Business [Un]Unusual: Key Insights

In October, our team attended the Business [Un]Usual conference at Beanfield Centre, which was themed Profit from Purpose. It’s a biannual summit on Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability issues co-hosted by The Conference Board of Canada, CBSR, and Volunteer Canada, and its aim is to help business navigate “political, social, environmental and technological transformations.”

From blockchain to the reality of robots, no stone went unturned. There was lots of talk on how companies can, should and will communicate better with their investors on key issues in future. And as someone who has been involved in the investor relations process for some time now, three main insights struck me over the course of the second day.

Companies Desire Integration But Hesitate to Integrate Reports

There is accepted need for companies to report on integrated metrics, but in breakout groups, I encountered significant hesitation to produce a single report. And it largely comes from the right place – people want to give the right information to the right audiences at the right time, and that’s just good communication strategy. But there is clear understanding that reporting on financial and non-financial issues together is an ideal way to show you are focused on long-term strategy. So many things that traditionally have been framed as “CSR specific,” or hearts and minds issues, are undeniably impacting profit. Gigi Dawe from CPA Canada gave a great example: so many financial services brands considered climate change and emissions non-material issues that didn’t impact profit. But in the last few years, we’ve had flooding, violent weather patterns and hurricanes influence the capacity of mortgage holders to make good on loans. Still: reporters worry stakeholders don’t want a fully integrated or combined report, and are hampered by what it takes to produce one on a practical level.

No Size Fits All

As part of a solution to that, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the single CSR Report or Sustainability Report is here to stay, but it’s not going to be enough for much longer. The best reporters (and the ones who have the most effective relationships with their stakeholders) will be ones who take a more modular approach, release complimentary assets like issue-specific reports, have ongoing social media engagement programs, and have use things like microsites to function as hubs for smartly-combined “chunks” of content. It’s what our clients are starting to ask for, it’s what we see scoped in tenders, and it’s a growing movement Wesley presented in his Trends and Best Practices session: there is a growing desire for Integrated assets like Balanced Scorecards, Integrated Targets and Achievements documentation, even interactive value chain experiences – and when coupled with PDF download sections that allow people to build the content story they require, I feel we can address so many “information overload” concerns. Imagine the power of this type of experience when combined with AI: a website that understands what information the sustainability stakeholder wants to see and provides that to them intelligently. That’s in the future, but currently, modular solutions need not be expensive; so much of what we create for mandatory reporting can be repurposed. Creative is reused and is updated with new messaging, factoids are packaged into a social media campaign, and so forth.

Framework Fatigue is Real

At conferences, I’m so used to being in a room that is either 100% financial reporters, or 100% CSR reporters – so it was exciting to be in a space that truly felt like a blend of the two groups. The dichotomy, which is interesting, is that there has been one way to disclose financials for so long. There is one “right way.” With Sustainability content, “the way” keeps changing. People are committed to “the cause,” but they are getting tired and at times perceive change for the sake of change. CPA Canada does such great work representing both groups and reminding folks that it is there to be a resource. Rosemary McGuire gave voice to many reporters in both the CSR and investor space who are frustrated with what they see as a broad range of shifting frameworks, that at times seem incompatible. (Wes calls it Alphabet Soup, by the way – GRI, TSM, SASB, SDGs). Alyson Genovese from the GRI reminded us that CSR, as a reporting practice, is so young – “we’re riding the bike while we’re building it.” People ask her all the time, “Just tell us what to do and we’ll do it,” but it’s not going to be that easy for quite some time.

Things To Click On

The Corporate Reporting Dialogue (the Dialogue) is an initiative designed to respond to market calls for greater coherence, consistency and comparability between corporate reporting frameworks, standards and related requirements.

Integrated Reporting: Getting to Grips With the Six Capitals

My favourite Integrated Report of 2017, The Crown Estate from Every Perspective

Thanks to our hosts for putting on a great conference. You can download Wesley’s trends presentation here.

Next up, our Principal Lorie Brière is back from the IIRC conference in Amsterdam – so we’ll have her position on the state of formally Integrated Reporting as well. Stay tuned, and let us know your thoughts on the conference below.