CSR

Measuring CSR and Sustainability

Special Guest: Tod Arbogast, Vice President of Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility of Avon

Our first CSR Chat of 2012 had a significant attendance that included corporations (Intel, Discovery Channel, Dell, AMD and BT) as well as many bloggers, thought-leaders, and consultants. The chat continued well over an hour, demonstrating that the topic was of significant interest. Captured below are some of the key highlights:

• Avon’s sustainability with paper was the most discussed topic. The topic of paper procurement led to the most robust discussion during the hour. Follow-up tweets to Tod’s tweet included questions such as a) How much paper is used at Avon? b) How does Avon’s other sustainability issues, such as sales rep travel and cosmetics production, compare with Avon’s paper usage? C) Were stakeholders involved in setting baselines and assessing progress for initiatives like their paper sustainability effort?
• Participants were interested in using authenticity as a measurement. Authenticity was the next most discussed topic. Many participants responded positively to Tod’s description of Avon’s CSR priorities. He noted that, “We have several priorities – we can group them into two categories: internal authenticity and external empowerment.
• “Measure what matters most” resonated strongly with participants. One of the most commonly retweeted messages was Tod’s description of measuring success in CSR. He noted that, “With so much to measure, measure what matters most – and accurately.” Many participants reacted positively to this tweet, noting that that it was “good, important to define what matters most,” or thought it was a “great way to put it.”
• Avon’s relationship with women was widely discussed. There was a very lively conversation regarding the impact that Avon has on women. The initial discussion stemmed from a tweet from Tod on measuring impact in relations to CSR. He discussed the impact Avon has had on breast cancer screenings. This led to a discussion on Avon’s historical relationship with women, and the economic empowerment that Avon provides through its sales program. From there, related tweets were shared concerning women leaders in business and the impact thatworking women have on the larger economy.

Stay-tuned for our next CSR Chat which will be held the week of January 30th, and thanks as always for joining us.