it is important to measure impact of citizenship by looking at internal and external measurements. In addition to contributions to the bottom line, such as money saved by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and hours and value of volunteerism, it is important to measure employee engagement, such as employee recruitment and retention.”

“Now that we have established goals in some of these areas, we will next develop metrics to assess employee engagement and impact. In an effort to drive a deeper level of employee engagement, we created the Community Investment Grant program, which provides any full-time employee around the network with the opportunity to apply for funding to support a nonprofit organization where they volunteer or serve on the board.”

And let’s not forget the external piece, he reminded me.

“Any citizenship initiative must be tied to producing public engagement behavior outcomes which are at the core of Edelman’s business strategy such as building deeper communities, building trust, adding commercial value, and changing behavior.”

Holistic CSR goals, got it.

Originally written for and published on CSRwire’s Commentary section Talkback on September 21, 2012.

Changing Business from the Inside Out: How to Pursue a Career in CSR and Sustainability

07 Monday Jul 2014

Posted by Aman Singh in CSR

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

amd, Apple, Business Ethics, Career advice, career advice, career in sustainability, careers, CSR, CSR jobs, epa, gap, intel, Job search, Jobs in CSR, jobs in CSR, Leadership, Net Impact, Nike, Social Entrepreneurship, social media, supply chain, Sustainability, sustainability jobs, tim mohin, Work culture

What does one do to get a job in the field of corporate social responsibility? And moreover, how do you excel at something so nebulous and undefined?

I’ve spent the last eight years trying to decode these issues and report about what companies are doing to not only embrace the essential message underlining CSR but also integrate a sense of responsibility within their culture. I interviewed practitioners, researched numerous CSR reports, and conducted multiple surveys on the issue to identify what exactly translates into a “CSR career” or “CSR job”.

While feedback, comments and social media indicated that my reporting was helping raise awareness and compelling professionals to think about their choices, I realized that what we needed was a reference guide, an encyclopedia of sorts, a How-To of practical tips from executives who are embedded in large corporations and have experience influencing change, leading behavior change and staying patient when the profits vs. CSR debate rears its head.

Turns out, Changing Business from the Inside Out: A Treehugger’s Guide to Working in Corporations is the handbook I was looking for.

Written by Tim Mohin, Director of Corporate Responsibility at AMD, the book offers critical pieces of advice and practical tips for current and aspiring professionals who believe they can make a difference through their careers.

And that is the segment that Mohin wants to target. He told me a couple of years ago that he wanted to write a book aimed at people who “want to change the world through business.” Then, jobs were few and we were struggling as an economy. Occupy Wall Street was yet to take shape. And corporations were focused on surviving a deep recession not worrying about their social responsibility quotient.

But as we know today, this recession has not only furthered the divide between consumers, employees and corporations on a whole host of social, environmental and economic issues, but also pointed the finger to each and every one of us. Where does the blame lie? How did we get here?

In this vacuum of trust in the marketplace, Mohin’s book is a much-needed antidote for professionals and students who want to restore our economy, while protecting the environment and benefitting society, but lack the practical advice.

Changing Business from the Inside Out: A Treehugger’s Guide to Working in Corporations

We sat down for a heart to heart about the book, his tips, his journey at AMD and much more.

“The book is meant for people who want to use their careers to change the world. I want to enable the next generation to create the change they want to see happen,” he began. For Mohin, a vocal co-supporter of student-led organization Net Impact whose conferences attract thousands of job seekers, students and professionals each year, the field isn’t as “rosy as it looks.” [Note: Net Impact members get a discount!]

“Increasingly I felt that people who wanted to have a meaningful career didn’t understand what the field involves. There are certain sets of skills that need to be acquired,” he added.

The CSR field is growing. And companies are starting to respond to what was primarily a movement driven by activists, students and academia, by creating CSR departments and integrating corporate citizenship into business strategy.

Each of these points of integration, implementation and planning however, requires specific skill sets. And as more job opportunities emerge, Mohin believes it is up to the incumbents to educate and mentor an “army of professionals who can work in CSR and sustainability.”

Should Companies Create CSR Departments?

He likened the evolution of CSR to the quality movement in the 1980s when every company responded by starting a quality department. “Today, large companies realize that they must have someone in charge of CSR. It’s not a new department per se but builds upon the community, public affairs or environmental teams and adds on other parts of corporate citizenship,” he said.

Now, the question of having CSR departments has always triggered opposing reactions among professionals, executives and job seekers. Should CSR be a separate department? Or an integrated element of everyone’s job description? Or a C-suite led initiative?

For Mohin there is no debate, contrary to what several of his peers in corporate America have told me.

“I do think we need a department: it should be senior, small and strategic. Fundamentally, what that department is doing is setting direction, vision and key performance indicators [KPIs]. But the real work is being done by traditional line management functions.”

“For example, most companies need to have a CR council and together we work through top-level goals to meet our vision, execution and measurement. When you look at CSR, it’s too broad for any one manager to manage. By nature, it’s a cross cutting service group that works with others to get the job done,” he emphasized.

“But if there is no one in charge, it gets lost and nothing gets done.”

Preparing for a Career in CSR

But many of the skills, programs and business processes are transferable outside the CSR function, as I discover every time I interviewed a CSR executive and analyze their career’s trajectory. Mohin concurs. “Remember that most CSR functions simply report the news,” he told me, adding, “The news, though, is created in line management and mainstream corporate roles like procurement, HR, legal, and supply chain.”

