An ABC of ESG
Two chairs, four speakers and some 200 attendees. In just 90 minutes we experienced a masterclass in ESG, diversity and inclusion, employee engagement, purpose and responsible business.
https://twitter.com/PR_Place/status/1415293792102625280
It can often feel like alphabet soup, so here’s a attempt to summarise and simplify the discussion on day one of the Mind The PR Gap conference organised by PR Academy and University of Greenwich. (Any misunderstandings are mine, not those of the presenters.)
Authenticity: You can’t fake it. See discussion of employee engagement below.
B Corp: John Brown was scornful of much of the talk of purpose on the grounds that anyone could have good intentions: it’s proof that counts. He praised the B Corp movement
https://twitter.com/PR_Place/status/1415290107960217601
BIA: Business Impact Assessment, the tool used to prepare for B Corp certification.
https://twitter.com/PR_Place/status/1415292346317647873
Biodieversity:
https://twitter.com/PR_Place/status/1415285528589606913
Brand purpose: More than one speaker dismissed this bandwagon, though there was praise for the concept of responsible business.
https://twitter.com/PR_Place/status/1415291103088193539
Corporate affairs director:
https://twitter.com/PR_Place/status/1415286797240782848
CSR: Few still espouse Milton Friedman’s outright dismissal of the social responsibilites of business. But for Matt Peacock, CSR is 20 years past its sell-by date. Ganga Dhanesh, speaking from the UAE, took a more positive view of CSR.
D&I or DEI: Diversity and inclusion should become diversity, equity and inclusion according to Matt Peacock.
https://twitter.com/PR_Place/status/1415286139016171524
Duty of care:
https://twitter.com/PR_Place/status/1415295020199026690
Employee engagement: A company pretending to be one thing to the outside world would first have to fool or silence all its employees (see authenticity above). So conversations have to start internally, and employees need to be fully engaged with the organisation’s purpose.
ESG: It’s not a new concept, but it’s only recently come to the fore. Matt Peacock presents ESG and purpose as a continuum: ESG is about the harms your business can do and you need to work on these first.
https://twitter.com/PR_Place/status/1415285655706419201
https://twitter.com/PR_Place/status/1415287387895250945
Hybrid and remote working:
https://twitter.com/PR_Place/status/1415295791451811854
Internal communication:
https://twitter.com/PR_Place/status/1415297407244455942
Materiality: Matt Peacock recommended the Materiality Map from Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) as a framework for assessing risks that could impact a company’s profitability and reputation.
https://twitter.com/PR_Place/status/1415288310919057413
https://twitter.com/PR_Place/status/1415288310919057413
Organisational listening:
https://twitter.com/PR_Place/status/1415299586210607113
Philanthropy: Donations from wealthy people can do some good in the world. But our panellists were speaking about being better as judged on the triple bottom line: people, planet and profits.
https://twitter.com/PR_Place/status/1415302674497560581
Purpose:
https://twitter.com/PR_Place/status/1415298698087706629
https://twitter.com/PR_Place/status/1415282089021292549