How CSR becomes “stuck” and fails to be strategic
After over 20 years of working with companies to develop their CSR strategies, one thing I observe is that in some companies progress on CSR gets stuck. In other words, companies get started on their CSR journey but fail to move to a situation where CSR is an important part of business strategy and becomes embedded into the organization. Some of these companies never get beyond the basics. Others undertake some interesting and innovative initiatives, but still fail to gain the benefits of making CSR really strategic.
There are many reasons for this type of inertia and based on my experiences with companies, I thought it would be useful to present what I consider to be the top ten reasons why CSR gets so far but no further in many organizations:
- The desire to make CSR easy: Unfortunately there are many organizations who think that CSR should cost almost nothing but yet have a huge impact. CSR is therefore seen as an expenditure item (that needs to be minimized) rather than a strategic investment in brand and reputation. There is a lack of capacity in the organization to move beyond low impact projects and do something meaningful and strategic. Good CSR is never easy and needs appropriate resources to operationalize it.
- There is no plan and no capacity: There is no plan because nobody really understands what it is. Many CSR managers have never received any training in CSR. Commonly, they are people who “feel” that CSR is important and “volunteer” to take on a CSR role. Unfortunately they often have a background in communications and believe that a few nice stories about philanthropic activities make a company responsible. If there is no understanding of what CSR really is, then it is quite difficult to make it strategic.
- The inward-looking CSR department: When people responsible for CSR concentrate only on a few internal priorities, they fail to recognize the way in which CSR can be an important part of its external brand and reputation. CSR departments become too busy fixing the problems rather than seeing the opportunities to contribute to tackling global issues in partnership with other organizations. They fail to see the global context and challenges associated with their roles and concentrate on safe internal initiatives.
- Misplaced priorities: A company and its managers will always have a number of competing priorities. Unfortunately, CSR never quite moves up to near the top of those priorities. Whilst it is recognized as necessary to have some CSR in the organization, there are always other issues that are more important and more urgent. CSR becomes the thing that someone does when they have nothing else to do. Unless CSR is a priority and has senior management support then it can never become strategic.
- Lazy CSR managers: Some CSR managers become comfortable in their roles and do not keep up to date with the latest development and trends in CSR. They fail to see any good reason to make their CSR more strategic, largely because it takes a lot of effort. Since their bosses are often unaware as well, it becomes quite easy to hide behind mediocre CSR practices. CSR needs to be effectively managed and not put into a box which is ignored by management.
- The arrogant organization: Some businesses truly believe that they are CSR leaders when they are not. They believe that they are engaging in cutting edge initiatives because they cannot be bothered to find out what real best practice looks like. They delude themselves into believing that they have advanced CSR practices when they are in fact pretty common elsewhere. Regular benchmarking with competitors and peers and regular dialogue with stakeholders is an important part of internal discipline.
- A serious lack of commitment to CSR: Although doing what is required in terms of developing CSR initiatives and publishing the annual sustainability report, the organization pays lip-service to CSR rather than seeing it as an important part of the reputation of the company. CSR never gets beyond an “add-on” and a tick box exercise and the strategic opportunities are missed. Good CSR requires commitment from the top and from internal “CSR Champions”.
- The CEO changes (for the worse): When a new CEO does not demonstrate as much commitment as the predecessor, the organization quickly devalues CSR. In many cases although the new CEO says that CSR is important, everyone knows that the priority is really the financial bottom line. CSR gets so far but fails to progress because there is no enthusiasm any more at the top. Without real leadership from the top of the organization CSR will never become strategic.
- The CSR capacity leaves (and is not replaced): In many organizations the CSR role becomes wedded too much to a single person. When that person leaves for another job (or gets run over by a bus) there is no succession planning, no capacity and the CSR initiatives are simply left hanging. Unless an effective replacement is found fast CSR fails. Too often in organizations, CSR is not embedded across the organization but becomes the personal crusade of a single person.
- There simply is no strategy and never will be (unless someone takes a lead): It amazes me that much of the CSR that I see is very “add-on” and there is no desire even to consider developing a proper CSR strategy. There is no strategy and there simply never will be because no one is willing to spend the time and effort getting to grips with the business case for CSR. Indeed, many people in the organization have no idea why it is even doing CSR. There is inertia in the organization that will need to be overcome by someone grasping the strategic opportunities associated with CSR.
by Richard Welford rwelford@csr-asia.com
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