Mohin’s advice hits home. For years, I have advised students and professionals that to forge a career in CSR, they must first develop a sector expertise, a specific skill set and then decide which element of CSR they can fit into. Using “I want to work in CSR” is never a good starting point.

For the author, it comes down to “Skills, Processes and Programs.”

“In chapter one, I identify how CSR has evolved at companies and how organizational structure affects the practice. Use this to figure out where you fit. Then turn to chapter two, where I list out the skills necessary for a successful career in CSR,” he said.

Once you’ve identified where you fit, chapter three and four offer a crash course in CSR strategy and how to respond to emerging issues. The rest of the book focuses on the many different programs under the umbrella of CSR. “So pick the one that applies to your skills and passion and then understand how to excel in that particular field,” he explained.

Apple, Gap & Nike: Supply Chain Crucial Area for CSR Jobseekers

For example, supply chain is an area that Mohin has devoted part of his career to while at Apple. But his emphasis – two long chapters – on the area of supply chain has more to it than passion or experience. “For me, this area is the No. 1 growth area in corporate responsibility. When you see the trend starting back a few years ago with Nike and Gap’s supply chain woes, and now Apple in the electronics industry, the critical importance of supplier responsibility becomes clear,” he said.

“Now it’s becoming embedded in companies more so than ever before because of outsourcing. Companies have found outsourcing to be cheaper and strategically more efficient for them. But accompanying that, we need a supplier responsibility program, therefore the growing demand for professionals who can understand all the nuances of both supply chain and social responsibility,” he said.

Another important reason that there are jobs in this area: Supplier responsibility is a big, complicated task. “One that requires quite a large team of skilled professionals. At Apple, it started with just me and I quickly hired a small ream but if you compare to Gap, I believe they have about 70 people in labor standards. Disney has even more,” he said, adding, “Now, imagine the scope and scale of managing all social responsibility for suppliers of all the Fortune 500 companies.”

Running a Data-Driven Program: Leading Through Influence

In order to drive a CSR program, however, whether it is supplier responsibility or environmental impact, every project requires a robust method set in place for the collection and analysis of relevant data that can feed strategy and project the achievability of goals.

And that’s where Mohin places his bets for success.

A common thread at every company he has worked for, including Intel, Advanced Micro Devices and Apple, is managing data-driven programs. The ability to set quantifiable goals and measure progress has been a crucial aspect of his career in corporate responsibility. “[Data] has been a hallmark of my career,” he said.

So much so that Mohin has devoted an entire chapter on the need for establishing meaningful goals and knowing what to measure. In the book – chapter four – he uses the examples of Intel, Coca-Cola and Starbucks to exemplify his emphasis. In our conversation, he referred to lessons from his tenure at Intel.

“When I was the environmental manager at Intel, the first thing I did was establish Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) so that we could start measuring our global environmental performance and forecasting the future. As soon as we figured it out, senior management wanted to know. And because we were focused on the data, we were quickly able to identify the process changes and reductions that decreased our emissions even while production was increasing,” he recalled.

His advice?

“[You] need to be able to understand what’s important for your business and your stakeholders and how you can quantify progress in these areas to be successful. These metrics together become a dashboard seen by senior management regularly so they track the success measures and identify areas to improve. Running your program this way ensures that you will get the engagement and buy-in needed for a successful corporate responsibility strategy,” he said.

“Once you start to measure what’s important to your business and your stakeholders, you start to see alignment.”

Finally, I asked him to list the top skills he believes anyone aspiring to excel in CSR and sustainability must have. [Buy the Book]

In Mohin’s words, you must be:

1. A Lifelong Learner

“In corporate responsibility, you have to be flexible and curious. You’re often working in areas that are not your strong suit but if you’re open to new experiences and unafraid to be the dumbest kid in the class, this field is for you. Not everyone has that kind of personality. You have to be comfortable in your skin. And, it helps to have a thick skin.”

2. Able to Lead & Influence Without Being the Decision Maker

“You must be able to lead and influence when you’re not making all the decisions leading up to the end goal. You must be able to understand the system well – such as identifying and building relationships with those who have the budget and the authority to get things done – and be able to work with them and influence across a broad spectrum of people and groups to work toward a common goal.”

3. Able to Communicate Well

“It is one thing to know your business and another to describe it to someone else who may not know your business as well. It’s like talking to your mother about CSR. To be able to do this job, you have to be a good communicator. It’s a critical skill in many fields but absolutely essential in CSR. CSR leaders are like the ‘de-coder ring’ in many companies because they have to understand the inner workings of many business groups and explain it to others.”

4. Social Media Savvy

“The world of communications has changed in fundamental ways and the future will be very different too. We need to stay on top of were communication is headed – and right now, that’s social media.”

“What I learned from social media is that I get more out of it than I put in. I learn something new every day through social media. Communication is happening in real-time with real content and being social media savvy is an essential element to be effective in many fields.”

5. Able to Understand the Importance of Stakeholder Relations

“Remember that the field of CSR is new, it’s evolving. But also remember that social media and hyper transparency are becoming the new normal, which makes stakeholder engagement not just a priority, but essential.”

“The world is watching and CSR is about our behavior as a company. If you’re not asking people ‘how you are doing?’ and ‘how you can get better?’ then you’re flying blind.”

Originally written for and published on CSRwire’s Commentary section Talkback on August 16, 2012.

