The importance of communication in third party ratings
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Focus on Morgan Sindall Group
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The communications gap
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Sustainability, a notion without border?
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“ We know that the profitable growth of
our company depends on the economic, environmental, and social sustainability of our communities across the world. And we know it is in our best interests to contribute to the sustainability of those communities. Travis Engen CEO, Alcan
” Communicating Sustainability
IMS AND HALCROW COLLABORATE ON ENGAGEMENT
IMS has recently collaborated with planning and design specialists Halcrow to provide a comprehensive online and offline stakeholder engagement programme for DEFRA focused on coastal erosion. The project, which was won partly on the strength of the online offering, uses the IMS StakeholderTALK toolkit to provide an innovative online ‘engagement hub’ that acts as the focal point for the consultation process. The hub consists of a resource library, multimedia learning tools, discussion forums, interactive surveys and a news feed which, combined, engages and consults the various stakeholder groups. It provides easily digestible information on coastal change (a complex
issue) to encourage learning, then encourages a two way dialogue between the stakeholders and the facilitators in order to collect opinions on how best to deal with coastal issues affecting them. Face-to-face consultation meetings, targeting specific groups such as homeowners, businesses and utility providers, are being organised and facilitated by Halcrow with the support of an IMS stakeholder engagement specialist. Key themes and concepts
emerging from the face-to-face meetings are being honed and tested using the online tools. Additionally, engagement is also being performed online – to target those groups that have been unable to attend face-toface sessions. Due to the success of the project, IMS and Halcrow are currently developing further opportunities to provide innovative engagement using their unique combination of offline and online skillsets.
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IMS CONSULTING
EARLY BIRD CATCHES THE WORM
SUSTAINABILITY IN THE CONCRETE INDUSTRY The Concrete Centre, an organisation run by the Mineral Products Association, is using StakeholderTALK Survey! to consult stakeholders on sustainability issues within the concrete industry. IMS has produced an online, interactive survey containing questions around sustainability which is currently being used to consult multiple stakeholder groups on what key steps they think the industry should be taking.
All businesses have the responsibility to ensure their operations don’t have a negative impact on the environment. However, sustainable business practice can also help an organisation reduce their costs and create competitive advantage – key factors that can make or break a business in today’s economic climate.
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The Sustainable Business Breakfast (SBB) aims to bring together key business people and NGO members who are responsible for developing sustainable business practice in Bristol and the wider area. An IMS Consulting initiative, in collaboration with the RSA, the SBB aims to effect change by starting innovative thought processes and networking of influential business people through the coverage of a broad range of topics relevant to sustainability issues. It provides a platform for education, discussion and the sharing of best practice in Bristol. Held on the first Tuesday of every month, the SBB meetings are a chance for organisations to: n Learn more about the three aspects of sustainability – social, environmental and economic – through key note speeches from the commercial, academic and governmental worlds n Experience best practice examples of successful sustainable business in Bristol n Take action on sustainability issues in the region – this is more than just a talking shop n Network with other organisations Guest speakers have included Peaches Golding OBE, Regional Director of Business in the Community; Graham Watson, MEP for the South West of England and Gibraltar; and Merlin Hyman, Chief Executive of Regen SW.
www.sustainablebreakfast.org
The SBB is an excellent opportunity to meet with a diverse mix of people, providing me with a lateral view of sustainability by understanding how those in various industries approach and tackle the key issues. It is a very well facilitated event at a congenial venue, encouraging a high quality of cross-sectoral discussion. Kevin Hibbs
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I have thoroughly enjoyed the SBB events. The presentations are stimulating and topical and the breakout sessions produce good debate and are an opportunity to meet some of the leading individuals and firms working in the green and clean technology sector. Paul Hardman Partner, Gregg Latchams LLP
The
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IMS PEOPLE Laura Da Silva has recently joined IMS Consulting as Sustainability Communication Specialist. Laura has a masters degree in International Business from the Sorbonne in Paris and has business experience in France, Germany, South Africa and the UK. Prior to joining IMS, Laura worked for a large consultancy providing business improvement solutions to corporations, particularly in the areas of corporate responsibility and ethics. With French as her mother tongue, as well as German fluency, and experience of working in Europe and Africa, Laura will be helping IMS clients to improve the way sustainability is communicated; internally and externally.
IMS PLACES With much of IMS Consulting’s client business conducted in London, a city base for meetings and briefings makes good sense. We are pleased to say that our City of London office is now open for business. It’s situated at 24 Greville Street, EC1, just two minutes’ walk from Farringdon tube station. We look forward to welcoming you to meetings there.
