Corporate Citizenship News

July/August 2007

Here's a roundup of some of the relevant news crossing our desks recently:

• Matching Accounts for Learning: Similar to a 401(k) retirement plan, the program will allow employees to put up to $1,000 each year into a specialized savings account for training and development, with IBM contributing 50 cents for every dollar. Under the plan, the employee decides how and when to spend the money; when an employee leaves the company, he or she takes the account.
  
• Corporate Service Corps: IBM will provide leadership development experiences for employees by teaming with NGOs to place small groups of employees from different countries and business units together, outside of the office structure. These teams will work in emerging and developing countries on some of the world’s toughest problems, such as enhancing global economic opportunity and access to education resources.
  
• Enhanced Transition Services: Building on the success of IBM’s Transition to Teaching initiative, this new program will create bridges for IBM employees to opportunities in government, non-profits, educational institutions and economic development organizations.  

http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/21937.wss

• 2007 Cone Cause Evolution Survey: According to Cone, 72 percent of those surveyed wish their employers would do more to support a cause or social issue, an increase of 38 percent since Cone’s last survey in 2004. Employees familiar with their companies’ cause programs indicate: they are proud of their companies’ values (88%); they feel a strong sense of loyalty to their companies (89%); it is important for their companies to provide them with opportunities to become involved in causes (93%). Eighty-three percent of respondents say companies have a responsibility to help support causes, and 92 percent acknowledge they have a more positive image of a company that supports a cause they care about. Americans also consider a company’s commitment to social issues when deciding which companies they want to see doing business in their communities (86% vs. 58% in 2001); where to work (77%  vs. 48% in 2001); and which stocks or mutual funds to invest in (66% vs. 40% in 2001). Health remains the leading issue Americans want companies to address (80%). Education, environment, and economic development (job creation, income generation, wealth accumulation) tie for second place at 77 percent. 
  
  
• Hudson Survey: According to brand new research from Hudson, a U.S. recruiting company, employees value corporate social responsibility, just not for making job decisions. Hudson's survey found that only seven percent of today's work force claims they have ever rejected an offer based on the lack of a company's CSR program. While three-quarters of U.S. workers think companies have responsibilities to the community, a resounding 70 percent don't consider a prospective employer's corporate social responsibility (CSR) program very important when it comes to evaluating job offers. Workers do appreciate opportunities to invest in the community when they are given the chance, however. Among the 46 percent of workers who work for an organization with a CSR program, nearly two-thirds participate. Only 20 percent of workers state their employer allows them paid time off to volunteer. But of those, 70 percent take advantage of it.
  
  
• BT research: More than a third (35.4%) of those surveyed for this study claimed that working for a caring and responsible employer was more important to them than the salary they earned. In contrast to the Hudson study, 44 percent said they would not consider an employer if the company didn’t have a good CSR reputation. Opinion was split about where companies should be focusing their CSR efforts. Thirty-three percent considered the environment the most important, edging out market innovation, workplace commitments (flexible working, staff welfare) and community investment.

• Goldman Sachs: Among six sectors covered – energy, mining, steel, food, beverages, and media – companies that are considered leaders in implementing environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies to create sustained competitive advantage have outperformed the general stock market by 25 percent since August 2005. In addition, 72 percent of these companies have outperformed their peers over the same period.

• UN Global Compact first Annual Review: This survey monitors the extent to which companies have implemented the 10 Global Compact principles in the areas of human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption.

• McKinsey&Company: This study found that there are important “performance gaps” in implementation, with 59 percent of CEOs saying that corporate responsibility should be embedded into global supply chains, but only 27 percent think they are doing so.