Corporate Social Responsibility at Target: Behind the Red Bullseye

07 Monday Jul 2014

Posted by Aman Singh in CSR, CSR reporting, CSRwire, ESG

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Business, Consumerism, Corporate Governance, CSR, CSR reporting, CSRwire, education, energy efficiency, environment, ESG, ESG goals, packaging, Stakeholder Engagement, supply chain, Sustainability, sustainability, sustainable design, target, transparency, water reduction goals

Target released four new corporate responsibility goals in 2011:

Increase sustainable seafood selection
Improve owned-brand packaging sustainability
Increase diabetes HbA1c testing compliance
Increase reading proficiency

Now, Target’s 2011 CSR Report offers pages of graphs measuring the Minneapolis-based retailer’s progress against these goals. While the graphs look promising and underscore the challenges of operating in a competitive market with multiple layers of stakeholders, I wanted to understand the context behind these goals and what the execution would look like.

I sat down with Tim Baer, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary with Target, for a conversation about the goals and how his team plans to demystify complicated supply chains and motivate its employees and customers toward healthy and sustainable choices.

Aman Singh: While the PDF of goals and progress gave me a sense of exactly that, i.e., progress, it didn’t give me a sense of Target’s mission/values. Can you elaborate?

Tim Baer: At Target, we’re committed to positively impacting the lives of our guests and team members. Since 1946, our legacy of giving and service has been reflected in a commitment that today totals more than $3 million a week to our communities.

And at the end of the day, by continuing to serve our team members and communities, we ensure our future success. As a result of our giving model, we benefit from being a workplace and shopping destination of choice for our team members and guests. Not only do our guests value our commitment to communities and giving, but our team members do as well.

To bring our vision of strong, healthy and safe communities to life — which we can’t do alone — we work with community, business and civic partners who inform and share in our approach. We know we can make a meaningful impact, so we set goals to guide our work in three focus areas — helping to put more U.S. children on the path to graduation, reducing our impact on the environment and helping Target team members live healthy, balanced lives.

Why is education such a big goal for Target?

Education, specifically K-3 literacy, is important to Target for three primary reasons. First, we believe that every child deserves the opportunity to reach his or her full potential. And, we’re compelled to do our part to address the education challenge in America, putting more kids on the path to high school graduation.

Second, based on guest surveys, we know that our guests care about education more than any other social issue, and we’re committed to giving to communities in a way that positively impacts our guests and their families.

Third, we know that reading proficiently by the end of third grade is a significant milestone on the path to graduation. This is the time when a child transitions from learning to read, to reading to learn. A child who cannot read proficiently by the end of third grade is four times more likely to drop out of high school when compared with a child who can.

Ultimately, education is critically important to the success of our children and our economy. By supporting education, we are investing in developing an educated workforce that is prepared for today’s and tomorrow’s challenging work environment. At Target, our team is our competitive advantage, and preparing future team members with a quality education today makes good business sense.

Your data shows that you were not able to achieve your water reduction goals? Can you give us a sense of the challenges and where improvements need to be made?

To recap the report, Target used 3.45 billion gallons of water, representing a 0.3 percent reduction in water use per square foot from our 2009 baseline. Although our absolute water use exceeded our initial baseline, we also increased our total real estate square footage, which led to a decrease in water use per square foot.

The most significant challenges we faced in 2011 were drought-like conditions in some of our mature markets like Texas, Minnesota and Iowa, where we have a relatively high concentration of stores requiring increased irrigation. This negative impact was modestly softened by our rollout of several water-saving initiatives, which we estimate will contribute a reduction of 1.4 percent annually starting this year.

A few examples of our water-saving initiatives include:

Expanded installation of smart irrigation controllers that irrigate based on real-time local weather data in lieu of set times,
Use of ultra-low flow urinals and water closets, and
Elimination of continuously running dipper wells for ice cream and coffee stations at Target Café and Starbucks locations in our stores.

We’re also in the process of installing real-time water submeters in a number of stores to pinpoint the quantity of water a typical store uses for various operations. This will help improve our evaluation of water-saving opportunities moving forward.

You have a goal of reducing owned-brand product packaging for at least 50 product designs by 2016. Is that aggressive enough?

While we’ve targeted 50 packaging designs, these changes will be implemented for a much larger number of items that use the same packaging.

We know environmental stewardship is important to Target guests, and our sustainable packaging designs will let them know that Target’s commitment to reducing our environmental impact begins before our products hit shelves.

Over the next five years, Target will be developing sustainable packaging designs that yield at least a 10 percent improvement in one of several attributes of our existing owned-brand packaging. We’ll do this in several ways, including reducing overall packaging, using more recycled or renewable content, and reducing product waste. We’ll also look to use more recyclable materials in our packaging, Sustainable Packaging at Target counting these improvements toward our goal only if the updated packaging is 100 percent recyclable.

The goals indicated regarding packaging are limited to your owned-brand products. Are there any plans to push your suppliers and CPG partners into more responsible, transparent and environmentally friendly actions?

We believe in leading by example and hope that by creating more sustainable packaging for our owned brands, we can inspire our suppliers, CPG partners and peers to implement more sustainable packages in their own products.

The report indicates strong progress toward empowering employees to be more health-conscious. Can you discuss some of the challenges behind the numbers?

For us, 2011 was a year of learning in regards to team member wellbeing.

We recognized goals specific to preventive service utilization rates were difficult to measure consistently and accurately, so we adopted HEDIS [National Committee for Quality Assurance’s Health Effectiveness Data and Information Set] measures. By doing so, we can support our wellbeing efforts by comparing our utilization rates to those of other employers or healthcare entities like medical groups or health plans.

