Trabalho de equipa e Responsabilidade Social

"Só trabalhando em equipa é que o País voltará a crescer" Álvaro Santos Pereira
Uma frase recente do Ministro da Economia português que vale o que vale, dirão os mais cépticos, mas que tem mais significado do que parece. O destaque é portanto para o conteúdo em si e não para o interlocutor.
Sendo verdadeira a afirmação do ministro, o trabalho de equipa aplica-se ao país mas também, e em especial, ao crescimento das empresas. Mas para mim falamos de dois conceitos diferentes: trabalho de equipa e parcerias. Ambos essenciais para o crescimento, tanto das empresas como, em consequência, da economia do nosso país.
Penso que um ponto de vista válido será de olhar o trabalho de equipa numa dimensão interna, e as parcerias na dimensão externa. Ambas têm de funcionar numa base clara e sustentada, com objectivos bem definidos e viáveis. Mas trabalho de equipa não se decreta. Numa organização não basta dizer que existe. Têm de ser criadas condições para funcionar, não bastará a vontade das chefias nem o voluntarismo dos colaboradores. É algo que tem de funcionar nos dois sentidos, bem organizado e estructurado para poder crescer. E quando falo em crescimento, falo de um crescimento sustentado, a médio/longo-prazo, algo que valha a pena investir.
E tudo isto não será também Responsabilidade Social?

Sustainability strategy: ask, talk, get involved

Reading and writing about sustainability and related subjects, one topic is getting my attention: People.
People as human resources (HR) in a company, people as community, people as the organic part of any organization. People!

I think, people should be on the core of any sustainability strategy, but they are not. When you're focusing on standards complying, people are not the core, standards are. Any strategy should be planned with everyone’s participation. Not going to people with everything sorted out, telling them what they can answer. Again, the whole process should have everyone’s participation. If not, how do you think you can have that people you didn't ask anything to get involved in a strategy that doesn't mean anything to them?

You can work involvement right by the start, getting people, your people, to be a part of the whole process. And this goes to any sustainability process, any initiative, any action.
How can you know your customer if you don't talk with him? The same question can be asked related to your people, your co-workers, as for the rest of the stakeholders.

Start asking! Start talking!

Pingo Doce e o 1º de Maio: uma reflexão

Lendo o Económico online, reparei em dois artigos relacionados com a campanha do 1º de Maio do Pingo Doce. Duas questões diferentes mas a que não resisto uma reflexão.

O primeiro artigo refere-se às declarações de Alexandre Soares dos Santos, presidente da Jerónimo Martins, afirmando que «o grupo "não vai repetir este tipo de campanhas", com o argumento de que são caras». Justificava que a campanha «destinou-se a recuperar "vendas perdidas" e rendeu 25 a 27 milhões de euros».
Desde que soube da campanha achei que teria grande benefícios para a empresa em termos de vendas, mas os custos de imagem e comunicação também seriam significativos. Verifica-se, cerca de uma semana depois que as repercussões mantêm-se, focadas mais nos problemas do que no sucesso comercial.
Na minha opinião está é uma campanha que ilustra bem como uma acção comercial que, para além dos problemas de planeamento, tem prejuízos ao nível da imagem e comunicação que, pelo menos, em alguns pontos ultrapassam os proveitos comerciais.
Confirmando-se que não vão repetir este modelo, é no mínimo um sinal da atenção dada aos resultados reais por parte da companhia, ou seja, não olhando apenas para os resultados e proveitos comerciais.

O segundo artigo refere-se à reacção dos consumidores sobre a campanha através de um estudo efectuado. O artigo tem como título "Consumidores aplaudem campanha do Pingo Doce".
Ora aqui a minha questão está para além do interesse dos apontamentos que o artigo tem sobre o funcionamento da campanha, da forma como a mensagem passou rapidamente, etc. A minha questão está mais relacionada com estatística. A forma como o artigo apresenta o resultado, sublinhando que os "consumidores aplaudem", indicando que o impacto da campanha foi positivo, com 29% a dizerem que foi "favorável" e 30% dizendo que foi "muito favorável".
O meu primeiro ponto é que como é apresentado cerca de 59% dos inquiridos respondem favoravelmente, o que sendo mais de metade dos inquiridos, não me parece uma percentagem muito substancial. Numa campanha em que as lojas foram literalmente invadidas por multidões, em alguns casos quase em fúria, comprando centenas de euros em compras de cada vez, eu diria que a opinião dos consumidores ficou mais perto do favorável do que do aplauso.
Outra questão é que foram inquiridas 250 pessoas, uma amostra, mas seria interessante o artigo mencionar se as 250 pessoas foram pessoas que participaram e estiveram na enchente das lojas, ou foram pessoas que deram meia volta quando viram filas e polícia à porta de algumas lojas? Não sendo a minha intenção criticar, serve apenas para reflectir sobre o assunto mas também como nos é apresentado.
No final é questionado um especialista que aponta uma campanha deste tipo como uma "bomba marketeira"...ora para mim nem todos os sucessos de marketing ficam conhecidos pelas melhores razões, tendo por vezes consequências que fazem reverter os objectivos iniciais.
As questões da Responsabilidade Social Corporativa ou Responsabilidade Social Empresarial, na sigla inglesa CSR, podem ser facilmente identificadas, sendo que os objectivos comerciais podem por vezes chocar de frente com os valores e posicionamentos das marcas e organizações.

