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Blog | Monday March 13, 2017

Preventing Violent Extremism: An Interview with Amy Cunningham, GCERF

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Amy Cunningham is a senior advisor at the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF), a Geneva-based public-private partnership and global fund working to support grassroots initiatives to prevent and counter violent extremism. A foreign policy professional who previously spent five years at a U.S. think tank working on issues related to human rights, security, and religious tolerance, Cunningham leads the fund’s private-sector engagement and supports its external relations and outreach.

She sat down with us to discuss how all stakeholders, particularly the private sector, can engage to provide positive alternatives that prevent vulnerable men, women, and youth from joining terrorist groups.  

Susan Winterberg: Why should business leaders focus on the issue of violent extremism?

Amy Cunningham: Violent extremism threatens not only the safety of citizens, but also economic development and investment. According to the 2016 Global Terrorism Index, the global economic impact of terrorism reached US$89.6 billion in 2015. Violent extremism affects business operations, disrupts markets and supply chains, depletes talent pools, inhibits investment, limits expansion, and curtails innovation. Additionally, it is important that the private sector take this issue seriously because, at times, their actions have inadvertently stoked community tensions or contributed to the ability of groups to perpetuate a violent narrative.

There is a misconception that violent extremism threatens only those companies with assets on the ground. In fact, violent extremism (including the presence of or threat from terrorist groups) prevents access to markets and hinders growth in all sectors. Certain industries have obvious interests in preventing violent extremism, such as extractives and agriculture, which are threatened by violence that erupts in the areas where they maintain personnel and property. For the tourism industry, revenues are twice as large (in terms of contributions to GDP) in countries where there have been no terrorist attacks. There are, however, many other industries that can play an important role in preventing violent extremism and that are also directly affected (food and beverage retailers, garment industry, construction, and technology, to name a few).

Winterberg: How is GCERF working with communities to promote inclusion as a means of preventing violent extremism?

Cunningham: From our work in Bangladesh, Kenya, Kosovo, Mali, and Nigeria, we know that political, social, economic, and other forms of marginalization can play a huge role in motivating a person toward adopting violent extremist narratives. For this reason, GCERF works diligently to promote inclusion and social harmony from the grassroots level upward.

Community cohesion is essential to strengthening resilience against violent extremism ("resilience" being the ability of community members to adapt and recover from violent extremist threats and attacks). For this reason, in each community we fund activities in, we prioritize raising awareness of the threat of violent extremism. To raise awareness, we support community dialogue programs that are inclusive of members of society who might otherwise not have the opportunity to engage with their peers and neighbors. For example, we fund network events for women and girls who might traditionally be excluded, interfaith dialogues to encourage peacebuilding, and gatherings to provide safe avenues for engagement and sharing of frustrations among civilians, law enforcement, and officials. An inclusive society, one where trust, transparency, and human dignity are prioritized, will prove more resilient—and, ideally, resistant—to the violent narratives and ideologies professed by terrorist groups.  

Winterberg: What opportunities are there for companies to become engaged in work on preventing violent extremism?

Cunningham: There is no shortage of opportunities for companies, large and small, to engage in preventing violent extremism. On the whole, the private sector is regarded as faster, more flexible, and more focused than the public sector and, therefore, has the potential to help stabilize at-risk communities, while simultaneously securing its own business operations. When encouraged and supported, enterprise can also take more risks, such as piloting ideas or innovating programs that might fail but still provide valuable lessons for all stakeholders.

We recognize that business can offer more than just financial resources. For example, companies have marketing and branding acumen that can help position and promote prevention of violent extremism objectives. Also, by virtue of working on the ground directly with—and within—local communities, they have intimate understanding of local contexts, cultures, and networks that governments and aid agencies may not. In our experience, some of the best private-sector engagement on this issue comes from communications, technology, and social media companies, which readily harness their internal expertise to produce or amplify content online that counters violent extremist narratives. Similarly, it is no secret that one way to curb the appeal of violent extremist groups is to provide positive, alternative opportunities to vulnerable individuals, such as job training and job creation—two things that the private sector has excelled in.

At GCERF, we frequently meet with dedicated and ethical business leaders who are genuinely committed to making a difference in the communities where they operate, but too often, their CSR objectives are nearsighted or lack a prevention of violent extremism “lens,” which is to say that they fail to appropriately consider fragile cultural contexts and the level of resilience within the community in advance of beginning programming. We are huge advocates for CSR, but we also think prevention of violent extremism should be considered when crafting core business strategies. After all, you can have security without development, but development without security won’t stand a chance.

To learn more about GCERF, visit the organization’s website, or download its annual report. 

Blog | Tuesday March 7, 2023

Fashion Industry’s Four Largest Women’s Empowerment Programs Form New Initiative RISE to Scale Impact

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BSR’s HERproject, Gap Inc., P.A.C.E, CARE, and Better Work have come together to form a new initiative called RISE: Reimagining Industry to Support Equality in order to scale impact and accelerate equality for women workers in global garment, footwear and home furnishings supply chains.

The launch of RISE, ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8, comes as greater support is needed for women workers. It is estimated 75 percent of the 60 million garment workers are women who may experience gender inequality, and instances of harassment or violence at work, among other systemic barriers to empowerment and gender equity (source: the ILO). The COVID-19 pandemic and an increasingly difficult financial environment add to mounting pressure on women workers.

RISE will support global brands to empower women workers in their garment, footwear and home furnishings supply chains and have a wider impact on promoting gender equality in the industry as a whole. RISE will pursue its mission through three core strategies: (1) strengthening knowledge and skills for factory workers and managers, (2) transforming business practices to include gender equality, and (3) influencing public policy and other key actors.