The size and geographic distribution of the Target team member population reaches across 49 states, 1,700 stores, 37 distribution centers and nine domestic headquarters locations. We employ more than 365,000 team members and know they have varying degrees of health engagement, variable disease prevalence and differing perspectives on healthcare services. This is an opportunity for us to develop tailored programs that address these differences, more effectively reaching every team member, regardless of where and how they live and work.

Can you summarize the key highlights of the report?

All of Target’s corporate responsibility objectives ladder up to our larger goal of creating a brighter future for our team members, our communities and the world we live in. Target is here for good. Through all of these initiatives, we’re committed to positively impacting the lives of our guests and team members.

Additionally, Target’s 2011 Corporate Responsibility Report is the most transparent corporate responsibility report we’ve ever released. It represents the first time Target declared a GRI Application Level and obtained a GRI Application Level Check. [For more information, Target’s GRI Application Level/Check Statement from GRI were posted on www.Target.com/hereforgood on July 13, 2012.]

Why bother reporting on this set of internal goals? How do you measure the “success” of your CSR report?

Our commitment to our guest extends far beyond our stores, and we believe truly great service includes supporting the communities where we live and work. In business, Target collaborates and innovates to drive results. Key to that collaboration is transparency when it comes to measuring and reporting progress toward goals, allowing us to grow as a company.

Originally written for and published on CSRwire’s Commentary section Talkback on August 6, 2012.

Examining Humana’s 2011 CSR Report: Targeting Well-being, Increasing Focus on Supply Chain

07 Monday Jul 2014

Posted by Aman Singh in CSR, CSR reporting, CSRwire, ESG

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Business, CSR, CSR reporting, CSRwire, diversity, ESG, green initiatives, GRI, gri report, health, humana, kaboom!, Sustainability, sustainability

Humana recently released its 2010 and 2011 CSR report. What’s news about that?

For one, with this report, the health insurer became the first in its sector to follow GRI guidelines. Second, it lays down the foundation for upcoming efforts in building a sustainable supply chain and consciously partnering with NGOs and nonprofits in furthering well-being for all.

I sat down with Jim Turner, Humana’s Director for Media and Public Relations and Catherine McGlown, Humana’s CSR Lead to discuss the report — and what’s ahead for their teams.

How does Humana define CSR?

Turner: “Humana defines CSR as our dedication to making business decisions that reflect our commitment to improving the health and well-being of our members, our associates, the communities we serve, and our planet. Our CSR platform – Healthy People, Healthy Planet, Healthy Performance – represents that.”

What’s the significance of being the first company to issue a GRI report in the health insurance industry?

McGlown: “We’re excited about it, as you might expect. We won’t be surprised to see other insurers at least seriously consider following suit. As stakeholders demand increasing transparency and accountability, reporting with a recognized framework is one way our industry can continue to build trust with our members, associates, shareholders, regulators and the community at large.

“The publication of Humana’s 2010 & 2011 CSR Report using GRI guidelines (self-declared at a level C) shows that Humana is leading the health insurance industry in the larger trend of reporting out on environmental, social and governance data. CSR reporting is growing, both internationally and nationally. GRI estimates the number of North American reports with a GRI index increased by 35 percent between 2010 and 2011; we are proud to be a part of that growth.”

What metrics are discussed within the report?

Humana’s pledge to reduce building energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and annual energy expenses by 10 percent each, over the course of 2012, from a 2009 baseline.
Formation of Humana’s Network Resource Groups for African-American associates; Hispanic associates; caregivers; and gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender associates. Since the report publication, Humana has launched another group for military veterans.
Humana’s report also discusses the company’s plan to hire 1,000 or more veterans and/or their spouses for a variety of roles across the company, as part of the Humana Veterans Initiative. Humana has hired more than 400 military veterans and military spouses since the initiative began in August 2011. Military Times EDGE named Humana Military Healthcare Services as one of its 2012 “Best for Vets” employers. On this year’s list, Humana achieved the highest ranking of any health care company.

What have been some of the challenges of CSR reporting in a highly regulated industry?

Turner: “We’re used to being very careful about how we handle people’s health and well-being information. We have to be. This was no different as we compiled information and data for this year’s CSR Report. We wanted to be extra sensitive to how our associates and external stakeholders would view the report and how we frame sometimes-sensitive issues.”

Does Humana have community engagement initiatives only in the markets you do business?

McGlown: “Through our Medicare operations, Humana does business in all 50 U.S. states, so the answer is yes. That said, we certainly consider markets where we do business and where our associates live and work when evaluating community engagement initiatives, but those are not the only qualifying criteria. Humana’s dream is to help people achieve lifelong well-being – regardless of where they live. As Humana is now a national company, we’re working hard to become good corporate citizens in all of the communities where we do business.”

A few examples:

Humana has partnered with the nonprofit KaBOOM! to build multigenerational playgrounds across the country – with the most recent build in Marion, Iowa – they have built a total of 11.
The Humana Well-Being Tour is travelling the country for eight months, stopping in different communities and meeting people where they live to give them a fresh perspective on healthy living. This national mobile health initiative includes pedometer distribution, biometrics stations and virtual games focused on health.
If enrolled in a Humana health plan, Humana associates and their families can participate in an incentive-based program called HumanaVitality^SM. Rooted in science, this program encourages individuals to create a goals-based health plan and rewards individuals for healthy choices—such as losing weight, staying active and eating better—by awarding points redeemable for purchases. In addition to benefiting Humana associates, this program enables Humana to build the business case for workplace wellbeing and encourage other companies to invest in employee health.
Humana’s Signature Program Team Up 4 Health, located in Eastern Kentucky, uses the power of personal relationships to influence people’s behaviors towards better health and lifelong well-being. Its mission is to curb chronic diseases—such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity—which are among the most common, preventable and costly health problems in the United States. This two-year pilot is a partnership with Microclinic International, Citizen Effect and community partners.

