Reporting performance in Corporate Social Responsibility

Written by Cristina Mihăiloaie on July 10, 2013. Posted in Articles, Strategy

The business world has had an increased interest for the last 50 years in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The concept is not necessarily new, as companies undertake social initiatives for centuries. However, as customers are no longer buying just a product, but rather a brand, companies have to make sure that consumers want to be a part of their brand. CSR refers to the company’s sense of responsibility towards the community and the environment in which it operates. Companies are accountable not only to shareholders, but also to employees, consumers, suppliers, local communities and society.

ATOS is a company that delivers worldwide Hi-Tech Transactional Services, Consulting & Technology Services, Systems Integration and Managed Services. Atos is focused on business technology that powers progress and helps organizations create their firm of the future. The company has invested considerable resources and time in order to improve their reporting on CSR in the last year.

Analyzing the Key Performance Indicators ATOS has monitored, we can notice that they are clustered on different themes, such as Business Development, Environmental Commitment and Social Responsibility. Under each theme, there are several objectives and for each objective, at least one KPI. This is a good practice that helps the company have a structured approach towards performance measurement, monitoring and reporting.

In order to understand the results of the KPIs, they are presented in comparison with past figures, and relative measures are used to outline the evolution of the indicator from the previous year.

These are some examples of KPIs reported:

# Customers satisfaction;
% KgCO2 per revenue;
# CO2 emissions in company’s car fleet;
# Sites certified;
# People attending Ethics Code Training;
% Serious security incidents reported within 3 working days;
# e-Learning users.

In 2012, ATOS developed a Corporate Integrated Report composed of two documents: a Corporate Responsibility Report with the main KPIs and a Reference Document presenting all KPIs, including financial statements. ATOS carried out a survey with stakeholders to check expectations and concrete opinions regarding CSR reporting. There were also face to face interviews with two key stakeholders, and as a result, 9 business challenges were identified and prioritized. 47 KPIs were identified as appropriate to be detailed in the Registration Document, out of which 16 were considered to have critical impact on ATOS business.

As a recognition of its efforts ATOS received the highest level of qualification (A+) from the Global Reporting Initiative, requiring entire management disclosure on sustainability performance standards and assurance by a third external party. The A+ was received for the third time in a row. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is a non-profit organization that promotes economic, environmental and social sustainability.

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