Articles

CSR: A National Mandate?

Title: CSR: A National Mandate?
Source:LX Briefing: A Newsletter for Learning Executives, July 2009
Author: Ann Pace
Website: http://www.astd.org/content/publications/newsletters_journals/public/LX+Briefing/

Theresa Ellis, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Common Impact, was recently featured in the Learning Executives Briefing, a newsletter published by the American Association of Training and Development.

The text of the article appears below:

Late last month, the United States House of Representatives passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) that includes a cap-and-trade global warming reduction plan designed to decrease economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions 17 percent by 2020. If approved by the U.S. Senate and signed into law by President Obama, this bill's historic energy regulations will have a pronounced effect on how businesses within the United States operate.

While the ACES legislation was working its way through Congress, the most established and emerging economic powers in the world met at the annual G8 Summit to discuss the economic crisis, international trade, climate change, underdeveloped countries, global health, and international security. The decisions resulting from this meeting will determine future corporate social responsibility (CSR) standards for which organizations across the globe will be responsible.

In addition, the Obama Administration launched several initiatives to create green jobs and mobilize service organizations, including the Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy and the Office of Social Innovation. A United States Global Change Research Program report, "Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States" outlines the science and impacts of climate change on the United States (1). Before signing the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act on April 21, President Obama charged his listeners, "I'm not going to tell you what your role should be; that's for you to discover. But I am asking you to stand up and play your part" (2).

CSR is affecting all sectors and groups in the world today--from politics to businesses to you. What are companies doing in response to the President's national mandate and CSR's growing worldwide impact?

Many large global companies that have taken CSR seriously for years launched the "Let the Green Economy Begin" campaign this month to encourage world leaders to agree on a global climate change treaty by the end of 2009. IBM, Nike, HP, Coke, and Sony are some of the approximately 20 multinational companies that have partnered with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to set voluntary standards to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions through the Climate Savers program (3). According to WWF, by 2010 Climate Savers companies will collectively cut carbon emissions by 14 million tons annually, which is the equivalent of taking more than 3 million cars off the road every year. These companies--whose increased efficiencies have led to millions of dollars in savings--are now acting as self-appointed mouthpieces for the environment, purporting that a global climate treaty will be good for worldwide business.

On a smaller scale, many companies are fulfilling their CSR roles while simultaneously driving talent management. Massachusetts-based nonprofit Common Impact facilitates collaboration between global companies and local not-for-profits by coordinating outsource programs for companies that want to integrate skills-based volunteerism with their training and development strategies (4). For example, according to Common Impact Co-founder and CEO Theresa Ellis, employees from a corporation help a community nonprofit to solve a strategic problem relating to its technology, marketing, human resources, or operations.

These projects, which typically run two to six months in duration, encourage employee job skills development, build teamwork across company departments and hierarchies, and satisfy employees' desire to give back to the community.

"The projects have also played a role in talent management, with leadership transition," says Ellis. "They're a marvelous testing ground for soft skill development. Also, the different [work] context forces a team to function differently than it might in the workplace."

Whether you are cheering in triumph, cursing in anger, or shrugging with indifference as environmental and social considerations permeate the globe, the reality cannot be denied: CSR is no longer a trend, but a thriving component of our society's structure. What are you going to do to in response to these unfolding CSR developments? How will you build a bridge between your workplace, the local community, and the world around you?

About Common Impact

Founded in 2000 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Common Impact develops and implements skills-based volunteering programs that pair business professionals from leading companies with high-potential local nonprofits addressing crucial after-school, housing, and community health care needs. Through its innovative model, Common Impact channels untapped resources into the nonprofit sector and fosters relationships that bridge the for-profit and nonprofit worlds.

Since its founding in 2000, Common Impact has worked with leading companies including Fidelity Investments, BEA Systems, CA, Cisco Systems, and State Street Corporation, achieving a 7:1 social return on investment.

For more information, please contact Meghan Gardner, Public Relations Specialist
(e-mail: mgardner@commonimpact.org, phone: 857-222-2864).