How do you see the company’s commitment to community engagement helping Humana’s long-term sustenance?

McGlown: “Well-being is much like CSR in that it is a journey, not a destination. We prioritize walking alongside people in their journey, and one of the ways through which we can continue to drive wellbeing is through community engagement. Meeting people where they are and encouraging them to make changes in their lives that yield lifelong well-being (purpose, belonging, health and security) is a win-win.”

What CSR initiatives will Humana focus on in the next two to three years?

McGlown: “Humana will spend the next two to three years building upon the foundation we have set. One area of focus for Humana is its supply chain. Humana is identifying ways to deepen its sustainable procurement efforts, as follow-up to a supplier assessment conducted in 2011, as well as ways to increase its spend with diverse suppliers.”

Turner: “In terms of environmental work, in addition to our energy-savings targets, Humana is working on a green real estate project. For our owned facilities, we’re developing a scorecard to determine the highest-impact locations for green retrofits. For potential new properties, we’re integrating consideration of LEED potential into our RFPs and site searches.

“We have also made a multi-year commitment to continue our work with KaBOOM! Over the next three years, we will build more than 40 multi-generational playgrounds in high-need communities to encourage well-being through play.”

What do you hope to get out of your CSR report?

Turner: “The establishment of our formal CSR efforts began with both senior-leader support and organic associate activities – our CSR platform of Healthy People, Healthy Planet, Healthy Performance reflects who we are. Humana’s stakeholders – including our members, employees, and the communities in which we do business – expect a certain level of transparency from us¸ and we aimed to provide them with that through our CSR Report.”

McGlown: “This first GRI report was a tremendous learning experience. Going forward, we’re looking for ways to deepen our reporting, including possibly striving to report at the B- level in our next report.”

Originally written for and published on CSRwire’s Commentary section Talkback on June 28, 2012.

Bagels With the Tall Guy: In Conversation with Green Mountain Energy

07 Monday Jul 2014

Posted by Aman Singh in CSR, CSRwire

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

alternative energy, Brand Management, Business, carbon offsets, CEO Network, CSR, CSRwire, employee engagement, entrepreneurship, ghg emissions, green energy, green mountain energy, Leadership, Management, public policy, recycling, renewable energy, Sustainability, sustainability

Green Mountain Energy, founded in 1997, is the longest selling retailer of carbon offsets in the country with a lofty mission: To change our dependence on power generation from coal and nuclear energy to renewable sources.

With a clear environmental mission and a dedicated consumer base, why would a company like Green Mountain Energy [GME] bother publishing an annual sustainability report?

“The [sustainability] report gives us an opportunity to write about everything we are doing. When you build a company of people who are passionate about the environment, the report becomes a forum to talk about everything we are doing,” says former President Paul Thomas.

The day of our interview, Thomas was still President of the company he has led since 2000. Two days later, news of his stepping down was delivered to my inbox along with a quote:

“I am extraordinarily proud of what we have collectively accomplished at Green Mountain and know that the potential for driving meaningful change is nearly limitless if businesses, like ours, can put market forces to work to solve societal problems.”

Thomas is referring to the recent acquisition of GME by New Jersey-based NRG Energy.

Merging Two Cultures & Winning Over the Skeptics

How did the company overcome hesitance from employees, customers and investors alike about the acquisition?

“Our society is transforming as a whole from being oil-driven to something very different driven by renewable sources and technology. The question is how do we get from here to there as a society? NRG is a good example [of a company addressing] this dilemma. They are the largest investors in solar production in the country. Now, Green Mountain is a part of their initiative to make NRG a cleaner company – their activities are genuine and we fit well,” he explains.

What about shifting work cultures?

Thomas says the company has undergone several shifts since the 1990s. “We started with a lot of environmental enthusiasts with a low level of business skills. It would have been a lot of hot air if we didn’t drive value to customers. Today we are also a good sales organization, a customer-service driven company,” he says, transitioning from being an environmental company to a good business.

Sustainability Performance

But back to the 2011 sustainability report, which follows several other companies’ lead in shutting off downloadable PDFs in favor of an interactive all-you-can-consume website. The company has come a long way from its formation in the 1990s. According to the report, GME contributed to avoiding 4.5 billion pounds of CO2 emissions, which is “equivalent to not driving a car for six billion miles or planting 6.5 million trees.”

“Remember that in 1997, this was just an idea,” reminds Thomas. “We’ve also increased recycling and all our material now is made from 100% post-consumer recycled content,” he added.

GME also expanded its innovative Sun Club, which asks customers to pay an additional $5 a month to help the company invest in solar projects. The money donated is then distributed to fund solar projects nationwide in coordination with nonprofits. 2011 marked the biggest year yet in contributions.

But what is sustainability without employee engagement?

Transparency in Action: “Bagels with the Tall Guy”

GME encourages its employees to bike, bus or take the subway in its New York office and participants in 2011 doubled past years’ numbers, according to the report. The report also makes public GME’s paper and publishing standards as well as its contributions and partnerships with organizations like EarthShare.

Green Mountain Energy’s answer to town halls is what the staff quirkily call “Bagels with the Tall Guy.” Thomas explains:

“I’m 6’6” tall. My predecessor was bald so it used to be called “Bagels with the Bald Guy.” It is just an informal communication forum for employees to ask me anything that is on their mind. Nothing is off the table and the conversation is purposely unstructured.”