IMSSustainable Business Breakfast:Bristol
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IMS CONSULTING IN THE PRESS Visit our website to read what the press are saying about IMS Consulting. www.imsplc.com/blog
UK has its ninth consecutive win at the EBAE 2010 with Findus Group’s ‘Fish for Life’ initiative
REWARDING PROGRESS IN SUSTAINABILITY Having been associated with the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) Environment Awards Forum since its inception, IMS Consulting has been appointed to run its Secretariat, allowing the Forum to continue its valuable work in encouraging the development of well-designed and effectively managed environment awards. Awards are a means of bringing to light examples of innovation and celebrating the achievements of pioneers. They act as a mechanism to encourage others to strive towards best practice and help to drive forward the sustainability agenda. The aim of the Environment Awards Forum and Accreditation Scheme is to improve the design, operation and efficacy of UK award schemes by ensuring that there is a benchmark for schemes that reward real progress towards sustainability. Accreditation gives recognition to those that meet a robust set of criteria and by doing so demonstrate high quality and validity. One of the successes of the Accreditation Scheme is its provision of good quality feeder schemes for the biennial European Business Awards for the Environment (EBAE), which play a crucial role in demonstrating progress on environmental and sustainable development issues worldwide. The Forum has provided the UK with consistently high quality entrants and winners of the EBAE, maintaining the UK’s record of nine consecutive wins. In running the Secretariat, IMS Consulting is able to support the work of the Forum in ensuring that awards remain robust, credible and exemplary, stimulating innovation for sound environmental and sustainable development practice throughout the UK.
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There is an increasing number of opportunities for businesses to participate in third party ratings of sustainability performance, and more and more organisations are doing so. This means that in order to stand out from the crowd, it is not enough to merely present the hard facts. Instead, companies’ submissions need to provide a clear and persuasive narrative that puts any facts in context and explains what they mean. This is where sustainable communication experts IMS Consulting can help. As more and more businesses report their non-financial performance, there has been a corresponding rise in the number of third party ratings for aspects of sustainability. These assessments provide both internal and external benefits for participating companies. Internally, they serve as an independently verified benchmark, allowing companies to monitor and measure their absolute performance or their performance relative to their peers. Externally, they increase transparency and legitimacy to shareholders, suppliers, customers and the public audience. These assessments typically rely, at least in part, on evidence provided by the companies themselves. As such, the quality (and in some cases quantity) of information provided has a direct link to the final rating achieved. A key finding from SustainAbility’s ongoing Rate the Raters research programme is that communication is more important than performance. In more than 60% of the 100 ratings schemes evaluated, they found that the results depend wholly or in part on information submitted directly to ratings organisations. This tends to reward companies with the greatest capacity to respond, or who respond most effectively, rather than those with the best performance per se. While the submissions frequently require some quantitative data (e.g. number of staff, total carbon emissions, volume of waste diverted from landfill, etc), much of the information required is qualitative, providing a narrative and context for the values themselves. In some cases, the narrative is actually more important than the actual numbers, for example explaining the boundary and scope of data reported, or detailing the method used to calculate it. Take, for instance, the Carbon Disclosure Project. It assigns a ‘Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index’ (CDLI) score to all submissions. Up to 2009, it was based solely
IMS CONSULTING
THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION IN THIRD PARTY RATINGS NAME
PURPOSE
ASSESSMENT BASED ON
Business in the Community (BiTC) Corporate
The UK’s leading voluntary benchmark of Corporate Responsibility (CR), which helps companies to integrate and improve CR throughout their operations by providing a systematic approach to managing, measuring and reporting on business impacts in society and on the environment.
Self-completed questionnaire response
Responsibility Index Carbon Disclosure Project
Discloses the greenhouse gas emissions and climate change strategies of thousands of organisations from across the world’s major economies
Self-completed questionnaire response
FTSE4Good
A tool for responsible investors to identify and invest in companies that meet globally recognised corporate responsibility standards..
Self-completed questionnaire response
SEE
SEE What You Are Buying Into is a labelling scheme that identifies businesses that are publicly accountable on a range of important Social, Environmental and Ethical issues.
Self-completed questionnaire response
Sunday Times Green Companies
An annual competition to find companies at the cutting edge of improving their corporate environmental performance.
