Helping business toserve shareholders AND society

SIMULTANEOUSLY

Let’s be honest:

Internal CSR Communication Sucks!

-by Wayne Dunn

CSR Mumbley Gook communications need to stop. Until us CSR Professionals get better at internal communications and engagement we will stay in an irrelevant sandbox away from core business activities and decisions.

CEOs, because of the broad and diverse constituents they deal with, generally get the relevance of CSR.

Too often the Finance, Operations, Engineering, Production and other functions don’t get it. They may make the right noises (because it is expected of them) but at a fundamental level they don’t get the core relevance of CSR to their role and their career.

Part of the reason they don’t get it is because the CSR Pros (myself included) can’t or won’t spend the time making focused internal business cases.

The “What’s in it for me?” case must be developed and communicated across the entire organization.

Let’s be honest:Internal CSR Communication Sucks!

It is the CSR team’s responsibility to

help EVERY leader and their team understand the

relevance of CSR for their role and work.

Let’s be honest: Internal CSR Communication Sucks!

Page 02

There is a strong What’s in it for me? for Finance, Operations, Engineering, Production, R & D and other areas of the business. If they don’t know it then it is up to the CSR team to develop and communicate it so they can hear it.

Until they do, CSR will remain an outsider to the inside of the business.

CSR is important for Shareholders AND for all functions and divisions inside a company. It is CSR’s responsibility to help those functions and divisions to understand why. If they don’t, then the CSR team has failed.

If CSR is on the outside looking in at company

operations then the CSR team has to take the lead to change that. By making it clearly understood

how and why CSR is directly relevant to the organization’s

Departments and Units, Leaders and Workers.

Page 03

Some thoughts on how to do this are in Engaging Internal Stakeholders in our CSR Knowledge Centre. But don’t expect all the answers there. They aren’t.

Many of the answers are in your experience and insights. Look there for the stories and the business case that can help your colleagues to understand the importance of CSR for all functions and departments in your organization.

Remember, if you are not creating value with CSR then you will have a tough time to communicate value. But, when you do create value with CSR, be sure to communicate it.

Not communicate in a Socialwash sort of way, but it a way that can be heard and accepted.

No jargon. Plain language. If you can’t communicate it in plain language you probably don’t understand the value proposition clearly. Go back and work on it until you do.

Let’s be honest: Internal CSR Communication Sucks!

Page 04

When we get the internal CSR communications right not only will our work be easier and our external CSR projects work better and have more societal impact. Our company and our shareholders will capture more value too.

When business value is aligned with societal value and everyone clearly understands the alignment there is a powerful force at work

Let’s be honest: Internal CSR Communication Sucks!

There is a simple answer to What’s in it for me. Keep working until you find it.

When we can clearly communicate the value to internal constituencies we can move forward in alignment, with

CSR as a core part of the overall business value creation team

Below are some recent articles and publications on Corporate Social Responsibility and stakeholder engagement that you may find interesting.

CSR SWOT discover risk, value and more

Eleven strategiesfor maximizing value from CSR

CSR in Budget Crunch Times12 strategies for success

Multi-sector CSR PartnershipsNatural Partnerships – Unnatu-ral Partners

From Pariah to ExemplarApplying the 6 best practices

Engaging Internal StakeholdersSeven proven strategies

CSR CommunicationsEleven mistakes to avoid

Stakeholder EngagementSix best practices

Creating a CSR Programin eight self-serving steps

CSR Metrics:You can’t measure temperature with a speedometer

Stakeholder EngagementFive common mistakes

CSR Value ContinuumA unique perspective on Shared Value

Smarter CSR Budgets8 steps to connect budget to value

28 Expert tipsOn stakeholder engagement

Don’t be an Altruistic AngelBe transparent about what’s in it for you

13 Mistakes that prevent & destroyMulti-sector CSR partnerships

NHL Sustainability ReportGood but incomplete.

Four Strategies forLocal Content Success

Professor Dunn brings a practical and realistic approach to CSR, blending theory and practice to develop realistic models and approaches to address real-world challenges

Dr. Ellis ArmstrongFormer CFO, BP Exploration

…coherent, thoughtful, stimulating and insightful… state of the art! The network of participants from the public, private and civil society sectors was incredible, some of the leading experts in the field.  

Kojo Busia, Ph. D.Snr. Mineral Sector Governance AdvisorUnited Nations Economic Commission for Africa/UNECA

…pragmatic blend of theory and practice, very applicable to helping organizations meet real-world challenges.

Frank McShaneManager, Corporate Responsibility Policy and Ethics, Talisman Energy

… readily available to provide support to organizations like Amref that are seeking partnerships, and looking to bring about positive change in a collaborative and concrete way. Wayne and the CSR Training Institute helped us to identify and connect with potential partners and are always available. The training, the expertise, the network and the overall support are world-class.

Onome AkoDirector of Strategic Partnerships, Amref Health Africa

“The program enhanced the CSR knowledge and strategic skills of our Kosmos Energy Ghana team, and offered the participants a platform for networking with professionals from other organizations across Africa and Ghana.” 

Reg ManhasSr VP Kosmos Energy

Very much helpful Wayne; some of the tips and questions you gave will be an extremely helpful guide in the process of developing a CSR Strategy for my company.

Emmanuel AubynnRegional Social Responsibility Manager, Newmont Africa

The CSR Program was excellent. A key aspect of my work is to encourage and support private sector development that contributes to Ghana’s overall socio-economic growth. The learning that I and my staff take away from attending this program will help us immensely with this responsibility. I highly recommend this program.

Hon. Rashid Pelpuo (MP)Minister of State for Private Sector Development and Public Private Partnerships (Ghana)

New and exciting insights into the theory and practice of CSR… great faculty and participants, very diversified. An excellent learning experience, very practical and useful. I’m very happy I was able to participate in it.

Hon InusahFuseini (MP)Minister of Lands and Natural Resources (Ghana)

WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT OUR WORK

Should Business Serve

Helping business to serve society andshareholders, SIMULTANEOUSLY.

Should Business Serve

WAYNE DUNN, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER

SHAREHOLDERS?

SOCIETY?IT SHOULD SERVE BOTH.

Wayne Dunn is President & Founder of the CSR Training Institute and Professor of Practice in CSR at McGill. He’s a Stanford Sloan Fellow with a M.Sc. in Management from Stanford Business School.

He is a veteran of 20+ years of award winning global CSR and sustainability work spanning the globe and covering many industries and sectors including extensive work with Indigenous Peoples in Canada and globally. His work has won major international awards

and has been used extensively as ‘best-practice’ by industry and academia.

He’s also worked oil rigs, prospecting, diamond drilling, logging, commercial fishing, heavy equipment operator, truck driver and underwater logging, done a couple of start-ups and too many other things to mention.

Wayne’s career includes big successes, and spectacular failures. He hopes he’s learned equally from both.

www.csrtraininginstitute.com