While all is fair game, Thomas admitted that not everyone attends every month. But what it does is allow “us to be transparent. I believe that employees are effective when they have more context of their job and how they are contributing. Their role makes more sense and there is less doubt about how they fit in and how they can make a difference,” he added.

Public Policy & Sustainability

With the Rio+20 Summit coming up, I asked Thomas what the government and public policy makers can do to help support the growth of businesses like GME.

Pointing to a fundamental disconnect, he said, “The public is ahead of policy makers because there is a fundamental misunderstanding between individuals who are concerned about the environmental and their willingness to make purchasing decisions.”

“In the last 10 years, we have seen a sea change in the public’s attitude. But policy makers have not caught up with that,” he continues, adding:

“Green Mountain can focus on market changes by aligning ourselves with the social and environmental benefits of our product. That’s a powerful combination. We’ve proven that green business works, that there is a market for us, and that we can drive a lot of societal benefit while providing good jobs and careers for individuals, and meaningful returns for investors.”

Thomas also cautioned activists and skeptics to keep in mind the regulatory barriers in the market for green energy. “Every state has its own approach ranging from Texas that is competitive and has an open market for electricity to states where the old monopolistic system is still there. We are not allowed to compete in those states!” he emphasized before adding, “We cannot sell green electricity without having permission to enter the states and compete first and foremost.”

A significant barrier but one that hasn’t stopped Green Mountain Energy from scaling the heights and pursuing its mission. His advice for aspiring social and environmental entrepreneurs? “Keep at it, we’ve done it and shown that green businesses can thrive. It’s possible.”

Originally written for and published on CSRwire’s Commentary section Talkback on June 1, 2011.

The True Value of CSR Reporting: In Conversation with Campbell Soup’s VP for CSR

07 Monday Jul 2014

Posted by Aman Singh in CSR, CSR reporting, CSRwire, ESG

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Business, Campbell Soup, CEO Network, community development, corporate governance, CSR, CSR reporting, CSRwire, Dave Stangis, denise morrison, employee engagement, Environment, ESG, Social Media, Stakeholder Engagement, Supply chain management, Sustainability, sustainability, Work culture

The soon-to-be-released report will mark Campbell Soup’s fourth CSR Report. This report comes amidst a CEO change – Denise Morrison took on the chief job at Campbell Soup last year joining a small group of women CEOs in the Fortune 500 – and a period of what Director of Diversity & Inclusion Kevin Carter calls a time of “deep introspection” for the company.

Carter’s note is well taken. With the economy sputtering and flailing, reports continue to suggest that consumer confidence and trust remain low. For a food manufacturer then, this means not only staying ahead of the curve of quickly changing taste preferences but also understanding its unique role in encouraging nutrition across an increasingly complex and fragmented consumer base.

And amid a tepid economy, where does the true value of CSR and sustainability reporting lie? Can these reports and the effort required to produce them extend beyond an exercise in sharing key metrics, the year’s highlights – and a few, incredibly sparse media mentions – to true learning experiences for companies to better their processes and make gains that help them and their communities become more sustainable?

The True Value of CSR Reporting

For VP of Public Affairs and Corporate Responsibility, Dave Stangis – his third report since taking the job at Campbell Soup – the true value of Campbell Soup’s reporting goes far beyond setting the right goals and reporting on the progress.

“The true potential of CSR reporting* is that while companies go through this chronological reporting effort once a year, the organization and business units are executing their strategies and working on metrics year-round. The process of reporting creates an opportunity to build a Campbell Soup Britannica or World Book to work off of and use as a record of the company’s progress,” he said in a recent interview.

“All year-long, we are collecting examples, building the narrative, monitoring our progress and continually evolving materiality assessments,” he continued. Often, great examples of progress emerge that would otherwise never rise to the spotlight in a multinational company.

“As you dig in, you find cross-functional teams working together on strategy, benchmarking, indicators, etc. There are, of course, always things to improve on but the stories and ideas that emerge from this heels dug in reporting exercise are incredibly useful in moving our company forward,” he said.

Connecting the Dots: Recognizing the True CSR Heroes

In recent weeks, CSRwire readers read from a number of top executives at Campbell Soup on their stories and contribution to the 2012 CSR report. Trish Zecca discussed the fine balance between nutrition and taste while Amanda Bauman discussed how the company is tackling hunger and obesity in its communities and Dr. Daniel Sonke gave us an in-depth account of the relationship between agriculture practices and corporate sustainability. Finally, D&I Director Kevin Carter offered his insights on how the company is prioritizing intercultural teams, moving diversity beyond compliance, and tentatively dipping its toes in social media.

For Stangis, these are the true heroes.

“These are the people who are behind the images and stories in the report. They are invested in the business and their work and there is a discernible amount of pride and work ethic that goes along with that,” he said.

“For our CSR Communications Manager Niki Kelley – creating this report is her life for six months and I’ve told her, she’s the one who knows more about the entire company than anyone else in the company.”

5 Questions for Campbell Soup’s VP for CSR

What is Stangis most proud of in the latest CSR report? “It’s the nuances that a lay reader won’t realize but that are critical to the progress we are making,” he said. To explain further, we decided to play five questions:

1. Whose Interested:

“We continue to evolve our understanding of our various audiences [for the CSR report]. We want to connect with our employees on the frontline as well as in the C-suite. We need to impact our neighbors and make the content relevant to our customers and consumers. Most readers are looking for quick snapshots and I want to validate, reinforce and build trust and credibility in that short timeframe.”