Self-completed questionnaire response (70%) and employee engagement survey (30%)
Examples of third party assessments based on self-completed questionnaire responses
on the disclosure information provided in each company’s CDP response, and makes no judgement about absolute levels of emissions, emission reduction achievements or carbon intensity (from 2010, an additional ‘carbon performance’ score is also reported). This means that quality of disclosure rather than quality of performance is crucial. For example, calculating and stating absolute carbon emissions or targets might be less appropriate or not possible for a highlydivisionalised or project-based company. What becomes more important in such cases is explaining and justifying this position, and providing evidence of other ways in which reductions in carbon are being achieved and measured. Communicating contextual and supporting information is therefore key, and
can make the difference between a high or low score. IMS Consulting can help companies improve their rating by preparing focussed, relevant and timely submissions that provide clear communication to the accrediting organisation. IMS Consulting’s team of writers, researchers and marketing professionals has a proven track record in communicating sustainability. This understanding of the sustainability reporting landscape, allied with IMS Consulting’s independent perspective, can help any business get their sustainability messages across more effectively. SustainAbility’s Rate the Raters Phase 2 results were published in October 2010 and are available online from www.sustainability.com/ library/rate-the-raters-phase-two.
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FOCUS ON MORGAN SINDALL GROUP IMS CONSULTING HAS BEEN WORKING WITH MORGAN SINDALL GROUP PLC TO HELP DEVELOP AND DELIVER THEIR ONLINE SUSTAINABILITY COMMUNICATIONS.
Morgan Sindall Group is a leading UK construction and regeneration group with a turnover of £2 billion, employing over 7,000 people and operating in the public and commercial sectors. It operates through four divisions of construction and infrastructure, fit out, affordable housing and urban regeneration, and an investment unit. Morgan Sindall Group is committed to delivering construction and regeneration projects of the highest quality. As part of this commitment, it is employing IMS Consulting to develop and deliver a Group-wide sustainability microsite, newsletter and case studies that illustrate how elements
IMS Consulting People
Dr. Richard Westaway
Richard is an environmental scientist with particular interest in climate change. After gaining his PhD at Cambridge University, Richard worked for multi-disciplinary consultants Halcrow and the UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP). Prior to joining IMS Consulting, he had a visiting scientist position at CSIRO in Australia.
of sustainability – in terms of People, Planet and Profit – are being incorporated in projects undertaken across the Group. The ‘Today’ sustainability microsite (www.morgansindall-today.com) delivers news stories that demonstrate how the Morgan Sindall Group is ‘delivering today for tomorrow’. Each news story is categorised based on ‘aspect of sustainability’ and ‘company’, and can easily be searched based on these categories. A selection of relevant external news stories are also sourced. The microsite is populated and maintained by IMS Consulting, and provides a range of ‘sharing’ options (e.g. RSS feeds, Twitter, Digg). The site was relaunched in summer 2010 to reflect the internal re-organisation of Morgan Sindall Group and the resultant changes in the corporate brand and style. The ‘Today’ sustainability newsletter showcases notable or significant sustainability issues and stories from across the Morgan Sindall Group. The newsletter is available as both a hard-copy magazine and as an electronic ‘turning-page’ document on the ‘Today’ sustainability microsite. Morgan Sindall Group’s sustainability case study engine (www.morgansindall-casestudies. com) was launched in summer 2010 to provide a new searchable and expanding resource on projects undertaken across all of the Group’s divisions. They are differentiated from existing project profiles and case studies by their emphasis on how sustainability issues were considered and how sustainable practices were used. Drawing on its experience in the sustainable construction sector, an initial collection of 38 case studies has been compiled by IMS Consulting, in collaboration with all Morgan Sindall Group divisions. All the case studies are categorised based on ‘aspect of sustainability’ and ‘company’, and can easily be searched based on these categories. Each case study has a consistent format, as well as a downloadable PDF version.
IMS Consulting is currently undertaking what is thought to be the most thorough and comprehensive benchmarking exercise ever carried out on the way construction companies in the UK are communicating their progress towards sustainability. The study will measure the standard of sustainability communication and reporting of UK’s largest 25 construction companies, by turnover. Each company’s sustainability communication is being evaluated against a bespoke ‘Sustainability Reporting Checklist’, consisting of a set of criteria that represent good practice in terms of how sustainability policies, activities, actions and progress are reported. The aim of the work is to benchmark the quality of sustainability reporting, rather than sustainability performance itself. The study will produce a report that will provide an insight into the current sustainability reporting landscape in the UK construction sector, revealing areas of strength and weakness and highlighting good practice. The analysis is dependent on information companies have placed in the public domain for use by investors, customers and other interested stakeholders, and will be based solely on companies’ most recent reporting cycle.
