5 recommendations for ESG reporting [in 2020]
published 4.13.20
Today, more companies are publishing sustainability reports than ever before. A May 2019 report by the Governance & Accountability Institute found that 86% of the companies in the S&P 500 Index published sustainability reports the previous year - a number that has likely increased since then. However, it’s a hard time for a lot of reasons - and it’s also a strange time to be working on a corporate responsibility report.
If you lead reporting for your organization, you may be asking yourself questions like, “What does a virtual reporting process look like?” “Do any of my stakeholders care about this?” “What’s the right tone?” “Have my material issues changed?” These are all legitimate questions for this unique moment, and you don’t have to answer them alone.
Here are five of our recommendations for effective sustainability communications in 2020:
be transparent + cut the fluff.
While your stakeholders still want information about your corporate responsibility efforts, and they want to be able to easily find it on your website, if ever there was a time for “boring,” straightforward reporting, it would be now. Consider how you can focus your disclosures on your material issues in a way that gives your audience the information it needs to make decisions this year. While there is also a role for human-centered storytelling around your programs and efforts, attention spans for this type of information are likely at an all-time low. Think about what data is likely to be truly impactful, and focus on quality over quantity.
put a little extra love into creating a clear virtual reporting process for your colleagues working remotely.
No matter what, your reporting process is likely going to be at least a little bit different this year. We suggest scheduling a virtual video kick-off meeting to walk your key internal stakeholders through the overall timeline and what’s expected from them. If you don’t already, you will likely want to calendar reminders of key deadlines for your data providers and reviewers to keep your report moving forward. It could also be fun to schedule a virtual report launch happy hour celebration or pizza party for everyone involved - it may actually be easier to involve more of your colleagues in this way than it would be if you were all going into the office.
expect increased interest in social topics, including what your company is doing to protect its employees and customers and collaborate with its supply chain.
Workforce issues like paid leave, flexible work arrangements (including work from home), community relief, worker health and safety, and customer accommodations are in the spotlight - both for your employees and for your external stakeholders. So is supply chain resilience and continuity. While investors are continuing to have conversations with companies on environmental topics like decarbonization, social and governance issues are increasingly top of mind; for example, JUST CAPITAL recently started tracking the ways in which major companies are responding to COVID19. If you don’t yet report data associated with these topics, you may want to see what you can do to start sharing it (in an appropriate tone) proactively - or prepare for questions.
consider reallocating marketing/pr budget toward impact.
In the current news environment, the last thing you want is for your report launch to be met with eye rolls from your key stakeholders. It doesn’t feel like the time to make splashy announcements about doing good in the world, even though it’s more important now than ever for companies to act with integrity. If you had money allocated in your budget to PR or marketing efforts associated with your report launch, we suggest considering other ways that can be put to good use - for example in the form of a donation or a strategic project to help you better advance your overall sustainability objectives.
if you haven’t already, switch to digital-only for 2020.
There’s really no reason to print a paper report right now. Where would it be delivered? Where would you hand it out? While these can certainly be useful under different circumstances, for the time being, they feel pretty skippable. Spare the trees.
If you’d like to talk more about what reporting looks like this year, take a look at my conversation with John Marler, VP of Energy + Environment of AEG Worldwide, about how companies can effectively communicate about their sustainability efforts in this challenging and unprecedented moment.
by Lis Best
Senior Consultant