2. What’s New:

“We’ve really worked hard on strengthening the wellness and nutrition metrics from a product perspective…we’re not driving a health ultimatum, but we are offering more healthy choices for consumers. Readers that pay closer attention will notice a growing sophistication in our strategies and metrics across the board. This report also includes the first full description of our Healthy Communities Initiative that we’ve launched in Camden, NJ.”

3. What’s Often Hidden:

“We work hard to make sure nothing gets lost in the details, but there is a ton of content that most readers will miss on a casual glance. The CEO Letter can give the readers a sense of how Denise Morrison thinks and interacts with the CSR and sustainability strategy.”

“We’re bridging from an employee engagement (only) mindset to a performance culture that leverages engagement to drive better business results. This isn’t something that is immediately obvious to external readers but it’s a priority for us.”

4. What’s Measured Gets Managed:

“Last year we discussed our community programs but this year the report really talks about these in a strategic and measurable manner. We continue to advance our metric set from product conception to societal impact. We’ve mapped our production sites with the WBCSD Global Water Tool and as we’ve brought our Community and Foundation functions into tighter alignment with our CSR and Sustainability strategies, we are shifting from measuring activity to measuring outcomes.”

5. Uncharted Territory:

“The big news this year from a sustainability perspective is our traction on renewables. We’ve had smaller efforts in the past but in 2011 we went from dipping our toes in the water to flipping the switch on one of the largest solar installations in the country. This represents a cultural shift for the company. Large scale renewable projects just weren’t in our solution set and now we are evaluating new renewable opportunities across our plant network that reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and save money.”

For Campbell Soup, a global footprint means a holistic vision of sustainability that encompasses its products, employees, communities and supply chain.

And for Stangis, publishing an annual report is not only a testament to his team’s efforts but also a way to measure what’s not working. Having led CSR at Intel before joining Campbell Soup, Stangis is a veteran in the world of CSR reporting, and has seen firsthand the evolution of the sector.

“What comprehensive reporting does today is set up a process that continues to position the company in the long-term. This wasn’t the case when we started reporting. Now we’re anticipating issues and breaking down communication silos that are inherent in the company,” he explained.

Challenges Ahead: More Data, Clarity of Purpose

Any regrets? “We need to keep pushing ourselves for better data every year, especially for our international footprint. It’s only when you dig in that you realize how much better a fully integrated measurement and reporting system would be,” Stangis confessed.

The journey – as for most companies taking on the responsibility and challenge of reporting on their corporate social responsibility and sustainability efforts – is far from over.

And as a seasoned sustainability executive, Stangis understands the daunting task that lies ahead for Campbell Soup in a crowded market, evolving taste preferences and the continuous challenge of consumer education.

“We still have to plug people into what we are doing, the reason why we are doing it [and make it make sense],” he said, noting that it isn’t just the external stakeholders that need the dots to be continually connected for them.

“We have to do a better job at communicating the strategic intent and shareowner value delivered by a comprehensive CSR program. Our internal teams, our C-suite – it’s our job to help them understand the story across the board.”

Originally written for and published on CSRwire’s Commentary section Talkback on May 24, 2012

Missing Voices: Green Business Leaders Discuss Representation at Rio+20

07 Monday Jul 2014

Posted by Aman Singh in Capitalism 2.0, CSR, CSRwire, ESG

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

asbc, b lab, Capitalism 2.0, CEO Network, Chantal Line Carpentier, CSR, CSRwire, ESG, green business, indigenous people, joe sibilia, peter strugatz, rio20, social entrepreneurship, Sustainability, sustainability, united nations

Co-written with Martha Shaw

Nearly 100 sustainable business leaders crowded onto the 10^th floor of the UN Church Center in New York City on
May 1^st to join a conversation with Chantal Line Carpentier, Sustainable Development Officer and Major Groups Program Coordinator of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and other UN representatives.

The topic: To hear from the “missing voices” of over 200,000 entrepreneurs from organizations including the American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC), Social Venture Network, Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE), B Lab, CSRwire, Green America and ‘buy local’ green business networks.

The meeting was hosted by The Temple of Understanding, and organized by Martha Shaw, to explore ways that founders of socially and environmentally responsible ‘triple bottom line” businesses might bring their voices to Rio+20, and beyond.

“We Must Raise Our Voice Now”

ASBC’s David Levine started the conversation by stressing that the gathered entrepreneurs are conscious of their global counterparts who are also running businesses that presuppose green practices and help serve social needs while making money.

“Whether they are social enterprises, micro enterprises, women’s groups or development groups, they all carry the same sensibilities of a triple bottom line. They are finding a balance between profits, social and environmental goals,” he said. “This voice is missing in our country today because a monolithic voice led by multinationals dominates all dialogues.”

Levine ended by emphasizing that this is the opportunity for the entrepreneurs to market their leadership and present their pioneering work on a global stage as a way of creating shared value. “This voice is new and we must raise it,” he ended.

“Define Sustainable and Green Business”

Green Map System‘s Wendy Brawer picked up where Levine left by adding that until we define what “sustainable business” means, creating this coherent voice will be hard.

Jumping into the dialogue, CSRwire CEO Joe Sibilia made it clear that “any business that integrates the human condition into its operations, whether you call it humanity or spirituality, is sustainable. These entrepreneurs are using business to create a values-driven and sustainable world,” he said. “Financial gains cannot be the only objective. It’s that simple.”