The report and results are available from IMS Consulting. Contact info@imsplc.com
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RECENT RESEARCH CARRIED OUT BY IMS CONSULTING SUGGESTS THAT MANY COMPANIES ARE FAILING TO CAPITALISE ON THEIR ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL PERFORMANCE. While most companies are now actively improving their position with regards to sustainable development, fewer are communicating their efforts effectively, either internally or externally. Work undertaken by IMS Consulting with a number of organisations during 2010 indicates that there is usually a good base of evidence for a commitment to improving sustainability. However, sustainability policies, frameworks, achievements and initiatives rarely benefit from the same level of communications support as other activities such as branding or sales development. Frequently, when the evidence of sustainable actions is audited, it quickly becomes apparent that much of what is being done is either not being recognised as having any communications value, or is over-looked in favour of more pressing marketing priorities. Also, the more one looks for examples of engagement, particularly in the social and environmental aspects of sustainability, the more evidence is uncovered. The Communications Gap can be explained simply using this chart.
THE COMMUNICATIONS GAP Ideally, a company’s evidence of commitment to sustainability should be equally matched by its effective communication. This would put a business high in the top right-hand quadrant. Conversely, high top-left is greenwash territory, where claims frequently cannot be substantiated. Perhaps surprisingly, companies frequently sit further along the “Evidence” axis than the Communications axis, typically in the shaded area, below the diagonal. Although this indicates that the organisations are not telling their customers, staff or other stakeholders about their performance, it is easier to solve this problem than have to build a database of evidence to support an over-ambitious marketing campaign. (Cases where claims about social engagement or good environmental management cannot be substantiated would place a business above the diagonal).
RESTORING BALANCE Online tools provide some of the best ways of delivering evidence of best practice. Case study engines in particular, which can be used to deliver information on the sustainable aspects of a project in a searchable, interactive format are particularly powerful. More traditional methods of communication, including media relations, mailings and newsletters can also be used to good effect, provided they are applied consistently and repeatably. Take a look at the chart. Where would you position your company? If you’re under the diagonal line, perhaps it’s time to think more seriously about communicating. Various examples can be viewed on the IMS website: www.imsplc.com
EVIDENCE VS COMMUNICATION IMS Consulting People
COMMUNICATION Greenwash
Well Balanced
Room for Improvement
EVIDENCE
STAIRCASE OF COMPETENCE IMS uses a four-step staircase to help businesses identify where they are on the journey towards full integration of sustainable best practices in their company policies, communications strategies, deeds and actions.
Called the “Staircase of Competence” the bottom step is occupied by companies who are not engaged with sustainability, and are unlikely to become so. These we call “unconscious incompetents”. The second step is occupied by those who have at least begun the climb towards complete integration of sustainable best practice into their operations. The “conscious incompetents” are at an early stage of engagement but little evidence exists of activity. Moving still higher, the companies who are fully engaged and have a high level
GRAHAM SPRIGG
With over 25 years’ experience in marketing communications consulting, Graham specializes in energy and environment-related business issues. He is author of over 500 articles on business, industry and environment and his work has appeared in a range of magazines, newspapers and online.
of understanding, who can also supply a good level of evidence to support their position, are the “conscious competents” Finally, the top tier is occupied by “unconscious competents”; those who are fully engaged, have a good evidence base which is verified and audited and have incorporated sustainability as part of their organisation’s DNA or psyche. For more details, download the IMS whitepaper Developing Multi-level Communications Strategies from www.imsplc.com
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IMS Consulting People
LAURA DA SILVA Laura Da Silva has recently joined IMS Consulting as Sustainability Communication Specialist. Laura has a masters degree in International Business from the Sorbonne in Paris and has business experience in France, Germany, South Africa and the UK.
