Integrate Sustainable Development Goals into Your Business Strategy

Business continues to move in a direction where it is increasingly important to not only think about economic growth and shareholders, but also the impact your organization makes on society.  Miss that, and you may not like the impact on your economic growth and shareholder value!

Organizations of all types are facing increasing expectations that they will not only create value for themselves but that they will also create social value and be effective environmental stewards in the process.  This expectation, and the potential negative impacts for not meeting it, permeates businesses and industries worldwide, and is growing stronger.

Business success without creating social value and being an effective environmental steward isn’t impossible, but it is getting more difficult all the time

Part of this movement to promote positive change focuses on sustainable development. In September 2015, the United Nations unanimously passed the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which became the de-facto global development framework and the backbone of the 2030 Agenda being adopted by countries, organizations and industries worldwide.

The SDGs outline how to achieve the World We Want and include: 

1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts*
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

These goals were developed by leaders from all sectors, including business and set out the framework for creating the World We Want.  They apply to every country and were supported by every country.  Adopted in 2015 they are gaining momentum and are impacting planning and strategies for businesses, governments and organizations worldwide.

These SDGs provide a framework that gives organizations the opportunity to become more strategic in creating social value and business value. They work well as a guide for businesses to follow — an overview to ensure there is focus on areas of importance that align with greater global goals.

Integrating SDGs needs to be viewed as a business opportunity — not a setback. Those organizations that approach these goals in such a way will act as leaders in paving the way to how modern business is handled. They will join a world where business meets society and where business value creation also creates positive social impacts and is founded on responsible environemntal stewardship

Those businesses and organizations that learn to embrace this new reality and use the SDGs to create alignment between profit, planet and people will find new opportunities emerging and improve the likelihood of long term sustainable competitive advantage.

But, it isn’t a slamdunk.  This transition can be intimidating, overwhelming and, often confusing.

Because of this, we have created a brand new program to help you integrate the SDGs into your business strategy. The program is designed to be practical and pragmatic, and will bring together businesses of different sectors to help explore strategies surrounding these topics.

Through interactive lectures, modules, and hands-on case studies, participants will come together to look at how businesses can use the SDGs as a way to help drive more business and social value at the same time. Those who complete the program will leave ready and eager to make change and put what they’ve learned into practise.

Register now for our certified masterclass on Integrating SDGs Into Business Strategy and Sustainability Reporting and Communication, taking place in Accra, Ghana from March 19-23, 2018.

And if you would like to speak to me about how a value-centric strategic approach to CSR can help your government or business leverage social capital to deliver more value, send me an email at wayne@csrtraininginstitute.com.

Organizations Risk Losing Financing by Ignoring Corporate Social Responsibility

The push for companies to include corporate social responsibility in their business strategy does not come only from consumers — it comes from investors as well.

This became even more apparent last week as The New York Times reported that Laurence D. Fink, CEO of multinational investment management corporation BlackRock, sent letters to some of the world’s largest public companies demanding they contribute to society or lose investment support. 

In a draft of the letter, Fink writes, “to prosper over time, every company must not only deliver financial performance, but also show how it makes a positive contribution to society.”

The business aspect of a company’s corporate social responsibility is something that my team at CSR Training Institute and I have been explaining to our clients for a number of years. But when the CEO of the largest money-management firm in the world informs companies that they need to do more, we are hopeful it will have a large impact and, ultimately, a trickle-down effect on small-to-medium sized companies as well.

After reading commentary that suggests BlackRock has caught the ‘do-gooderism’ bug, it is important to note that this move from Fink is all about smart business strategy. The reality is businesses are under increasing expectation from markets, consumers, investors, employees, regulators, and governments.

There is an expectation that businesses engage with and contribute to society and be an effective environmental steward at the same time as they are making profit and creating shareholder value.

It is also clear that Fink is not interested in seeing ‘social wash’ or all talk and no action from these companies. It will take considerable time, planning and economic investment to ensure these actions are not written off as marketing gimmicks, which are often ridiculed by consumers and do more harm than good.

That is where we come in at CSR Training Institute. We recognize the pressures companies are under, and we work to develop innovative ways that they can serve both shareholders and society at the same time, aligning shareholder value with social impact and environmental responsibility

We recognize that it can seem overwhelming.  Increasing demands for improved business performance and now you have to create social good too.  We help you cut through the confusion to align business, social and environmental performance.

If you would like to speak to me about how a value-centric strategic approach to CSR can help your business or organization leverage social capital to deliver more value, send me an email at wayne@csrtraininginstitute.com.

Sustainable value creation must include business, society and the environment

The intersection between business, society and environment is where smart CSR works to create value for all stakeholders.

It’s all about aligning business, social and environmental interests. At first blush it may seem like there would be little place for commonality. Over time we’ve come to accept that competing interests have ruled out cooperation.

But what we’ve actually seen is that value - however it’s defined - is important to everyone.
Our world is not as silo’d as you might think. We all work (business), live in communities (society) and expect our environment to be preserved. So there is actually a lot more commonality than one would expect to find.

It’s important that businesses evolve, and can be rewarding too. Stakeholders or all types, shareholders, governments and others are pushing, pulling and shoving business to engage on social issues and environmental stewardship.

 Businesses that get this right can create competitive advantage and prosper. The role of government is also evolving as it bridges the gaps between business and society.