Do your duty: CSR in Arab World

My professional life requires a constant updating of the reality of various subjects, including CSR, and in that sense I came across some information about this topic in the Arab world. The theme in general is always very interesting and dynamic anywhere in the world, and this area of ​​the globe is no exception. In this theme the social aspect is central and therefore the search for information on cultural research becomes even more interesting. Another aspect, in my opinion, for this type of theme in a society increasingly globalized, is the need to learn and understand fairly different issues, cultural differences and factors that impact the implementation and operation of the CSR.

So when searching for information, through some contacts, I came across some issues I think are interesting to underline and analyze, and in this case, CSR in the Arab world.

Starting with some statistic from Ambreen Waheed and Faiz Shah article “Can Faith Build Competitiveness?”, included in AccountAbility’s “The State of Responsible Competitiveness 2007” report: «The fifty-seven member countries of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) are home to 20% of the world’s population. Between them they provide 70% of the earth’s energy resources, and 40% of the raw materials that global industry relies on. Yet the collective Gross Domestic Product of all OIC members put together accounts for less than 5% of the world’s GDP, and their mutual trade is a mere 7% of the volume of international business. It is not surprising then, that 31 out

of the 57 (54%) are classified as “least developed low-income” countries.» This citation gives us some data about the reality in the Arab or Islamic world. But some of you can start to question “can we even think in CSR issues in these countries, with these numbers?”   

To answer some of these questions we can look at the Second Annual CSR Middle East Survey, conducted by Sustainability Advisory Group (SAG) in 2010. One of the key conclusions from the survey is that regional businesses are increasingly recognizing that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a business imperative rather than a philanthropic add-on. Maria Sillanpaa, Founding Director of SAG, said the survey covered public and private sector organizations in eight countries in the region. More than 60 percent of the respondents are based in UAE and the rest are located in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Yemen, Jordan and Egypt.

«We are clearly witnessing a shift in attitudes towards CSR in the region – previously CSR was perceived as a bit of a fringe issue, perhaps a ‘nice to do’ activity if time and resources allowed. Now executives are increasingly agreeing that it should be integral to their business strategies. We see this reassuring level of sophistication in the regional understanding of CSR as a sign of maturity and a wish to keep up with the powerful international trend.», said Sillanpaa. However, beside these positive signs, there are some issues not so important for businesses in the region, like environmental issues related to water, waste management and climate changes. But in an overall point of view «People issues such as employee well-being, health and safety, recruitment and retention, ethical practices, governance and transparency continue to be rightly recognized as the critical CSR issues businesses within the region must tackle.»

You might say: “OK, but where’s the different aspects?”, “What’s the point?”. Jumping to Sillanpaa’s “My Middle Eastern Sustainability Journey”, that highlights the religion aspects, with the dominant Islamic tradition. Sillanpaa writes: «Although corporate responsibility defined in a Western ‘modern’ sense is still in its infancy, some core ideas are not new to Arab cultures guided by a strict allegiance to Islam as a deep rooted sense of personal duty towards the community and wider society. Therefore the term ‘corporate responsibility’ is still often understood as synonymous with charity – an extension of individual Zakat (One of the Five Pillars of Islam that wants Muslims to donate part of his income to the poor and needy).» Some sources, like the 2007 background paper from “Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Citizenship in the Arab World” conference in Cairo, Egypt, say that «CSR has typically been introduced by multinationals, and passed on through subsidiaries in the region.» And if we think that Corporate Responsibility and Responsible Competitiveness are based on values, the search for values can lead us to culture and religious aspects. Going back to Waheed and Shah’ essay «that looks at the way Islam has sought to enshrine societal good within the paradigm of economic activity.» The authors add that «Islamic teachings seek to encourage the spirit of entrepreneurship, but define clear moral and societal limits, to prevent exploitation. Social responsibility is central to Islamic business principles, with well defined responsibilities for entering into contracts, guaranteeing quality, ensuring ethical dealings, and securing accountability.»

