One of the most rewarding moments in my work life is when I get the opportunity to empathetically converse with a person who is sincerely seeking to improve themselves. One way I do this is through the Security Industry Association (SIA), a not-for-profit trade organization driven by volunteers. SIA provides education, certification, standards, advocacy and influential events which connect the risk, resilience, and security ecosystem. They have a mentoring program called RISE. RISE is a community developed by the Security Industry Association (SIA) that fosters the careers of young professionals in the security industry. RISE is available to all employees at SIA member companies who are young professionals under 40 or have been in the security industry for less than two years.
In my “mentoring” session today, we listened to a TED Talk and reviewed two papers that were provided as source material for our conversation about Corporate Social Responsibility, (CSR).
Most of us have been exposed to CSR through our companies or the press. Investopedia has a good definition of CSR:
What Is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)?
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a self-regulating business model that helps a company be socially accountable—to itself, its stakeholders, and the public. By practicing corporate social responsibility, also called corporate citizenship, companies can be conscious of the kind of impact they are having on all aspects of society, including economic, social, and environmental.
To engage in CSR means that, in the ordinary course of business, a company is operating in ways that enhance society and the environment, instead of contributing negatively to them.
Our conversation started with one of the first facts presented to us through the TED Talk; that most companies see this as philanthropic. And we know what happens to philanthropy when there is a downturn in business. The speaker acknowledged that, for these companies, their CSR is not sustainable because it has not been integrated with Total Shareholder Value (TSV). She defined a new term: Total Societal Impact (TSI) which, she argued, should be integrated with TSR. She gave two profound examples of this: Airbnb and Mars. Airbnb expanded their potential base of homeowners who leverage their platform by tapping into the hearts of these self same owners in responding to the refugee crisis. Mars created a competitive advantage in their sourcing of coffee and cocoa and mitigated the risk to their supply chain by “doing good”. That is, they have invested subject matter expertise to come along the farmers to teach sustainable and certified farming practices and tied to it to a fair and living wage..
In both examples they show that doing good can create Total Shareholder Value (TSV).
The speaker also showed how the data is now proving that doing good helps an organization’s brand, their profit margin, their employee’s sense of purpose, and the world.
As a result of this great conversation we had, my “mentee” is now going to impact his sphere of influence in his company.
Let’s move from philanthropy to a next level of care for our organization, our people, our ecosystems, and our world. It is our next generation’s wealth principle.