CSR Reporting – Positive outcomes and surprises galore
31/01/2012
Reporting CSR activities can bring about several positive results and can also pleasantly surprise the management at times. It helps employees’ understanding in an organisation of its commitment to sustainability. It is also is also an indicator of how well an organisation is doing internally.
In this second article of the three artcile series, LRQA’s Richard Gunawan, VP for business and sustainability development Asia interviewed the CSR Manager of a leading Asian Hotel chain to discuss the positive benefits of CSR reporting and the surprises he experienced during the data collection process.
LRQA: Is there any benefit from reporting your CSR activities?
CSR Manager:
We believe reporting CSR activities can bring out several positive results and can also pleasantly surprise the management at times!
Internally, this has helped our employees’ understanding of our group’s commitment to sustainability and that CSR reporting is a mechanism to demonstrate the same. The report is also an indicator of how well we are doing internally. For instance, if the goal is to reduce electricity and water consumption and we are unable to achieve the targets, it means that the efficiency of the operation needs to be reviewed internally.
By reporting the activities correctly, staff share the responsibility and the accountability of the outcome.
After the reporting process we were approached by a few Sustainable Investment Funds that are seeking more information on the group’s CSR activities. We were both delighted and pleasantly surprised with this enquiry. It simply means that our CSR report generated significant interest in the financial community.
In terms of supply chain management, this reporting process has helped the group to develop a better relationship with local suppliers. In order to reduce waste, we encourage the fresh juice producers in our supply chain to create a re-usable packaging that is more durable and environmentally friendly. This kind of packaging that can be washed and reused was pioneered by our hotel, but now fresh juice producers have expanded its usage to other hotels too.
This type of innovation has resulted into a stronger and a positive image for our brand within the hotel industry. We aim to lead by example and will demonstrate best practice in the industry.
Last but not the least, our analysis of the Health and Safety issues generated a lot of questions, particularly as to why there were significant variations from one location to another. In one location there seemed to be a relationship between absenteeism and relatively higher working hours. Management effort was then to concentrate on the issue with a view to reducing absenteeism and improving working conditions.
The proper reporting of CSR activities can have numerous positive benefits. Good verifiers help us to analyse this data to improve our business performance and to reduce our business risks.