A social licence powers success
Short-termism, also known as the ‘‘let’s make our money now and run’’ operating approach, should have died out after the lessons of the GFC. Unfortunately, it’s still alive, thanks to a mixture of dogged resistance to change, guidance, and ignorance of what to do in its place.
One of the ways companies can show their commitment to sustainability in its widest sense, is through a planned, creative, corporate social responsibility programme.
Yet some of New Zealand’s largest businesses are lagging behind their international counterparts in their levels of corporate social responsibility (CSR), according to new data from the business intelligence organisation, CSRHub.
It found New Zealand companies ranked just 33 out of 36 countries across the CSR criteria of community, employees, governance and environment, in a survey of 17,000 businesses globally.
As a result, general manager of pharmaceutical firm GSK Anna Stove, said this week that Kiwi companies were potentially missing opportunities from a growing, ethically-conscious market, and were not honouring their social licence to operate.
Stove said: ‘‘CSR information is used by customers, suppliers, employees and investors to make socially responsible decisions about who to buy from, transact with, work with and invest in.
‘‘It is becoming essential for businesses to include a degree of their social impact as an indicator of performance - in other words, create a double bottom line,’’ she says.
Interestingly, Stove believes a national improvement in CSR performance could allow New Zealand to hold onto more talent.
‘‘Millennials are expected to make up half of the global workforce by 2020 - and this generation is seeking a social conscience in the companies they work for.
‘‘Today, the focus is on a company’s work in the community - a major shift.’’