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The UK’s Corporate Responsibility Index is being refreshed this summer in a bid to maintain its relevance and popularity. EP looks at how it will change for participants
Five years is a long time in the corporate world. Business in the Community’s annual Corporate Responsibility Index will have its fifth birthday next year and is in need of a service. While the index has been a high profile success for the membership organization, Bitc knows it needs to remain relevant, and is altering the index format over the next few months.
One of the main reasons for the overhaul is the need to involve more companies. The 2005 index, published last month and headed by The Co-operative Bank, followed in descending order by BAA, Barclays, BT, National Grid, and PricewaterhouseCoopers, attracted 131 large UK organizations willing to provide information on their social and environmental performance and to benchmark the results against others’.
But that was 13 fewer participants than the 144 taking part last year – a drop of nine per cent. Bitc feels adjustments are needed both to attract more entrants – especially mid-250 companies – and to maintain the commitment and interest of those already taking part.
One of the main changes will be to move away from the ranking of companies in numerical order, which Bitc feels can put off businesses that are at an early stage of implementing social and environmental policies. Rather than publishing a list of the top 100 best performers, it will instead grade entrants, awarding platinum, gold, silver and bronze stars. It will also present results by sector, CSR subject area and company size, allowing more meaningful comparisons.
An ‘entry-level assessment tool’ is being developed for companies that feel they are not ready to be tested against all the indicators, with 69 questions that will ascertain how they are managing, measuring and reporting their social and environmental impacts. The tool will identify areas of weakness in a company’s performance and the actions needed to remedy them. Bitc also says it will offer ‘greater value’ by providing more advice and private feedback for prospective entrants.
Phil Hodkinson, group financial director of HBOS bank and a Bitc board member, says the changes are planned in response to feedback from index participants and Bitc members. One frequently voiced concern has been the amount of information that participating companies have to submit. Hodkinson says Bitc will ‘lighten the load’ for businesses by allowing them to update previous submissions rather than starting from scratch each year.
He adds that his own experience at HBOS has shown him that gathering information for the index ‘can cost many tens of thousands of pounds’ and eat up staff and managers’ time. He hopes the new measures will cut the time required by half.
Newcomers will initially be able to focus on a limited number of areas, Hodkinson says. ‘For a company with limited resources the “all or nothing approach” can be a lot to ask. But it would be fairly easy for them to make a start by addressing two or three things they might do to move their business forward.’ There will also be a rolling timetable for submission of data ‘if feasible’. This would enable companies to provide the necessary information when it suits them.
In an effort to keep the leading companies on board, Bitc may ask them for a detailed assessment once every three years, instead of annually as at present, and invite them to join a ‘leadership network’ to help raise the performance of others.
The changes proposed have been well received, but participants are keen to maintain standards. One CSR executive from a top 40 company in the index told EP: ‘Making the level of entry easier is a good thing, but there should be some kind of requirement to report on certain issues in each sector, otherwise you’ll just get firms reporting on the areas they perform well on but which are not core in terms of their impact.’ Another from one of the best-performing banks in the index added: ‘To get an increase in businesses taking part, they need to allow firms to report on certain areas and build from there. But you’ve also got to help those that have scored well in the index and are looking for a new challenge.’
The changes will be finalized before September, at which point Bitc will begin gathering information for the 2006 index.
Five years is a long time in the corporate world. Business in the Community’s annual Corporate Responsibility Index will have its fifth birthday next year and is in need of a service. While the index has been a high profile success for the membership organization, Bitc knows it needs to remain relevant, and is altering the index format over the next few months.
One of the main reasons for the overhaul is the need to involve more companies. The 2005 index, published last month and headed by The Co-operative Bank, followed in descending order by BAA, Barclays, BT, National Grid, and PricewaterhouseCoopers, attracted 131 large UK organizations willing to provide information on their social and environmental performance and to benchmark the results against others’.
But that was 13 fewer participants than the 144 taking part last year – a drop of nine per cent. Bitc feels adjustments are needed both to attract more entrants – especially mid-250 companies – and to maintain the commitment and interest of those already taking part.
One of the main changes will be to move away from the ranking of companies in numerical order, which Bitc feels can put off businesses that are at an early stage of implementing social and environmental policies. Rather than publishing a list of the top 100 best performers, it will instead grade entrants, awarding platinum, gold, silver and bronze stars. It will also present results by sector, CSR subject area and company size, allowing more meaningful comparisons.
An ‘entry-level assessment tool’ is being developed for companies that feel they are not ready to be tested against all the indicators, with 69 questions that will ascertain how they are managing, measuring and reporting their social and environmental impacts. The tool will identify areas of weakness in a company’s performance and the actions needed to remedy them. Bitc also says it will offer ‘greater value’ by providing more advice and private feedback for prospective entrants.
Phil Hodkinson, group financial director of HBOS bank and a Bitc board member, says the changes are planned in response to feedback from index participants and Bitc members. One frequently voiced concern has been the amount of information that participating companies have to submit. Hodkinson says Bitc will ‘lighten the load’ for businesses by allowing them to update previous submissions rather than starting from scratch each year.
He adds that his own experience at HBOS has shown him that gathering information for the index ‘can cost many tens of thousands of pounds’ and eat up staff and managers’ time. He hopes the new measures will cut the time required by half.
Newcomers will initially be able to focus on a limited number of areas, Hodkinson says. ‘For a company with limited resources the “all or nothing approach” can be a lot to ask. But it would be fairly easy for them to make a start by addressing two or three things they might do to move their business forward.’ There will also be a rolling timetable for submission of data ‘if feasible’. This would enable companies to provide the necessary information when it suits them.
In an effort to keep the leading companies on board, Bitc may ask them for a detailed assessment once every three years, instead of annually as at present, and invite them to join a ‘leadership network’ to help raise the performance of others.
The changes proposed have been well received, but participants are keen to maintain standards. One CSR executive from a top 40 company in the index told EP: ‘Making the level of entry easier is a good thing, but there should be some kind of requirement to report on certain issues in each sector, otherwise you’ll just get firms reporting on the areas they perform well on but which are not core in terms of their impact.’ Another from one of the best-performing banks in the index added: ‘To get an increase in businesses taking part, they need to allow firms to report on certain areas and build from there. But you’ve also got to help those that have scored well in the index and are looking for a new challenge.’
The changes will be finalized before September, at which point Bitc will begin gathering information for the 2006 index.
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