RISE will build on the proven approaches and expertise of the four founding partners, delivered through a growing network of local partners in Bangladesh, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, India, Egypt and Pakistan. A unified approach will make it easier and more efficient for industry and wider stakeholders to drive accelerated and lasting impact on gender equality. It will also improve efficiency through the coordination of activities, a shared data system, and eliminating duplication.

The four founding partner organizations already work with 50 of the world’s largest apparel, footwear and home furnishings brands and have reached more than five million women workers globally. The ambition is to increase this to up to 20 million workers over the next decade. Companies who are supporting the development of RISE include Abercrombie & Fitch Co., Aje and Aje Athletica, AEO Inc (American Eagle and Aerie), BESTSELLER, Boden, Capri Holdings, Carter’s, Columbia Sportswear Company, Dôen, Hanna Andersson, Gap Inc., Inditex, Macy’s Inc., Marks & Spencer, New Balance, Primark, PVH Corp., Ralph Lauren, Tapestry, Inc., Target, The Children’s Place, The Walt Disney Company, The Warehouse (NZ), Victoria’s Secret & Co., VF Corporation, Williams-Sonoma, Inc.

RISE’s capacity building workplace programs aim to increase women workers’ dignity and equality in the workplace, by changing both behaviors and systems. The programs expand women workers’ choices and their ability and confidence to pursue their rights and opportunities. The training also engages male managers and coworkers to challenge social norms in the workplace. Program topics range from life skills such as communication and problem solving, general and reproductive health, financial health and security, freedom from sexual harassment and gender-based violence, and women's advancement and leadership.

RISE goes beyond workplace programs to bring positive change to the whole industry and influence policy improvements. It includes workers’ voices and representation at every level from governance to project implementation, ensuring that the work responds to women workers' needs and priorities. RISE has broad stakeholder involvement at its governance: brands, suppliers, labor organizations and unions, and women's movements.

Brands, buyers and suppliers can become a member of RISE and invest in a workplace program in their garment supply chain. Programs are currently operating in Bangladesh, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, India, Egypt and Pakistan.

“It’s time to step up support for women workers in global garment supply chains. RISE will benefit from the proven approaches of its founding partners and go even further to reach more women, expand to more geographies and create more change. Brands and suppliers can join RISE straight away to take serious action towards gender equality,” said Christine Svarer, Executive Director, RISE.

“In joining together to establish RISE, our industry can leverage the strongest elements from each of our proven empowerment programs to have deeper, broader and more consistent impact for the women who work in our supply chains,” said Sally Gilligan, Chief Growth Transformation Officer, Gap Inc. on behalf of Gap Inc. P.A.C.E.

"CARE is excited to be part of this collaborative effort to transform the apparel industry. RISE will bring together stakeholders across the industry—brands, suppliers, women's rights organizations and unions - to achieve systemic change driven by women’s voices," said Lona Stoll, VP Innovation and Impact, CARE.

“Joining BSR’s HERproject with other leading women’s empowerment programs is the logical and necessary next step to take these proven solutions to scale. As a combined force, RISE can navigate through the complex issues of gender equality in global garment supply chains and deliver real action and impact for both businesses and women workers,” said Aron Cramer, President and CEO, BSR.

“The potential of this partnership to influence change at all levels from the enterprise up is unparalleled, as it brings together such a wide range of brands and retailers, and industry stakeholders that all agree about the importance of collaborating to improve working conditions for women, particularly in the garment sector,” said Conor Boyle, Officer in Charge, Better Work.

Better Work is a partnership between the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group. Better Work promotes decent work and better business in the garment industry.

CARE is an international humanitarian organization fighting global poverty and world hunger by working alongside women and girls.

Gap Inc. P.A.C.E. program provides women and girls in the global apparel industry the opportunity to thrive with foundational life skills, technical training and support to advance at work, in their lives, and in their communities.

HERproject is a BSR collaborative initiative that strives to empower low-income women working in global supply chains. Bringing together global brands, their suppliers, and local NGOs, HERproject drives impact for women and business via workplace-based interventions on health, financial inclusion, and gender equality.

Blog | Tuesday April 19, 2022

Navigating Emerging Ethical Issues: Lessons from Bioethics, Tech, and Human Rights

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The healthcare sector has constantly grappled with ethical questions at the cutting edge of regulation. This is often the case in the field of bioethics—the study of and response to the moral and ethical questions arising from the research, development, sale, and clinical use of pharmaceutical and healthcare products and associated technologies. How far should we go to save someone’s life? Is it fair to experiment on certain groups of people? Established principles and rules on bioethics (e.g., autonomy, beneficence, informed consent), together with a growing body of industry guidelines, have helped companies to navigate these questions. 

However, the exponential speed of research and biotechnology development presents healthcare companies with ever more complex ethical questions. This challenge has been amplified by the convergence between healthcare and data, technology, as well as growing public scrutiny of the corporate response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

To effectively identify and manage arising issues, companies need robust policies, governance structures and risk management processes—as well as a strong organizational culture. 

A human rights-based approach provides a strong foundation for addressing ethical issues. Drawing on BSR’s work with healthcare and tech companies, and our expertise in applying human rights frameworks to businesses’ ethical challenges, this blog shares some insights on best practices for managing emerging ethical issues in a corporate context.

The Challenge of Uncertainty

What do we mean by emerging ethical issues? This could be any decision or activity that raises new ethical questions of “right and wrong” and challenges a company to define “what kind of company are we?”  Are we comfortable enabling an elderly person’s loved ones to always track their location? Should we pursue a marketing strategy even if it excludes certain people?

Such emerging ethical issues have common characteristics: the actual or potential impacts are not well or fully understood, and regulation and existing policies don’t provide all the answers. The public may not even know yet where it stands, as we’ve seen recently on the question of vaccinating children against COVID-19 or deploying facial recognition in public spaces. Caught between the precautionary principle (“stop until we know it’s safe”) and the pressure to innovate—and with limited time to decide in the face of exponential change—companies must find a way to navigate ethical uncertainty. 