Recently, ArabCSR.org (The Arab Encyclopedia of CSR) announced that is to launch “The First Arab Social Responsibility Report” in 2011. ArabCSR.org chairman, Buthaina Hasan Al-Ansari, highlights that the importance and benefit of Arab Social Responsibility «deprive from its ability to entrench the values of CSR in the Arab region, which in its turn will support the national attitude of the countries seeking to accomplish the millennium goals». The report reveals the growth of SR initiatives in the Arab countries, and demonstrates the increasing importance of SR to nation leaders. It underlines some very good examples such as Saudi Arabia, with special attention to CSR activities supported by kingdom rulers. Qatar, that attained most of the Millennium Development Goals, and the launching of the first Arab network dedicated to social responsibility. The UAE, where SR gained an increasing importance over the last 5 years, adopting SR within the strategic view of the federal government. Egypt, with SR enhancing, highlighting the launching of Egypt’s CSR Index in 2010; and Syria, with an unprecedented attention of SR concept supported by launching CSR Syria network. The report doesn’t cover 7 of the 22 Arab countries due to lack of information.

Of course some of this information can start discussions about various points of view. But till now, in a general perspective, we can summarize most of the information as follows:

-     - The Arab world encompasses some regions and a number of countries with huge potential for growth and wealth, as statistics show;

-     - Religious and culture aspects can enhance CSR growth, making it more natural to evolve;

-     - CSR evolution started somehow with west influence, through west companies, but rapidly Arab social responsibility took it own course.

But one of the aspects that call out my attention was an article published in The National, a newspaper from the UAE, had the following title: “Do your duty is the message to business in Emirates”. The article written by Neil Parmar, covered the 8^th CSR Summit in Dubai last April, and had an highlight that says «Companies urged to overcome cost fears and restore projects that help their employees». It called my attention because it focused on employees, it focused on employee’s related projects, and the need to concentrate efforts on that path. The author highlighted what experts were saying: «Businesses can start small socially responsible programmes by focusing on their own employees». And in the Summit’ advertising there was a phrase that means a lot in this theme, from Lebanese explorer Maxim Chaya: «there’s no profit without people or planet».

Just remember on so many CSR programmes, more focused on corporate priorities than on real Social Responsibility issues, some of them forgetting that organizations are about people and not profit, and if you still want to focus on profit, just remember Chaya’s phrase. Remember also that CSR can and should be based on values and culture values, and can even make some bridges with religious values, because their ultimately culture values. We can learn some much from others.

Bruno Slewinski
Orex SM | Sustainable Marketing
www.orexsm.yolasite.com

Public Business Social Responsibility

Social Responsibility issues can and must extrapolate beyond the business universe. It's not something only for the private business sector, it apllies also to the public business sector. But even within this universe there are not only matters of initiatives or intents, but issues related to social impact - positive or negative - of a company's business. It’s good to note that most of any organization’s activity has an impact on social level and beyond, of course. However much of this may seem obvious, but the reality is that even though we they talk about it, certainly do not practice it.
To better explain this idea I will illustrate using the context of the in Portugal at various levels, with some questions for reflection on their social impacts.
This past Thursday, October 13, the Portuguese Prime Minister, presented the new state budget, expressing a series of austerity measures, especially violent. The measures include reducing wages and cutting benefits, raising taxes, increasing the workload, among others. How to calculate - and it’s not necessary to know the country’s reality – the way measures such as these affect brutally most of population, or have consequences at the social level but also at the economy’s level.

Cases: 

A recent report, evaluating most of large public Portuguese companies - most of them with severe losses - found that the monthly costs per employee in 12 companies on average are 3.500 Euros. Other two were even above that salary average. Compared with the Portuguese gross average wage, which is 900 Euros, the issue can become shocking. But the problem is not in this comparison, but the finding that these companies do not have enough income to even support their personnel costs, much less all costs. Since this is an absurd on management logic, automatically infers an untenable situation.
Portuguese State and Portuguese families have in recent years living beyond their real financial resources, resulting in the country’s current situation.
In this example, if we think in social responsibility issues, we can see that these companies’ employees may even have good benefits and conditions, a minority in any way compared to the negative social impact caused by this business posture. These conditions are unrealistic, given the reality of the organization, cause an impact that goes far beyond the activity itself, upsetting expenses, and affecting taxpayers in general. Ultimately the benefit employees will suffer consequences sooner or later, as well as creating false expectations for themselves and others interested.