After a discussion with one of the heads of CSR of a large multinational pharmaceutical company, I would expect some important changes in the ranking should carbon emission or even commitment to sustainability be included. Norway has long been a key promoter of environmental and social sustainability and the extensive use of hydro power almost guarantees this country to still be in the top of the rankings. While speaking to this executive, a clear fact came out, sustainability is understood by people in Norway and the work of engaging people on the topic is far easier than it is anywhere else in Europe. While Germany on the other hand is well known for its efficiency in recycling, a controversial decision has been made in early September by Angela Merkel to extend the working lives of its nuclear reactors. While some say it is an easier way for Germany to reach its goals on reducing carbon emissions by 80% in 2050, compared to 1990 levels, many like their neighbouring country Austria, are decrying the move as a decision which puts people at risk. Another nuclear country, France, would certainly move up the index if carbon emissions were taken into account while the US is most certain to slip down the ranking. While everyone would agree that carbon
SUSTAINABILITY, A NOTION WITHOUT BORDER? The Human Development Index measures the wealth, health and education in each country and ranks them to establish the quality of life. Many have praised this index for its simplicity but many more have recently proposed to add a fourth component to the measurement, an environmental one. As the latest report came out beginning of November, one may wonder where countries would stand if carbon emissions were added to the calculation. Would Norway, who has been in the top two for the last ten years, still remain the best? What about the US (4), Germany (10) or France (14)? emissions alone will never be a measure of how environmentally sustainable a country is, it could be another easy way that the HDI index could be improved. Obvious cultural and historical differences have to be taken into account when creating a sustainability strategy and communicating it. But we can still find many common drivers that are helping to increase companies’ interest in sustainability. n No matter which is your country, your
company will have interest in sustainability as new laws and regulations come into place. In South Africa for example, companies listed on the JSE Securities Exchange need to comply (or explain) with the King III code which recommends that they integrate their financial and sustainability report in one. n The focus on risk mitigation also helps
strengthen the sustainability agenda. Executives and board members understand the risks of not aiming at sustainability, whether it might be linked to losing customers for whom this issue is of
importance, or not doing as good as the competition. n Another obvious point that will boost your
sustainability agenda is the increased understanding that the earth will not follow our needs. Instead, we need to adapt to its capacity and consume in a viable way. n And what about innovation? Thinking green
or social has led many new products and services to be created. Bottles made out of polylactic acid (derived from plant-based material) instead of plastic are one of the innovations which were led from the sustainability agenda. While some of the drivers of sustainability are understood, companies need to remain in constant dialogue with stakeholders. By understanding their evolving needs, their culture and point of view, institutions will be able to adapt their strategy and embed the sustainability agenda within the organisation. And when companies understand stakeholders, they will then be able to communicate appropriately with them and reap the benefits of their actions.
Unconscious Competence
Company is fully engaged. Good evidence base, which is verified and audited. Sustainability is part of the company’s psyche
Company is fully engaged in sustainability. Levels of understanding are high and evidence is available
Conscious Competence
Conscious Incompetence
Unconscious Incompetence
Company is engaged in sustainability; at an early stage. Little evidence exists of activity Company is not engaged in sustainability and is unlikely to become so
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IMS CONSULTING
WORKING TOGETHER WITH IMS CONSULTING IMS Consulting develops and delivers communications and stakeholder engagement programmes.
“ HAVE YOU READ OUR SUSTAINABILITY BLOG? www.imsplc.com/blog
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We provide marketing consultancy services that help to improve your organisation’s relationships with its stakeholders. Working with clients to ensure the message and medium are developed according to the desired audience, we help you answer the questions: n Who do you want to talk to? n What do you want to communicate? n How will the messages be communicated clearly?
EXPERTS IN SUSTAINABILITY Our team understands the social, environmental and economic drivers that create the opportunities and challenges faced by the public and private sector in today’s business environment. We also have extensive experience communicating on issues related to energy, water, waste and construction.
COMBINING KNOWLEDGE WITH SKILL At IMS we combine our sector expertise with the ability to deliver communications programmes online and offline, locally, nationally or globally, internally or externally. IMS Consulting’s staff includes; researchers, writers, web developers and marketing experts. Together, we build the communications channel that is most appropriate to your needs. Both the message and the medium are carefully considered. IMS helps clients create exciting and memorable communications campaigns. We also ensure that outcomes and results are measurable; a vital aspect of successful communications. n Online stakeholder communications - StakeholderTALK™ n CSR and Sustainability Reporting n Communications Consulting IMS Consulting works with large multinationals and listed companies, national and global NGOs and SMEs to deliver multi-stakeholder communications programmes. The audiences can be internal or external, highly focused or very broad.
Developing and Delivering Communications and Stakeholder Engagement Programmes
Communicating sustainability with your key stakeholders, internally and externally, provides real dividends. A properly structured strategy will help to strengthen relationships with customers and employees, create a competitive advantage for your business and improve your licence to operate. StakeholderTALK™ is a complete multi-media communications toolkit. Developed by IMS Consulting, StakeholderTALK™ meets the needs of both private and public sector organisations wanting to develop two-way communications with their key target audiences. StakeholderTALK™ provides customised, online delivery of information and two-way communication between you and your stakeholders.
www.imsplc.com/stakeholdertalk
IMS Consulting Head office: St Nicholas House, 31-34 High Street, Bristol BS1 2AW, UK London office: 24 Greville Street, London EC1N 8SS
Tel: +44 (0)117 315 5239
www.imsplc.com info@imsplc.com