Lead with “Tone from the Top” and Inspire “Bottom-Up” Engagement  

Leadership is essential to set a company’s ambition beyond legal compliance and drive required action. But this is most effective when combined with the engagement of employees, who will need to identify and address emerging ethical issues on a day-to-day basis. We’ve seen the positive impact of CEOs addressing employees directly and honestly on a company’s challenges and building employees’ ethical “muscle” memory via internal “ambassador” networks and informal group discussions on ethical topics.

Healthcare companies—and other companies adopting mission-driven purposes—have the advantage that their employees and leaders tend to be motivated by the company’s societal mission and thus predisposed to engaging on emerging ethical issues. Seize it.

Adopt a Cross-Functional Approach

Emerging ethical issues, especially where healthcare and tech are concerned, do not fit neatly within the defined lines of corporate functions. A new medical device may raise questions about data ethics, public policy around access to healthcare, and end-of-life disposal. A cross-functional approach is required to ensure companies approach emerging ethical issues in an informed way that benefits from multiple perspectives. 

Leading healthcare and tech companies do this well by convening a range of expert voices on their external bioethics advisory committees (including philosophers, theologists, and sociologists) or organizing internal working groups that bring together different functions (e.g., compliance, privacy, research and development, human rights) to identify and discuss appropriate responses to potential emerging ethical issues across the business.

Anchor in Enterprise Risk Frameworks 

Companies should consider their “ethics and compliance” risks in a proactive and future-looking way and include emerging ethical issues (that may not yet present legal or compliance risks) into their enterprise risk management (ERM) frameworks. Although we are seeing progress toward ERM frameworks integrating “ethical” risks to people and the planet beyond legal compliance risks, there is still a ways to go.

In practice, anchoring responsibility for emerging ethical issues in business ethics and compliance functions can enable greater reach and impact across the company by leveraging the established relationships, governance structures, and engagement resources of these risk management functions. A strong and strategically minded ethics and compliance function can also help raise awareness around emerging ethical issues at executive and board levels.

Be Open and Engage External Perspectives

Transparency and open engagement with external experts and stakeholders lead to more informed and accountable positions that avoid groupthink. Advisory boards with external experts are a common feature of healthcare companies and have inspired the development of digital ethics boards in tech companies. It is important to bring independent expertise and external perspectives into a company’s decision-making process, which can also be achieved through ad hoc bilateral engagement with experts and/or through industry and multistakeholder collaborations. 

A recent BSR project revealed that healthcare companies don’t talk about their bioethics challenges externally in the open way we’ve increasingly seen on other environmental and social topics. Tech companies have learned the hard way and are now showing signs of greater transparency regarding what dilemmas they face and how they are resolving them. Healthcare and other companies would do well not to wait for a similar crisis in trust to pivot to a more open culture—as the COVID-19 response has prompted some to do already. 

To maximize the benefits of healthcare and new technologies for society, companies will need strong governance structures and organizational culture to identify and address emerging ethical dilemmas as they arise. The insights in this blog should help build a more resilient business in today’s rapidly changing context, as well as meet growing regulatory and stakeholder expectations on managing social and environmental impacts.

Blog | Wednesday May 5, 2021

Companies Can and Should Act to Prevent Gun Violence

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In the U.S., we have seen that it’s possible to go to work—be it at a retail store, a corporate office, a distribution center, a grocery store—on an otherwise normal day and never come home to your family.

Far too many Americans have experienced gun violence: 58 percent of American adults or someone they care for have experienced gun violence in their lifetime. On average, more than 100 Americans are killed with guns every day, and hundreds more are wounded. Even if you avoid death and injury from a workplace shooting, the trauma endures. 

Many companies may see the issue of gun violence as falling outside their sphere of responsibility and influence. However, companies have a responsibility to provide safe working environments for their employees—something they cannot reasonably guarantee given the current state of gun violence in the U.S.

At the same time, gun violence costs taxpayers, businesses, survivors, families, and communities US$280 billion per year—on top of the immeasurable emotional costs. For employers, this is US$1.4 million a day lost in productivity, revenue, and costs associated with gun violence.

Companies have a responsibility to provide safe working environments for their employees—something they cannot reasonably guarantee given the current state of gun violence in the U.S.

Companies are already taking public stands on and working to address other issues intricately linked to gun violence, such as mental health—nearly two-thirds of gun deaths are suicides—and domestic violence—on average every month, 53 American women are shot to death by an intimate partner, and many more are shot and wounded. These issues have only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, making business action on the issues and gun violence all the more relevant.

Companies can and should work to protect their employees and the communities they operate in from gun violence by:

Understanding how your business impacts gun violence. Firearm manufacturers and retailers aren’t the only ones that should act to prevent gun violence. Companies from across industries should understand how their business may have an impact. This can range from directly manufacturing or selling firearms, investments in or business relationships with firearms manufacturers, operating restaurants and retail locations where firearms can be carried or where employees are at a greater risk of gun violence, or media and advertising practices that might promote gun violence, among others. All companies, no matter the size or sector, can impact gun safety and help to prevent gun violence in the U.S.

Raising awareness with your employees and consumers on the impacts of gun violence. National Gun Violence Prevention Day takes place on June 4 this year and is an opportune time to increase awareness among staff, consumers, business partners, and communities. In addition, companies can provide support to employees and their families who are victims of gun violence through mental health benefits. Business can also offer educational and volunteer opportunities for employees with local gun violence prevention partners.

Advocating for common-sense gun safety legislation, which has broad support from Americans across the political spectrum, at the state and national levels. Companies can use their influence to make an impact on policy through direct relationships and conversations with legislators on this issue. Businesses can also ensure their financial support is going to politicians who support legislation that will make their employees and their families safer. This includes assessing their company’s involvement in industry groups that publicly or financially support policymakers who advocate against gun safety policies.

Gun violence may seem like a problem without a solution. But it’s not.

Research from Everytown for Gun Safety, the largest U.S. gun violence prevention network, has shown how simple policy changes such as strengthening our background check laws can save lives and protect families and communities. While these changes may seem politically divisive, 92 percent of Americans support background checks for gun sales.

The U.S. Senate is poised to address gun safety in the coming weeks, with expected action on background checks, and now is the time to take action. Corporate America’s support is critical on this issue. If you are interested in learning about how your company can support this effort or work to prevent gun violence more broadly, please join the upcoming webinar on January 19, 2022, from 11:00 am - 12:00 pm EST. Feel free to connect with our team to learn more as well.

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Case Studies | Sunday June 13, 2010

Alcatel-Lucent's CSR Council Embeds Sustainability Into Core Strategy

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The Challenge

Information and communications technology (ICT) plays a critical role in enabling the transition to a low-carbon economy—and, increasingly, investors, consumers, and NGOs expect ICT companies to step up to the challenge. Alcatel-Lucent, a world leader in high-tech equipment for telecommunications networks, wanted to meet not just these expectations, but also to embed a strategy to anticipate future sustainability requirements.

Alcatel-Lucent’s newly appointed CEO Ben Verwaayen called for bold sustainability objectives that would be integrated into the company’s long-term business strategy. Verwaayen wanted to enable and inspire employees to lead, test the limits of what is physically and financially possible for the business, and define new concepts for growth and value creation. To meet these goals, Alcatel-Lucent turned to BSR to develop and guide the company’s advisory body to focus the company’s sustainability strategy, develop initiatives, and deploy them to the company’s more than 77,000 employees in 130 countries worldwide.

Our Strategy

BSR worked with Alcatel-Lucent to set up and manage the CSR Council, an advisory board comprising C-level executives from each of Alcatel-Lucent’s four business units as well as external sustainability experts. Aligning its focus with the company’s most material sustainability issues, such as climate change and the role of ICT as an enabler for other companies to reduce their carbon emissions, the council sets CSR priorities and goals, reviews progress, and provides perspective on potential risks and opportunities related to emerging social and environmental issues.

We participated as one of two external experts in the council’s quarterly meetings, leading discussions, sharing insights from our experience in key markets, and challenging assumptions. In addition, we provided support to the council activities by helping:

• Design the CSR Council and its governance based on a review and analysis of other similar efforts.
• Shape strategic priorities based on research and analysis of a range of market trends, and the role of innovation in sustainability within the sector.
• Define the company’s 2020 goals on issues such as climate change and CSR in the supply chain through dialogue with sustainability leaders inside the company.
• Refine the concept underpinning Green Touch, a consortium that brings Alcatel-Lucent together with other leaders in industry, academia, and government labs. The initiative is designed to invent and deliver radical new approaches to energy efficiency that will help transition the world to a low-carbon economy.

Out Impact

Not long after the formation of the CSR Council, the strategy began yielding results. For example, Alcatel-Lucent has committed to reducing its carbon footprint by 50 percent of 2008 levels by 2020. To achieve this goal, the company is taking measures that involve the entire workforce and the full range of its activities, from facility operations and logistics to information technology and business travel.

Case Studies | Thursday March 28, 2024

Supporting Business Implementation of the UNGC Women’s Empowerment Principles

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Introduction

The United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) Network USA supports companies in doing business responsibly by aligning their strategies and operations with the Ten Principles on human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption. As part of this work, the UNGC Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) launched the Target Gender Equality Program (TGE), a gender equality accelerator program for companies. BSR worked with the UNGC to engage TGE participants on developing a global approach to gender equality that aligns efforts to promote company-specific strategies for improving women’s empowerment across countries, brands, and teams with wider sustainability targets and strategies in mind.

Background

The UN estimates that it will take close to 300 years to achieve full gender equality at the current rate of progress. While many companies are making top-level commitments to women’s empowerment and gender equality, few have matched commitments with concrete plans integrated throughout the business.

To guide businesses on empowering women and advancing gender equality in the workplace, marketplace, and community, the UNGC and UN Women developed the WEPs in 2010. In the same year, the UNGC and UN Women worked with the Multilateral Investment Fund of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and IDB Invest to develop the Women’s Empowerment Principles Gender Gap Analysis Tool (WEPs Tool).

Used by companies committed to advancing gender equality, the Tool offers a structured framework to assess practices against the seven Women’s Empowerment Principles. Each principle is accompanied by indicators and scoring criteria, with higher scores reflecting stronger commitments to gender equality. With these scores, companies can track progress, set targets, and demonstrate their dedication to stakeholders. The tool also provides resources for implementing best practices.

The Challenge

The UNGC launched the Target Gender Equality Program to assist companies in “developing and implementing corporate sustainability strategies, operations, and management practices” in line with the Ten Principles. The program consists of six modules, aiming to empower TGE cohort companies to be able to draft targets and action plans for gender equality. Companies range from small- and medium-sized enterprises to multi-national corporations.  

BSR, whose work focuses on implementing many of the Ten Principles, partnered with the UNGC in 2010 and has supported its activities in multiple ways over the last decade. Consequently, the UNGC enlisted the expertise of BSR in engaging with TGE cohort companies on gender equality.

BSR’s Response

BSR provided support for the first two TGE program modules, 1) Foundations and Frameworks and 2) Performance Analysis. These focused on defining the business case for gender equality, raising awareness of the WEPs Analysis Tool, identifying the current gaps and opportunities for companies, and how best to identify priority areas and support implementation.   

BSR’s Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (EIJ) team delivered:

• Workshops entitled Introduction to WEPs and Transition to WEPs Strategy, as well as Strategy Toolkit materials, including guidance on design, position, and roadmap strategy
• BSR’s Benchmarking Toolkit, including a template and criteria for selecting benchmark companies
• One-on-one company support sessions with TGE cohort companies, including review of WEPs results and benchmark assessments

BSR supported the 2023 TGE cohort companies in the following ways:

• Evaluation of each company’s maturity by understanding:
  • Relevant standards and frameworks for WEPs;
  • Current business strategy and management approach to WEPs; and
  • Relevant trends and potential disruptors within “peer” landscape. 
• Review of the scope of each company’s WEPs strategy to determine WEPs priorities and potential impact.
• Provision of guidance and key insights on building a robust WEPs strategy, position of company in benchmarking exercise, and how to build a strategy roadmap.  

Lessons

“The accelerator helped our team learn the skills we needed to implement this work into our own company. By meeting regularly as a group in the accelerator, it gave us the time and opportunity to learn from other outside businesses and BSR how we compare.”

-Christa Svensson, Global Sustainability Program Manager, and Monika Pabon, North America HR Manager, Tri-Marine International Pte. Ltd.

BSR observed the following learnings after engaging with TGE cohort companies:

• Joining a global community of like-minded business and expert stakeholders committed to women's empowerment helps companies take action. ​
• Having a global standard defining “what good looks like” for WEPs can help align industries and individual company commitments across leadership, workforces, marketplaces, and communities. ​
• Tools such as the Benchmark Assessments and WEPs Tool are key in understanding company performance and determining what leadership looks like. ​
• The majority of TGE companies are classified as “improvers” in the WEPs Tool results, meaning that companies are setting ambitions and applying key learnings and insights to build their own WEPs strategy.

"The workshops conducted by BSR have been instrumental in equipping our participating companies with comprehensive insights into the Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs) and other essential gender equality concepts. The workshops on introducing the WEPs and the Transition to WEPs have played a pivotal role in equipping our companies with fundamental knowledge.

This foundational understanding has served as a cornerstone in the development of comprehensive and resilient corporate gender strategies. The implementation of the WEPs Benchmarking Tool and Guidance has been a cornerstone in solidifying our representatives' commitment to gender equality. Particularly noteworthy are the one-to-one company support sessions offered by BSR, which provided a structured platform for representatives from participating companies to seek personalized guidance on pertinent questions.

BSR's unwavering dedication to fostering gender equality is evident throughout our collaboration. Their professionalism and commitment have been manifested in every facet of the program, and the support provided thus far is deeply appreciated."

-Claudia Herbert Colfer, Head of Programming, UN Global Compact Network USA

Conclusion

More than 6,000 CEOs have signed the WEPs CEO Statement of Support. However, companies still need to take the necessary next steps to meet those commitments by implementing, monitoring, and reporting on progress toward gender equality.

Among the companies that participate in the TGE accelerator program, there are signs of progress. Globally, companies’ average score from using the tool increased to 32 percent from 28 percent, indicating increased efforts by businesses to promote gender equality. However, much of that progress is limited to company commitments. While 78 percent of companies using the tool have made a commitment to gender equality, up from 68 percent in 2020, levels of implementation, measurement, and transparency remain severely low (between 1 and 2 percent on average). This shows the need for more accelerated, urgent, and impactful change.

Companies committed to setting more ambitious targets at an accelerated pace can join the ForwardFaster Initiative of the UNGC. This initiative focuses on five key areas—including gender equality—where the private sector can collectively make the biggest, fastest impact by 2030. For companies seeking to advance gender equity within their operations and beyond, BSR offers support in strategy development based on UNGC WEPs scores, benchmarking against other peers, and bespoke services to close the gender gap.

“BSR is proud to have been a partner of the UN Global Compact from the very day it was launched. In a world where we see good but insufficient progress toward achieving the objectives in the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals, UNGC is an important rallying point for businesses in all corners of the world.”

Aron Cramer, CEO and President of BSR

Get in Touch

This case study was written by Felicity Butler and Welela Makonnen. If your team is also interested in better understanding the human rights landscape and gender equality as well as defining target gender equity goals and strategy, please reach out to learn more.

Blog | Tuesday February 13, 2024

The Sustainability Leader Checklist for 2024

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2024 is set to be yet another year of polycrises: violent conflicts, turbulent geopolitics, fractured societies, extreme weather, and unharnessed AI, to name just a few. The difficult news waves will cross the CEO’s desk and land on the laps of the Sustainability team, in conjunction with other teams. How you as a sustainability professional interpret these conflicts will be critical—both to your mental health, and the health of the company.

The sustainability leader’s job, broadly stated, is to chart a transformation that will deliver results, and build resilience, in a turbulent economy. It requires both mastery of the company’s core value proposition, and vigilance on external events. But it also requires facing the myriad tensions inherent in the sustainability remit. These start with the existential angst of internalizing what the current (climate, nature, fill-in-the-blank) crises portend for the viability of our economy and society—while at the same time responding to near-term issues like new mandatory disclosure requirements with C-suite accountability. 

A second conundrum is how to establish ambition on issues like climate, nature and human rights. Anchoring goals in past practices can make them achievable but insufficient; scaling them to the scope of the problem can be logistically overwhelming—or so detractors will argue.

This introduces organizational capacity. A company fortunate enough to have a robust, competent team might be tempted to deploy it in the name of efficiency. The danger is leaving the rest of the company behind; in effect, missing an opportunity to build capacity. A related question: When should a sustainability leader take a stand internally and externally, and when should they lean back or ask permission?

While all executives face challenges, few have implications for the future of humanity. And few are as new to the executive table. The combination of diverse, serious issues and a lack of organizational muscle memory can prevent companies from acting expeditiously. Instead, they crescendo into crisis, putting companies at a disadvantage and sustainability leaders at risk of burnout.

If this sounds familiar, consider these 3 steps: 

1: Start with yourself 

A wise rabbi once advised me, “If you want to change the world, think in concentric circles—starting with yourself. How will you model the change you want to see? Then, how might you cascade it to your network, your community, and beyond?”

Here’s a way to start:

• Self-assess. Are you getting enough sleep, nutrition, exercise, “downtime”? If not, fix it. Sanity and health are essential to the kind of change you seek to lead. 

• Name it. The stresses are real. Existential angst? Disruptive co-worker? Precise diagnoses lead to better solutions.

• Prioritize your goals. Find quiet time to think through what you need to accomplish. What does “good” look like? What’s essential, and what’s nice to have? What roadblocks need to be overcome?

• Take account of your assets. Outdated assumptions, rigid practices, and a lack of actionable information often stall corporate action. Consider how you might leverage personal attributes, structural opportunities (the corporate cadence of budgeting, risk assessment, investor meetings, etc.), and external events and actors as resources.

• Reframe the narrative. Many of the key pivot points in sustainability stem from reframing the narrative. Revisit yours. Is it fit for purpose, given your newly refined goals? 

2: Consolidate your Braintrust

Sustainability leaders have a lonely job. Few colleagues have had prior experience, and help can come with strings. You need a braintrust: like-minded professionals who can offer perspective, advice and the occasional pushback.

The braintrust I built in Hong Kong was called "The Breakfast Club”. Over tea and muffins, we shared market insights, confronted challenges and built career paths. Projects were born and catastrophes were avoided. Most importantly, we became each other’s go-to for the professional support we all craved. 

You don’t need a formal convening. Build a roster of confidants, including:

• Trusted advisors with whom you can debrief and detox—and then refocus and ideate.

• Sustainability practitioners to share, strategize, and iteratively support you as you navigate the process ahead.

• An opt-in network, ideally managed externally, providing expertise and a safe space to explore new ideas. BSR is uniquely suited for this purpose; provides an external perspective, invaluable to sense-check market observations and ground-truth operational strategies, intersectional expertise, with depth in both core issues and the critical interfaces (e.g. climate and justice, nature and supply chain); a focus on critical intersectional issues, such as its host of Collaborative Initiatives and exploration of Beyond Growth strategies.

3: Prepare your Pitch

A dog trainer once told me that canines need to hear something 75 times to learn it. The estimate for people varies from far less to far more.

Prepare your pitch and be able to tailor it. You’ll know it’s working when you start hearing your words emanate from others. Here are some tips:

• Frame it. A succinct framing of the ambition, in a manner that resonates with your audience, provides an essential common point of reference.

• Bound it. There’s a difference between riding a wave and boiling the ocean. Demonstrating that distinction can earn you trust – and enough interest from your stakeholders to continue the conversation.

• Identify big goals. How you define your goals will have a bearing on which competencies, and colleagues, will be needed to achieve it. Consider your resources, and those you can influence. Then think about what it would take to institutionalize change. How might you optimize your resources and network to achieve the ambition you framed?

• Propose a process. This was a big takeaway from my tenure leading sustainability in Asia for German chemical manufacturer BASF. Starting with the ‘right’ answer pressures colleagues to respond right away—and can end in disagreement or de-prioritization. But initiating a process allows them to opt in, or—implicitly—stay out of the way. A well-designed process yields a shared understanding of the challenges, priorities, and options, and coalesces toward a plan. Does this take more time? Yes. Use that time to loop back, with your team and your braintrust, to test assumptions and course-correct. The result: a better chance of organizational alignment (and forward movement).

2024 is set to be a rough news year. Taking a renewed approach can help you surf the oncoming waves—and redirect that energy into impact for your company, value chain, and industry.

Blog | Wednesday April 20, 2022

Four Ways to Advance Mental Well-Being in the Workplace

Preview

As employees gain some respite from the pandemic through the protection offered by vaccines, the mental health issues exacerbated by the pandemic persist among American workers, particularly low-income and frontline workers. In our 2021 blog post on workers’ mental health and our corresponding Roadmap to Promote Mental Well-Being and Resilience, we note that mental health has been a rising concern in the US over the last decade. In fact, it has become such an important public health issue that its impact on the US population—especially in the context of equitable access to mental health services through employment—must be addressed. 

BSR’s new report, “Tailoring Mental Health Efforts for Low-Income and Frontline Workers,” identifies concrete measures that employers can take to protect the mental health of essential workers.

“Mental health is an integral part of health; indeed, there is no health without mental health.”

—World Health Organization

Workers have experienced increasing levels of stress due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Employers often recognize that these challenges negatively impact productivity, absenteeism, and turnover. Despite this, many businesses are still at the stage of determining the mix of mental health offerings to meet the varying needs of an entire diverse workforce, including those of low-income and frontline workers. BSR’s Healthy Business Coalition, in partnership with One Mind at Work, has determined key aspects of an effective workforce mental health program that meets the needs of diverse groups and ensures health equity and inclusion.

The Role of Business

While many employers have begun to respond by deepening investments in workplace mental health and advancing culture change, their efforts are not universal, nor have they led to enough impact for frontline and low-income workers. 71 percent of employers with frontline employees rate themselves as supporting mental health well or very well, but only 27 percent of frontline employees agree.

Why Frontline and Low-Income Workers?

Businesses have made progress on addressing the mental health issues of the average employee. Even so, the needs of frontline and low-income workers are not like those of the average employee. Low-income and essential workers are more likely to experience depression and anxiety. They face time and resource constraints, and their job functions often result in increased stress levels. Essential workers often fear discriminatory treatment and job insecurity if they speak up. Given their circumstances, it is critical that low-income and frontline workers can access corporate mental health offerings. 