Another case, more international, related to the social impact of rating agencies. In Portugal’s case, with last rating downgrade, the country was faced with a 4 level fall. Not questioning directly the reasons for this decision, I’ll throw it for discussion, if these decisions should not consider their social impact?
Rating a company that pays to see their condition evaluated is one thing and has more limited impact. Now a country’s rating should be weighted differently, especially because of social issues. What is the Social Responsibility of these assessments and how can it be assessed? Does the impact of these decisions is really considered? Is it not time to start thinking about the social impact of activities that affect entire countries and populations? If the ratings are produced by default as a benchmark for investments and investors, shouldn’t the impact and risks be confined to this area? Probably it’s not possible, but the scope of rating agencies assessments should consider the actual impact of the decision, because the effects of the rating downgrade are always bigger, broader, beyond its financial, economic and social development.

One case, crossing recent Eurostat information, where it is pointed out that in 2010, Portugal has only five countries less productive, within the 27 European Union countries. This is even more relevant knowing that in Portugal people work more hours than the European average. Thus, one of the measures imposed by the current Portuguese government is the extension of working hours for the private sector. This has its advantages and can increase productivity and competitiveness. But the relevant SR issues on this subject are on both sides, from corporate responsibility for a change, to the workers who will have to become more aware of the importance of productivity. In the end, investing all in a mix of mutual or complementary responsibility.

Another case, also related to situations that can easily become unbalanced, in this case because instead of investing in means and tools for a sustainable and balanced way, on the contrary, means and conditions are provided for total neglect. This is the case of an audit report of the Court of Auditors on the management of Portuguese public hospitals administrators, which are referred to several questions about the wages system of the administration members. Soon, one of the issues is unclear which are to set their own fees, even if delimited by statute, but that are unable to manage sustainably, when the imbalance begins in them. Another is when some doctors of these hospitals receive more than double those administrators. Not being into question the fairness of certain people to make good, the question is, once again, the balance between revenue and costs/ expenses.
About social responsibility in the public sector, especially around ​​health, hospital management, when the priority seems to be the management and not to those who need aid. How can you put CSR at this level? What are the responsibilities?

Finally, please note that, in terms of justice, for the first time, authorities are speaking to find out who and what has been contributing to public accounts imbalance. Although it is still something in the intentions field, the way it is stated already, in itself, is extremely positive. Where possible, the problems cause identification and for itself, is a great way for Social Responsibility. 

The Obvious Revolution

Orex SM

www.orexsm.yolasite.com

Sustentabilidade ou Responsabilidade Social sem sentido...

Políticas de Sustentabilidade fazem sentido integradas no modelo de negócio, funcionando transversalmente à estrutura da organização.
De que valem iniciativas avulsas, muitas das quais sem ligação directa com a área de negócio e que não são, na maioria das vezes, simples acções de comunicação?
A Sustentabilidade pode ser o mote de comunicação, mas não fora de uma estratégia integrada, com objectivos bem definidos.
Empresas e organizações que comunicam ou identificam Sustentabilidade - ou mais correntemente, Responsabilidade Social - denotam na maioria dos casos um desconhecimento do que realmente estão a falar, porque nem sequer sabem bem qual o seu espaço, onde se encontram. Não sabendo bem qual o seu espaço, qual ou quais os seus impactes, como podem trabalhar realmente a Responsabilidade Social?

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Orex SM

www.orexsm.yolasite.com

Motivating: it's not all about the money

Browsing Fast Company's articles, looking for inspiration, but mostly for motivation, I found this excellent article from Harish R. Rao. The article, entitled "Want To Keep (And Motivate) Your Best Employees? It's Not About The Money" underscores some very good points about motivating employees, and it shows that it can be simpler than most HR professionals, chiefs and bosses all around.
The first thing it got my attention was the work plan for someone. Better a work-incentive plan! For where I come that's something abstract, very good in theory, but in practice gives too much trouble to write or think. 
Taking that point, in my opinion, if many companies or organizations would pick up their HR departments and started to look, really look to their employees, thinking on work plan for everyone, it make take some time, but surely it would be worth it. For example, in Portugal, there are still a lot of companies that look at employees simply as workforce, thinking in how are we going to pay them lesser and squeeze them for more work. In the overall, is that a good strategy?
Developing a work plan not only gives the employer a way to look to the employee in terms of objectives, in a strategic way, but gives goals to the employee, but also gives a good impression for him or her that the organization is looking to them, not as numbers, but persons with capabilities that can achieve certain objectives. Isn't that good?
The article also points towards incentives showing that money is just part of the equation. Incentives can go from "keep up the good work" - it tells the employee that someone in the company really looks at his work - to different and more develop incentives that don't involve money. 
There are many ways to motivate and keep a workforce motivated, but it also needs work. And a lot of leadership. A team reflects the leader. If you have a weak team, you'll have in most cases a weak leader. 
Think about it. Isn't not also CSR?

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Orex SM

The balance between CSR and Business

In few words, if prefer to look to CSR and business separately - I look at them integrated - you could try to balance them. 

First, it only makes sense if you think it strategically. Beside that, many people think that CSR or Corporate Responsability & Sustainability actions are somehow opposite to business practices. If you think in old business practices, maybe you can be a little right, but in overall point of view you're completely wrong. That's right!

The focus and the way to create value is not balancing CSR and CR&S against business, but finding ways to integrate and make them work together. Their joint-work can and will drive the whole organization towards success. 

So the focus should not be wasting time in thinking on how to balance this two subjects, but to search on how to work them in the same way.

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Do we need to educate business first?

Some insights about education and motivation within CSR. Can leaders go a little further and realize that are solutions a lot simpler, and that some of the solutions are in the organization, and the power and the strength to overcome obstacles and the fastest way to success is just there.

Great article from Aman Singh.

Forbes CSR blog

Waiting for Superman: Do We Need to Educate Businesses First?

Some reasons why CSR is so important

Vault.com
In good company: Vault's CSR Blog

4 Reasons Why You--and Your Team--Are Failing in Your Job 

Some reasons why is it a good choice to invest in CSR and Sustainability. But also why CSR is not only a marketing and communications resource. 

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Corporate Responsability & Sustainability

Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability (CR&S) is an expression that illustrates very well the whole concept of CSR and Sustainability issues. I saw this in Deloitte's Risk Intelligent series, in issue nº11. My point in this, without advertising or publicity problems attached, is not the name itself but the concept used and, more important, the way it's used.


In the last days I've been working on some CSR issues, thinking in some better ways of carrying out successfully CSR initiatives. Also, approaches to engagement problems and so on. But reading this white paper, I saw a paragraph that means a lot: «A strategically driven CR&S program can help improve operations, attract talent, promote positive public relations, enhance transparency and The risk intelligent approach to corporate responsibility & sustainability, accountability, streamline regulatory compliance, inspire supply chain partners, draw investors, energize stakeholders, heighten competitiveness, and, ultimately, boost the bottom line.»

Besides other things written, this paragraph tells a lot because gives an insite that many corporate managers don't see and do not realize. This gives us an insite also about how this kind of strategic programs have to be set up, involving the whole organization. Vision, involvement and engagement are, maybe, three of the most important aspects to keep in mind.

It's not enough to communicate intentions, campaigns and initiatives, reporting everything like it should, following and complying with every standard in the market. You have to “Walk the Talk”, but it's not enough to walk, you have to go faster. In nowadays we've been walking for a long time, and therefore wasting precious resources, giving away time and money. One of the fundamentals of sustainability issues is that organizations have to do more than simple comply with the law; they have to be more dynamic and proactive.

It’s not enough to promote CSR initiatives inside the organization but not to measure the engagement of the employees, because it was forgotten or for lack of information. CSR initiatives need to be implemented and integrated within. Integration is also one of the key factors. That’s the right way to promote programs that make sense, your employees understand, gets people more involved, and get communication flowing, allowing also the organization to know more and measure the engagement levels. This measuring is important in 3 perspectives. The first gives the organization information to know the level of engagement of the employees, and by that, getting information to develop the organization’s CSR. The second lets employees to know that the organization is interested in employee’s engagement, and also the commitment and effort of the company in it. The third one improves the company’s profile, in terms of reputation, brand awareness, operations, organizational engagement, efficient and a lot more.

And this is only the tipping point…

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Bons exemplos

Como os bons exemplos portugueses também chegam longe e podem servir, também eles, para demonstrar o que bom se faz por cá.
O artigo está publicado no site da norte-americana Forbes, no blog de CSR.

Translating CSR Can Mean A Battle Between Compliance and Engagement

The CSR Blog - Forbes

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