Have you got a CSR and ESG communications plan, or are they just part of the business jargon that get lost in the mix? Tom Abbott, Managing Partner at 44 Communications, explains why talking openly about CSR and ESG in your comms mix is A-OK.

In the internal communications world, we often find ourselves faced with business initialisms that we have to patiently spell out and explain to colleagues. Occasionally, a new one turns up and we find ourselves asking: what does this mean? Isn’t it the same as that other thing? Is this important? Welcome to the world of CSR and ESG communications.

If we had to flag one topic that was top of our clients’ agendas, it would be ESG. It stands for Environmental, Social and Governance. So, you may ask, is this just another way of talking about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), or is it something new, and do I need to focus colleagues’ attention on this?

What’s the difference between ESG and CSR?

Business Leader magazine explains it as follows: “ESG criteria are a set of standards that potential investors use to screen companies that they could potentially invest in.

“CSR is a self-regulating business model where companies are more conscious of the impact they are having on wider society. This includes the environment, the economy and people within society.”

In short, CSR is about making sure your own business works within its own environmental and societal context, whereas ESG is about being able to quantifiably measure the environmental and social impact of activity supported with evidence and proof.

Realising the benefits of CSR and ESG communications

Writing in Forbes magazine, Carl Hung, CEO of Season Group, said: “CSR is about developing a strong company culture that empowers employees to do social good and embrace diversity by being kind and open-minded. CSR is important to businesses because employees can benefit from working in an inclusive environment and toward a valued social goal. Not only can such a cultural and social focus reduce work-related health problems in the workforce, but it can also boost employee retention, morale and productivity.

“ESG is a measurable set of propositions that external partners and investors look at in their evaluation of a company. ESG illustrates a company’s identification and quantification of its risks and opportunities, as well as highlights the ethics of a company. Such measurable considerations are beneficial both for external partners and investors and company executives in making strategic decisions.”

Companies that have followed best practice in CSR have always measured and reported their impact, not just published bland statements about their eco-credentials.

What ESG criteria establishes is an approach that demands transparency and credibility through verifiable data and evidence that backs up your CSR credentials. For employees, this matters.

Colleagues have often been at the heart of CSR strategies and action. These are often referenced as important elements of company culture, encouraging positive engagement, creating a sense of purpose, and enhancing retention.

What an effective ESG approach does is add substance – it provides evidence and proof that you deliver, which makes up a vital part of your CSR and ESG communications approach. It’s great that you might be undertaking these activities and measuring them, but are you explaining both the how and the why to your colleagues, potential customers and investors? CSR and ESG communications require more than publishing an annual report. It’s about placing your workforce at the heart of the story and creating a mechanism for bringing their involvement to the forefront. That’s something we’ll talk about more in upcoming blogs.

Why you need to be prioritising ESG and CSR communications with your workforce

According to a study by Marsh McLennan (Robert Bailey, Jaclyn Yeo, Lingjun Jiang and Angela Ferguson), engaging your colleagues with CSR and ESG can have quantifiable benefits for employee engagement.

“Top employers, as measured by employee satisfaction and attractiveness to talent, have significantly higher ESG scores than their peers,” says Robert Bailey et al. “This pattern is partly due to these employers’ relatively strong environmental performance, though the trend is also evident across specific social and governance issues. This finding suggests that ESG performance can help companies both improve employee satisfaction and attract prospective employees.

“This is significant because prior research shows that satisfied employees work harder, stay longer with their employers, and seek to produce better results for the organisation. Equally important, enthusiastic prospective employees strengthen a company’s talent pipeline and ensure the availability of crucial human capital.”

To summarise, internal communicators need to understand the relationship between CSR and ESG, and how the two can enhance engagement and build trust between companies and employees.

Over the coming weeks, we will explore how you can achieve that and integrate CSR and ESG communications into your output.

In the meantime, reach out to us if you’d like to hear more about the ways that we can support you in bringing your CSR and ESG communications to life.