Eco-preneurs at Rio+20

Temple of Understanding’s Grove Harris interjected by adding that it is “practices like the ones Joe is highlighting that need to be voiced at Rio+20. It is important to bring these issues to the table by showing business practices that manifest in social value.” She also added that traditionally, non-governmental organizations have not proven sophisticated enough to support our future and voices. “We need business to be there.”

More examples of mission-driven business enterprises solving many social and environmental problems, including the eradication of poverty, were offered, as was a comparison to the restraints of multinational corporations who are bound by law to act in the best interest of stockholder profits.

Though Sibilia, Harris, Brawer and B Lab’s Peter Strugatz offered several examples of supply chain relationships among green businesses and corporations going green, they also pointed out that many other models exist for ways the world can do business outside the restrictions of a corporation.

United Nations: Collaborate & Lead The Conversation

After hearing everyone out, Chantal Line Carpentier, the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Officer and Major Groups Program Coordinator, took the floor to urge the attendees to work with the UN in representing their issues at Rio+20.

She also emphasized clarifying ambiguous language about sustainability and suggested that the sector come to an agreement on what “private public partnerships mean” and “how you can help influence policy and regulatory frameworks.”

“Consider this as a strong call for leadership. There is a lot of talk about business doing more but how? Show us, offer best practices, define CSR, and align practices with the United Nations Global Compact guidelines,” she said.

Carpentier also recommended that the entrepreneurs make an effort to demystify the language around lifecycles, supply chain analysis and sustainability.

Finally, Tess Mateo, an advisor to the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), pointed out that the Women, and Indigenous People Major Groups would be good allies and recommended that we remain cognizant of working together with the other enterprises in promoting our voice on the global stage.

Originally written for and published on CSRwire’s Commentary sectionTalkback on May 2, 2012.

Sufficiently Ambitious or Room for Improvement?

New Blueprint Needed?

Internal Certification Process, Not a Sustainability Strategy

Share this:

Earthwards & GAIA: The Need For Tools

Getting a Lift From Earthwards

GAIA: Hidden Opportunity?

Creating Change

Share this:

Aman Singh: What are some of the key highlights of the 2012 Sustainability Report that you would want every CSRwire reader to know?

One of IKEA’s goals is to have at least 95 percent of coworkers, 95 percent of suppliers and 70 percent of consumers view IKEA as a company that takes social and environmental responsibility seriously. How’s that going?

That’s emblematic of a true lifecycle approach. With thousands of products and a growing footprint internationally [IKEA is in China and will soon debut its first store in India] there must be some challenges in balancing sustainability goals and growing scale?

How does reporting on these metrics help? Whose reading the report?

Share this:

Human Rights & Supply Chain

Challenges of Setting CSR Goals…

…And Implementing CSR Programs

Disclosure: Led by Demand for Transparency

CSR: Business Opportunity?

CSR Reporting: The Ultimate Reward

Share this:

Changing Business from the Inside Out: A Treehugger’s Guide to Working in Corporations

Should Companies Create CSR Departments?

Preparing for a Career in CSR

Apple, Gap & Nike: Supply Chain Crucial Area for CSR Jobseekers

Running a Data-Driven Program: Leading Through Influence

1. A Lifelong Learner

2. Able to Lead & Influence Without Being the Decision Maker

3. Able to Communicate Well

4. Social Media Savvy

5. Able to Understand the Importance of Stakeholder Relations

Share this:

Aman Singh: While the PDF of goals and progress gave me a sense of exactly that, i.e., progress, it didn’t give me a sense of Target’s mission/values. Can you elaborate?

Why is education such a big goal for Target?

Your data shows that you were not able to achieve your water reduction goals? Can you give us a sense of the challenges and where improvements need to be made?

You have a goal of reducing owned-brand product packaging for at least 50 product designs by 2016. Is that aggressive enough?

The goals indicated regarding packaging are limited to your owned-brand products. Are there any plans to push your suppliers and CPG partners into more responsible, transparent and environmentally friendly actions?

The report indicates strong progress toward empowering employees to be more health-conscious. Can you discuss some of the challenges behind the numbers?

Can you summarize the key highlights of the report?

Why bother reporting on this set of internal goals? How do you measure the “success” of your CSR report?

Originally written for and published on CSRwire’s Commentary section Talkback on August 6, 2012.

Share this:

How does Humana define CSR?

What’s the significance of being the first company to issue a GRI report in the health insurance industry?

What metrics are discussed within the report?

What have been some of the challenges of CSR reporting in a highly regulated industry?

Does Humana have community engagement initiatives only in the markets you do business?

How do you see the company’s commitment to community engagement helping Humana’s long-term sustenance?

What CSR initiatives will Humana focus on in the next two to three years?

What do you hope to get out of your CSR report?

Share this:

Merging Two Cultures & Winning Over the Skeptics

Sustainability Performance

Transparency in Action: “Bagels with the Tall Guy”

Public Policy & Sustainability

Share this:

The True Value of CSR Reporting

Connecting the Dots: Recognizing the True CSR Heroes

5 Questions for Campbell Soup’s VP for CSR

1. Whose Interested:

2. What’s New:

3. What’s Often Hidden:

4. What’s Measured Gets Managed:

5. Uncharted Territory:

Challenges Ahead: More Data, Clarity of Purpose

Share this:

“We Must Raise Our Voice Now”

“Define Sustainable and Green Business”

Eco-preneurs at Rio+20

United Nations: Collaborate & Lead The Conversation

Share this: