How should companies monitor CSR and its results? How important is accountability?
CR is focused on continuous improvement. Key performance indicators can be identified (internally by the company and externally by its stakeholders) and regular stakeholder engagement programs (employee opinion surveys, investor meetings etc) can help to benchmark success. Amongst these important benchmarking mechanisms is the company’s own disclosure of its CR performance. Tools and templates such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and Accountability series exist to provide standards and guidelines for companies involved in CR reporting. In the more mature markets CR indices, such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index which has repeatedly outperformed the Dow Jones Global Index, exist to explicitly measure a company’s CR performance alongside the financial bottom line.
