Transcript But be warned:

ISO 26000
Richard Welford
CSR Asia
www.csr-asia.com
© CSR Asia 2011
ISO26000:
Now we know what CSR is not
It is not about:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Giving away money:
Philanthropy is
mentioned once
Planting a few trees
PR photo opportunities
Feeling good and being
a caring organization
But be warned:
• It is a standard but it is for
guidance only
• It is not currently certifiable
• It is not only for businesses
• It is an ongoing process and
not a ‘quick fix’
• Use the standard to guide your
material activities and for
communications
• You cannot use ISO26000
without engaging your
stakeholders
The rationale for social responsibility
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Brand and reputation
Attract and maintain employees,
customers, clients
Employee commitment, morale
productivity
Interest from investors and the
financial community
Relationships with companies,
government, the media,
suppliers, peers, customers,
communities
= Stakeholders!
The context
• Emphasis on sustainable development
• A participative, open, stakeholder inclusive
process leading to a standard agreed by over
90 countries
• Representation from developed and
developing countries, civil society
organizations, labour organizations,
government and business
• Global recognition and support
• The ISO brand
• The most definitive and wide-ranging
definition of social responsibility yet
published
• A challenging standard that widens traditional
definitions of responsibility
Seven principles of
Social responsibility
Recognizing social
responsibility
Accountability
Seven core
subjects
Transparency
Human
rights
Stakeholder identification
and engagement
Organizational
governance
Labour
practices
The
environment
Fair
operating
practices
Consumer
issues
Community
Involvement &
development
Ethical behaviour
Related actions and expectations (issues)
Respect for
stakeholder
interests
Integrating social
responsibility into
the organization
Relationship of the
organization’s
characteristics to social
responsibility
Understanding the
social responsibility of
the organization
Respect for the
rule of law
Respect for
international norms
of behaviour
Respect for human
rights
Voluntary initiatives on
social responsibility
Reviewing and improving the
organisation’s actions and
practices related to social
responsibility
Practices for
integrating social
responsibility
throughout the
organization
Communication on
social responsibility
Enhancing credibility
regarding social
responsibility
Principles: Accountability
• Accountability for its impacts on society and the
environment
• The organization should accept and encourage
scrutiny
• Accountability imposes an obligation to be
answerable to stakeholders
Principles: Transparency
• An organization should be transparent in its
decisions and activities that impact on
society and the environment
• Clear, accurate and complete disclosure of
policies, decision-making and activities
Principles: Ethical behaviour
•
•
An organization should behave ethically at all
times based on principles of honesty, equity and
integrity
The organization should promote ethical conduct
by:
–
–
–
–
–
developing governance structures that promote ethical
conduct
identifying, adopting and applying its own standards of
ethical behaviour
encouraging and promoting good standards of ethical
behaviour
establishing oversight mechanisms
establishing mechanisms for reporting of violations
Principles: Respect for
stakeholder interests
•
•
An organization should respect, consider and
respond to the interests of its stakeholders
The organization should:
– Identify its stakeholders
– Respond to the needs of its stakeholders
– Recognize the legal rights and legitimate
interests of stakeholders
– Consider the views of stakeholders that may
be affected by a decision even if they have no
formal role in the governance of the
organization
Principles: Respect for
the rule of law
• An organization should accept that
respect for the rule of law is
mandatory
• The organization should:
– comply with legal and regulatory
requirements
– ensure that is relationships and activities
fall within the intended and relevant legal
framework
– remain informed of legal obligations
– periodically review compliance
Principles: Respect for
international norms of behaviour
• In countries where national law or its
implementation does not provide for
minimum environmental or social
safeguards, an organization should
strive to respect international norms of
behaviour
• In situations of conflict with international
norms of behaviour, and where not
following these norms would have
significant consequences, an
organization should, as feasible and
appropriate, review the nature of its
activities and relationships within that
jurisdiction
Principles: Respect for
human rights
• An organization should respect
human rights and recognize their
importance and their universality
• Organizations should be careful not to
be complicit in human rights abuses
Recognizing core subjects
Human rights
Materiality:
Community
involvement
and
development
Labour
practices
Organizational
governance
Assess significance of
impacts
Fair
operating
practices
The
environment
Consumer
issues
Identification of
relevant issues
Consider impacts on
stakeholders and their
concerns
Consider ‘sphere of
influence’
Broadening the boundaries of responsibility?
Community involvement and development issues
1. Community involvement and engagement
2. Education and culture
3. Employment creation and skills
development
4. Technology development and access to
appropriate technology
5. Wealth and income creation, poverty
alleviation
6. Community and public health
7. Social investment (including philanthropy)
Recognizing core subject areas:
Materiality matrix and communications
Importance to stakeholder
Crucial
Little
importance
Policy clarified in
communications
Strategic focus:
Including performance indicators
and measurement
Not considered
Impacts clarified in
communications
Relevance/importance to business
Crucial
Consider your ‘sphere of influence’
Core business activities
Value
chains
Community
interaction
Public
policy &
advocacy
Communication on social responsibility
The role of communications in social
responsibility
Demonstrate accountability and
transparency
Disclosure of information relating to
social responsibility
Demonstrating how the organization
meets it commitments
Raising awareness inside and
outside the organization
Providing information about
significant impacts
Characteristics of information relating
to social responsibility
Understandable
Responsive
Accurate
Balanced
Timely
Helping to engage stakeholders
Enhancing the organization’s
reputation
Available
What are leading companies already doing?
• Understanding the expectations of
ISO26000
• Training and capacity building, including all
different functions, across the organization
• Assessing their own CSR strategies against
ISO26000 Principles and Core Subject
Areas
• Gap analysis: Strengths and weaknesses
• Determining materiality of issues based on
stakeholder priorities
• Aligning policies and reporting with
ISO26000
Strategic social responsibility
Capacity building (Training)
Capacity building
(Training)
Principles
checklist
Communications
(Reporting)
Assessment
Issues
evaluation
Validation
Materiality check
(Materiality matrix)
Strategy
Stakeholder
Review Panel
Stakeholder
engagement
Strengths
Gaps
Risks
Opportunities
The future:
• We now have a challenging, but workable
definition of social responsibility with
global credibility – this will help you
define your responsibilities
• Greater links with communities and the
development agenda
• Links between ISO26000, transparency
and new modes of reporting and
communications
• Embedding stakeholders into governance
structures
• Your social responsibility activities will be
judged against ISO26000
Thank you!
Richard Welford
[email protected]
www.csr-asia.com
© CSR Asia 2011