Four Ways Employers Can Advance the Mental Well-Being and Resilience of Employees

1. Embed Mental Health into the Organizational Culture

• Develop a holistic mental health response to reach all employee populations.
• Examine how current ways of working can exacerbate risk factors for poor mental health. 
• Approach mental health as a collective priority rather than placing responsibility for action on the individual.
• Build organization-wide policies and programs that tackle stigma and build empathy, such as mental health teams and formal accountability mechanisms.

2. Connect a Broad Continuum of Solutions Rather than a “One-Size-Fits-All” Approach

• Recognize that the mental health support resources offered to corporate executives may not meet the needs of low-income and frontline workers.
• Provide an array of approaches that match employee preferences, needs, and access points, such as providing services to those without access to a computer.
• Provide the flexibility for employees to engage based on their own preferences, schedules, and experiences.

3. Find and Integrate the Right Digital Tools

• Offer virtual behavior health services (known for being flexible and affordable) to low-income and frontline workers.
• Provide digital mental health tools to help address geographic, cultural, network, cost, and time constraints. 
• Find what works specifically for your employees and embed those solutions into a broader mental health strategy.

4. Equip Leaders to Be Active Players

• Empower leaders at all levels with authority, resources, and training to shape an organizational culture that recognizes and supports mental health.
• Provide additional education to line managers on how to support low-income and frontline workers.

Opportunities for Business

The work environment is a major social determinant of health. Companies are directly impacted by the health of their workforce and are uniquely positioned to improve their mental well-being. We encourage companies to make mental health a business imperative and prioritize the mental health of their most marginalized and high-risk employees. 

At the Healthy Business Coalition, we are interested in understanding your company’s primary concerns and challenges facing mental health in the workplace. We can work with you to review current practices and initiatives with the goal of sharing best practices and spurring collective action. We encourage you to reach out with any questions or to find out how to get involved.

Blog | Tuesday July 25, 2017

The State of Sustainable Business in 2017: Results from the Ninth Annual BSR/GlobeScan Survey

Preview

Just how much change can happen in one year? The past 12 months have been incredibly volatile, with political, economic, technological, social, and environmental disruptions creating both challenges and opportunities for companies. BSR and GlobeScan’s State of Sustainable Business Survey 2017—our ninth annual survey of BSR members—explores what these changes mean for sustainable business.

The great news is that BSR members remain steadfast in their commitment to sustainability and recognize that business must play the leading role in advancing sustainability in the future. The question, therefore, is: How can business lead in this dynamic environment?

The State of Sustainable Business Survey, released today, includes responses from nearly 300 business leaders representing 151 global companies—more than 60 percent of BSR’s global membership network.

Interestingly, when asked about priorities for the sustainability function in 2025, most respondents said they expect to focus on the same kind of activities they are addressing today. But given the rapid pace of change, this will not be enough. To address the needs of 2025, businesses will need to evolve their sustainability efforts. Today’s incremental approach to improvements will be insufficient. 

The world is changing, and to keep pace, sustainability strategies must as well.

For example, less than a quarter of respondents said they believe addressing implications for workers due to automation/technology will be a high priority. Yet we know that labor is undergoing a profound transformation across nearly every sector, from retail to manufacturing. This means current activities on worker rights will need to change dramatically. Similarly, only 16 percent of survey participants said that responding to crises will be a high priority, and only a third said they believe scenario planning will be important.

At BSR, we believe both activities will be essential for sustainability teams. It is time to redefine sustainable business with a new agenda, a new approach, and a new voice. 

As we think about redefining sustainable business for the future, we know that it will include different issues and different partners. In terms of issues, it has become clear that basic economic fairness must be intertwined with sustainability. That’s why BSR is working with business to drive a more inclusive economy—one that enables all individuals and communities to participate in, benefit from, and contribute to the economy.

We were pleased to see that nearly two-thirds of respondents are prioritizing inclusive growth within their companies—a 7 percent increase over last year. Yet that means that one-third of respondents still have not made the connection between sustainable business and inclusive growth. And even among those who have, there is a huge opportunity to invest in areas that will drive the most impact. For example, 78 percent of those companies place low or no priority on locating facilities in areas of high unemployment, and only 14 percent place a high priority on influencing governments for more inclusive public policy. Last week, my colleague Susan Winterberg shared some great examples of how business can lead on driving inclusive growth, from improving retail jobs to impact sourcing.

In terms of different partners, sustainability practitioners have long focused on external collaboration and engagement, with peer companies, NGOs, multilaterals, and others. These partnerships have been critical in creating systemic change. But there is a clear opportunity for companies to integrate sustainability across more internal functions. This is happening in some companies, especially with CEOs and supply chain or procurement teams, but not with some critical internal functions. More than 60 percent of respondents state that customers/consumers, investors, employees, and governments influence their sustainability agenda. Yet those same respondents are not integrating with the key internal partners most likely to influence those key stakeholders. For example, less than 10 percent of respondents prioritize close partnerships with marketing, investor relations, or public affairs. And they prioritize human resources, at 12 percent, only slightly more.

While every organization has its own unique structure, deeper partnership inside companies with these key functions will be essential to achieve greater progress. For example, Intel’s corporate responsibility team has worked for many years with investor relations and corporate governance to drive an integrated approach with investors on ESG. And BSR’s Sustainable Lifestyles Frontier Group—AT&T, eBay, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc., McDonald’s, and Walmart—recently published "Big Brands, Big Impact: A Marketer’s Guide to Behavior Change."

As we get ready for BSR’s 25th Anniversary Conference, I look forward to discussing how companies can redefine sustainable business to meet the challenges of the future, and how we can rethink our approach to change inside and outside companies. 