Our approach to CSR is strategic and value-centric. It is all about creating value and driving efficiency in that process by identifying areas where the outcomes work for all stakeholders and result in positive net outcomes for everyone.

Strategic, value-centric CSR is far from the charity and philanthropy that many have in mind when they hear the word. It is all about strengthening business value and, simultaneously, creating positive social and community impacts and efficient environmental stewardship.

Really, it’s no different if you’re trying to drive efficiency in your operations, in your financing structure, in your engineering, in your human resources - it’s all about efficiency. Successful businesses are efficient in creating value.

 This principle should carry into your CSR and social engagement focus as well. Efficiencies drive value. But there is a misconception that all efficiencies are driven by cuts, when it may actually be strategic investments that lead to further growth and sustainable prosperity.

Our job is to shift the mindset so the relationship between business and society is not seen as one of competing interests. We find creative ways to deliver value for both in a way that also preserves the environment. It isn’t about taking from business and giving to society, it’s finding a way to make more for both.

Efficiency, value and sustainability is the path forward and we’re well positioned to deliver the programs to deliver on all three.

 If you’d like to speak to Wayne Dunn about how a value-centric strategic approach to CSR can help your government or business leverage social capital to deliver more value you can send him an email at wayne@csrtraininginstitute.com.

Natural CSR Partnerships - Unnatural partners

Multi-Sector CSR Partnerships:  Industry, NGO, Development Agency collaboration on development

Multi-sector CSR partnerships can drive organizational successes and value creation.  Yet why do so many fail to start or start and fail?

Natural Partnerships – Unnatural Partners.  Business, NGOs and development agencies might have natural partnership opportunities but organizational history and the often conflicting perspectives of internal and external stakeholders can make these partnerships hard to realize.  Far too often they start and fail, or even fail to start.

The private sector is playing an increasingly important role in development.  Companies from all sectors, including especially the extractive and fast-moving consumer goods sectors, are investing in development initiatives in areas such as education, health, poverty alleviation and livelihoods, environment, gender equality and overall development partnerships.

These businesses strive to positively impact these areas at the community, local and national levels, recognizing that doing so is good for their business in many ways (or else why would they do it) and also good for the communities and countries in which they work.

The impact areas of these private sector social responsibility investments closely maps the impact areas outlined in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and anticipated impact areas of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The MDGs and SDGs serve to guide the development activities of the member countries of the United Nations and the vast majority of development NGOs and organizations.  Every member country approved the MDGs at a special Millennium Session of the United Nations.  Official Development Agencies (ODA), national governments, multi-lateral and international organizations and NGOs focus development efforts on MDG/SDG focus areas such as education, health, poverty alleviation and livelihoods, environment and gender equality

While the various private, public and civil society organizations noted above approach development with a focus on common areas and themes, they often bring unique skills, experience and capacities to the work.  Coupled with the natural diversity of their organizations this should/could add a lot of value to development efforts.  The synergies seem natural. 

Chasms often separate natural development partners

They seem like natural partnerships

In many cases this focus on common themes and areas appear complimentary and synergistic, at first glance, would seem to naturally invite partnerships and collaboration and the various sectors (e.g., ODA agencies, private sector companies, NGOs, etc.) even have stated goals of collaborating with each other in support of their development efforts. 

Simple logic would suggest that collaboration would result in efficiencies and more and better development impact per dollar spent or effort expended for all parties.

That government, NGOs and industry would see a more and better impact for their spending and their efforts.

Yet, the reality is that, while there are notable exceptions, this collaboration is not easy to achieve. 

Natural Partnerships are too often held back by seemingly unnatural partners

Whether on an individual project level or a strategic organizational level these natural partnership opportunities too often do not result in effective partnerships.  Value is lost for the organizations involved but the real price is paid by their community partners who do not receive the full impact that they could have received had these natural partners found an effective way to collaborate.

Value is lost by communities and all stakeholders when 

natural partners can't bridge the chasm that separates them

The good news is that progress is being made.  There is increasing collaboration amongst business, NGOs and development agencies. 

ODA Agencies such as Germany’s GIZ, America’s USAID, Canada’s DFATD (formerly CIDA) and many others are developing and implementing programs that enable co-investing in development with private sector partners.

NGOs such as Care, World Vision, WUSC, Cordaid and many others are actively working to find productive ways of partnering with industry on CSR and development programs.

Companies such as Golden Star, Kosmos, Tullow, Newmont, Kinross, IAMGold and many others are working with NGOs and development agencies.

There are some great examples of success – for example see From Pariah to Exemplar: CSR & Stakeholder Engagement in Six Best Practices (here) for an analysis of a 2001 CIDA, Placer Dome, World Bank and various NGO partnership that was credited with ‘changing the social face of the South African mining industry’.

An early success and yet, the progress is, in my opinion, too slow. 

Development Agencies often have approval and operational criteria that is slow, cumbersome and makes the cost of the partnership way too high. 

NGOs too often struggle with fully embracing the value of partnering with the private sector and communicating that value effectively to their internal and external stakeholders, including especially individual and organizational donors.

Businesses struggle to accept and adapt to the execution speed, launch processes and reporting requirements of ODA agencies and NGO partners.

Much more can be done, and should be done.

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The CSR Training Institute is interested to learn more about the successes and failures of Multi-sector CSR partnerships in the space where business meets society.

If you have a case study that you’d like to share please contact us (info@csrtraininginstitute.com) and we may be able to work with you to develop and publish your case study.