Does C-19 give you a reason to skip a year in your sustainability reporting?
It’s a fair question, given that most companies will be short of resources and looking to save a few pennies.
We have a solution that saves money and time. More important, it helps you maintain your sustainability reporting record and keeps you connected to those stakeholders who need and want your information. This is especially true for the environment, social and governance (ESG) investors who are enjoying a boost from the commercial ravages of C-19.
Beyond legal
As my colleague Francesca Ward has pointed out, an increasing number of countries have legal requirements for non-financial reporting. The law will not be altered by C-19 and companies should be aware of the minimum statutory demands.
Voluntary reporting has become an onerous task for those who think it wise to tick all the boxes, among them standards and guidelines from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the Sustainable Accounting Standards Board (SASB), the CDP and the Task Force for Climate-related Financial Disclosures.
If one has the resources and the ambition to satisfy all stakeholders – including the burgeoning ESG sector – then there is nothing wrong with offering a gold-plated report. Indeed, it sets you apart as a good corporate citizen pursuing a transparent relationship with all those who have a legitimate interest in the 360º performance of your business.
Feeling the pinch
But if your resources are limited, then we argue that our highly-targeted approach − Smart Reporting™ − is a legitimate and, well, a smart way to ensure you keep connected with those organisations and individuals who influence your prosperity.
What is Smart Reporting?
Here’s an example, from the innovative speaker company Sonos.
For its first sustainability report, the company was determined to create something its employees and leadership would read. It had to be short and sharp. Most important, it needed to share progress accurately and transparently on the Sonos sustainability key performance indicators.
With less than 200 words a page, in a concise 30 pages, Sonos shares its sustainability progress and ambitions. The report’s showpiece is the one-page KPI dashboard which tracks its performance and goals. The format resonates with the company’s leadership and can easily be updated quarterly to share progress with employees and other stakeholders throughout the year.
Smart principles
Small, big or gigantic, the Smart Report™ principles apply to all companies:
- Brevity − keep it short
- Clarity − make sure it’s easily understood
- Relevancy − ensure it concentrates on what matters to the audience
- Transparency − it’s OK to push your core messages, but not to obscure the truth
Keep those principles in mind in your planning. Then take these four steps to success.
Smart Steps to Success:
- Define the audience. Understanding the needs of your audience helps you decide on the extent of the content and how you want to present it. Plot the information needs of different stakeholders on a matrix. If you’ve done a materiality assessment in recent past, cross check with that and fill any obvious gaps.
- Focus on what’s important to the audience. Collect the relevant and essential information. Feel free to ignore nice-to-haves and the gold plating.
- Choose a format. Does your audience want a web report or a simple downloadable PDF? The Smart Report lends itself to both. Remember, investors and raters/rankers prefer a time-bound document.
- Present the content clearly. Use good design, infographics and simple writing.
Job done for another year. Here’s hoping for a more prosperous 2021.
If you’re unsure about the future of your sustainability reporting during C-19, we’re here to help. Our Smart Report™ will keep you connected to your key stakeholders while saving time and resources compared with conventional reporting.
Reach out to our Smart Report™ expert Lisa for more information.