We have finally reached the point where there is no question if business will lead. Now we must answer how. 

Case Studies | Monday September 19, 2022

Climate Scenarios with the National Association of Corporate Directors

Preview

In June 2022, BSR and the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) collaborated on a joint climate scenarios workshop for NACD’s Climate Continuous Learning Cohort, a group of approximately 50 current and future corporate directors. The workshop demonstrated the potential and value of climate scenarios to navigate climate risks and opportunities for boards in an era of increased transparency and duty of care.

Context

NACD is a member organization for corporate directors aiming to expand their knowledge, grow their network, and maximize their potential. It has worked with members for over 40 years to help improve their performance and create long-term value for their businesses. In March 2022, NACD launched a Climate Continuous Learning Cohort, a year-long learning initiative for peers to connect, share knowledge, and learn from each other. The program offers thought leadership in collaboration with NACD's community of experts, leading directors, and trailblazing companies to advance climate proficiency in the boardroom.

The Challenge

Boards are increasingly aware that addressing climate change is essential to building resilient business strategies. The energy transition, commodity costs and availability, extreme weather disruptions, climate justice, regulatory shifts—all have the potential to pose existential risks and provide opportunities for business.

Investors are shining a spotlight on these risks, like when the world’s largest asset managers call on boards to oversee climate disclosures or when the largest banks implement aggressive plans for decarbonization and climate risk management. Regulators and standards-setters around the world are also stepping up expectations for boards, often in alignment with recommendations from the Task Force for Climate-Related Financial Disclosure (TCFD). The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (EU CSDDD), the Japanese Financial Services Agency, and others are all poised to implement mandatory corporate climate disclosures that lodge responsibility for oversight with boards.

In light of both the growing urgency of climate change on the board agenda and the prevailing lack of climate expertise on boards, NACD reached out to BSR to collaborate on a climate scenarios workshop, based on our sustainability and board advisory expertise, our work on futures and scenario planning, and the reach of our global membership.

BSR’s Response

Building on work by the Network for Greening Financial Services, BSR tailored three scenarios to imagine potential versions of the world in 2030 and what they would mean for a fictive healthcare company. (While BSR typically facilitates customized scenarios workshops for participants from a single company, BSR adapted the approach to train directors from multiple businesses.) The scenarios addressed direct climate impacts as well as cross-cutting social, technological, economic, environmental, and political factors. NACD workshop participants collaborated to discuss risks and opportunities that each scenario would pose for the healthcare company. 

BSR facilitators then led the group into the most crucial part of the conversation: If the participants were on the board of the healthcare company, what steps would they take to govern the company for future success and resilience across all scenarios? 

Participants shared ideas for enhancing the board’s composition, structure, strategic engagement, oversight, and accountability measures. They identified questions for management and for boards to consider.

Examples of questions from the Board to management included:

• How might climate-related developments affect our business model and value chain? What alternative business models or approaches can be used to mitigate climate risk and unlock value?
• How ambitious do we want to be and when? What are the advantages/disadvantages of being an early vs. late mover?
• What are our biggest climate risk areas? How does this fit into enterprise risk management?
• How are we preparing for new reporting guidance (EU CSRD, CSDDD, SEC, ISSB, etc.)?

Examples for the Board included:

• How do we ensure a threshold of climate and ESG knowledge across all board members? How can we embed climate/ESG across all board committee charters?
• Do we have the right skills to address climate, including how it relates to existing focus areas such as policy, supply chain, geopolitics, etc.?
• Do we have access to insights from outside experts and stakeholder perspectives?
• How do we maintain a holistic understanding of climate and ESG impacts so that we don't look at issues in a vacuum? 

Impact

The exercise brought to life several keys to success in using scenario analysis:

• Create engagement and ownership among the participants. Arguably more important than the actual output is that the participants drive the process themselves and take ownership of their relevance.
• Use scenario analysis to build capabilities, expand vision, and reveal blind spots—not to choose “the most likely” scenario. Single-point forecasts are often wrong, and basing efforts on one scenario can potentially expose a company to risk.
• Tailor the exercise to the specific company, its value chain, business model, and stakeholders, based on commonly accepted, science-derived inputs.
• Consider climate scenarios with a broad range of outcomes and that consider social, technological, environmental, economic, and political developments. Narrow scenarios can fail to account for reality of risk.
• Consider physical and transition factors, as well as acute and chronic climate impacts. Climate risk is not “just” about storms and floods.
• Identify actions by the board and management that promote business resilience across a diversity of potential scenarios, aligned with respective roles. Scenarios should not be an intellectual exercise.

Participants hailed the exercise as invigorating, educational, and strategically valuable. One participant noted that, “When it comes to climate, an issue that can shape the strategic direction of the company in the long-term, this can get boards to think in more broad and diverse perspectives.” By engaging those perspectives, another participant commented, “It brings wide-ranging considerations to the table—from capital allocation to changes in talent development and complex reporting.” Another participant summarized: “It forces the discussion and thinking further, which should lead to a more robust strategy.”

One participant put it more plainly: a scenarios exercises for the board “helps minimize 'oh shit’ moments.”

Conclusion

Training on fundamentals of climate change—such as those conducted by NACD—are essential to build the knowledge base of board members. Scenario exercises for boards take that engagement a step farther to look at the specific company and the broad context, strategic implications, and the role of the board in building resilient business strategies.

[The] NACD and BSR partnership has proven to be a strong one, as the board members who participated in the workshop found it interactive, relevant, and practical. Through the breakout discussions, the BSR team was able to provide actionable knowledge on how to evaluate and navigate climate risks and opportunities, regardless of industry. I truly valued BSR’s expertise and enthusiasm while working on this project!

-Ghita Alderman, Associate Director, ESG Content, NACD