Corporate Social Responsibility

The debate around Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has evolved rapidly as organisations begin to appreciate that it is not only the financial returns to their shareholders that they have to be concerned about, but also the non-financial returns to their stake-holders.

Successful organisations are those that understand and respond to the needs of their employees, customers, suppliers and host communities. In today's world, organisations operating across diverse and difficult markets face increasing scrutiny from an ever broadening array of stakeholders. Stakeholder engagement is becoming increasingly strategically important as organisations attempt to understand, communicate and improve their social, economic and environmental performance.

EcoSTEPS approach to stakeholder engagement is both practical and strategic. Issues EcoSTEPS work on with our clients include:

• What is stakeholder engagement? Drivers, Aims and Outcomes
• Who are our stakeholders? How do we prioritise and manage them?
• Stakeholder mapping - purpose, process and results.
• Engagement approaches: How to engage effectively. Starting & stopping. Problems & challenges.
• Integrating stakeholder engagement into organisational management systems.
  

EcoSTEPS uses its own proprietary approaches together with emerging global approaches and methodologies, including those such as:

• AccountAbility and AA1000 - www.accountability21.net
• Global Reporting Initiative
• International Society of Sustainability Professionals
• Australian Institute of Social and Ethical Accountability – www.accountability.org.au
• International Association for Public Participation - www.iap2.org
  

EcoSTEPS breadth and depth of experience gives us particularly strong insights across the full spectrum of societal stakeholders. We are familiar with large multi-nationals and their financiers and investors on the one hand, through to local environmental and social NGO's on the other.

Any sustainability strategy and management framework needs to explicitly recognise and take into account the various dimensions and facets of CSR.

To find out how EcoSTEPS can help you and your stakeholders, please contact us.

International