2014 A year in review
December is that time of the year to take a step back and review the year that was. Take a look at the milestones from the Network:
Launch of the Government’s National Action Plan on Corporate Responsibility
In April Business in the Community Ireland welcomed the launch of the Government’s National Action Plan on Corporate Responsibility (CR). The report entitled ‘Good for Business, Good for the Community’ was considered an important landmark in giving greater Irish policy agreement on responsible business behaviour by placing CR on the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation’s agenda. The Action Plan outlines the Government’s commitment to encourage good business practice by Irish companies both domestically and internationally. Ireland is now the 12h European country to develop a national action plan in line with successful and progressive economies such as Germany, Finland and Sweden. Download a copy of the Good for Business, Good for the Community report here and follow our updates on the Forum throughout next year.
Publications:
During the year the Network has published the following publications:
The ‘Back to Work – Business Supporting Work Placements’ documents the experience of providing work placements for people facing labour market disadvantage by 11 top companies. It includes 11 insightful and inspiring case studies on how top Irish companies are impacting on unemployment by engaging in employment programmes and offering practical advice on providing work placements for people facing labour market disadvantage. The companies featured in the publication include: Accenture, Baxter Storey, Compass Group, Diageo Ireland, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Janssen, Marks & Spencer Ireland, Mercury Engineering, Shell E&P Ireland, Sodexo and Tesco Ireland.
If you are a business and want to offer work placements connect with us.
Making consistent impact: Environmental Trends, Best Practice and Supports . As part of our mission to inspire companies to adopt best practice in Corporate Responsibility and help them benchmark their activities in this area, Business in the Community Ireland has published the report“Making consistent impact: Environmental Trends, Best Practice and Supports” which highlights the trends, challenges, best practices and behaviours of our members in relation to their environmental responsibility.
Read the report or read a summary of the report here.
Key events
During 2014, we delivered over 20 events for our members. These events focused on strategic topics with CSR, and allowed for sharing of best practice and were delivered in various engaging formats from “Ask the Expert” and Roundtables to panel discussions and keynotes.
The Business Impact Celebration launched in May as business leaders and NGOs met to celebrate and discuss collaboration on key social issues such as youth employment, education and health. The map highlighted the following:
- 49 of Ireland’s largest companies contributed over €24 million euro to support community groups and organisations in addressing key social issues and causes in 2013 (equates to €66,000 a day)
- Over 5,100 community partnerships have been established
- Employees volunteered over 162,000 hours to local groups and projects during 2013
- In-kind donations exceeded €11 million in 2013
- Trends in corporate giving in Ireland reveal strategic and sustainable partnerships that are addressing timely and challenging social inclusion issues
- Companies involvement in community is further increasing employee engagement and satisfaction
- Statistics are available on online interactive map
If you are a member and would like to find out more about the Business Impact Map please contact your Account Manager.
In June over 50 of our member CEOs gathered for a private Networking event and heard from Julian Yarr, Managing Partner, A&L Goodbody on their CSR journey and Noel Morrin, Senior VP Sustainability, Skanska, one of the world’s leading construction groups told their business story about how their best in class sustainability practices are setting them apart.
The recent Responsible Business Forum 2014 held in November brought CEOs and senior management of some of Ireland’s top companies together to discuss key trends in ethics, reputation and sustainability. The Responsible Business Forum presented leading and inspirational thinking from the world’s largest, most innovative companies and practical workshops on how trust, reputation and culture can be built with key stakeholders. Delegates had access to cutting edge content on CR and sustainable practices and the opportunity to hear from and be inspired by thought and corporate leaders, whose focus was not only on successes but also on lessons learned.
Visit our YouTube Channel to view all the keynotes and panel sessions.
This year has also seen the highest number of companies achieving the Business Working Responsibly Mark, our NSAI audited standard. Click here to view the companies that have achieved the Mark.
Finally we are delighted to welcome the members that have joined the Network this year: Northern Trust, Compass Catering, BaxterStorey, Standard Life, Tesco, Abtran, TopOil, Symantec, Roadbridge and FBD Insurance.
This year we also launched a new open group on LinkedIn dedicated to Corporate Social Responsibility which you can join following this link.
