Friday, December 19, 2008
Happy holidays
Honestly, what would the holidays be without a posed, holiday e-card? We took this shot on our first (and hopefully annual) firm ski retreat.
Happy holidays to you all! Be sure to visit us again in 2009!
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Report Review: CB Richard Ellis vs. British Land
2007 Corporate Responsibility Reports PDF
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Sustainability reporting workshop now available online
Sustainability reporting has hit the mainstream: 86 percent of the S&P 100 issue either print reports or online sustainability information. Stakeholder demands for transparency are becoming just as important to medium and small firms, especially those looking to cut costs and build competitive advantage through excellence in environmental, social, and governance performance. No matter the industry, understanding and being accountable to stakeholder concerns is fast becoming a “must-have” in the modern business landscape.
The Sustainability Reporting Workshop, presented by Framework:CR Prinicipal Aleksandra Dobkowski-Joy, is a skill-training workshop developed to introduce you and your organization to the tools needed to prepare a comprehensive, useful and user-friendly sustainability report. Over the course of her90-minute presentation, Aleksandra introduces reporting guidelines and standards, and outline a practical process to jump-start your reporting efforts.
Note: the workshop is a pre-recorded webcast. To access the recording, please contact the Altamont Group.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Report Review: ArcelorMittal
ArcelorMittal 2007 Corporate Responsibility Report PDF
Friday, November 21, 2008
Framework is now accepting applications for its Associate Program
The Framework Associate Program is designed to provide a hands-on experience working in the sustainability strategy and communications field. Associates will help Framework employees with internal projects and will provide support for research, development of strategy or reporting tools, process documentation, business development, and marketing needs. Associates will also participate in weekly staff meetings and discussions of ongoing client projects.
Who is eligible?
Undergraduate juniors and seniors are invited to apply. We are not requiring a specific major; however, all applicants should possess a solid understanding of sustainability. Graduate students in environmental or MBA programs are also welcome to apply.
Candidates should be:
- Passionate about and committed to sustainability
- Self-directed high-achievers, internally motivated to succeed
- Organized, attentive to detail, and able to meet deadlines
- Excellent writers and skilled communicators
What’s the time commitment?
Each associate will be asked to devote ten hours per week to the program. Scheduling is flexible. Program duration is eight to twelve weeks.
Where will I work?
Associates will spend the majority of their time working either at Framework:CR’s office in Wilton, Connecticut or from the home office of one of Framework’s Principals, located in New Haven, Connecticut.
Although some work may be completed remotely, this will be kept to a minimum as to provide the associate with the most meaningful program experience.
Is there a stipend?
Yes. Each associate will receive a stipend of $750 for a ten-week assignment.
Application instructions
Please submit the following information to
- résumé
- cover letter explaining what you would bring to Framework:CR as a participant in the Associates Program
- a 2–3 page writing sample (on a topic related to sustainability, if possible)
The application deadline is December 22, 2008. The start date for the current round of the program will be set for early to mid-January.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
What’s with the Dirt?
Lately, I seem to be coming across images (in sustainability reports, research studies (see p44), advertisements, websites…) of people holding small piles of dirt in their hands, often with an emerging leafy tree or luscious green plant. When I’m really lucky, the dirt-holder is a young, smiling child.
Now, much as I enjoy gardening (and appreciate adorable children), I find the use of this imagery as a stand-in for the concept of sustainability to be puzzling, and often, downright annoying.
When was the last time you actually held dirt in your hands? The last time you carried around a small pile of earth (with or without a plant) while you went about your daily tasks?
If you’re like most of us, probably not in a long time, if ever. For a corporation, this image is even more unlikely to describe its day-to-day operations (unless, perhaps, you’re talking about the forestry or agriculture business).
The point is, stock photos and generic “green” imagery don’t cut it in terms of proving your environmental credentials. In fact, at a time when more people than ever are sharply attuned to greenwash, poor image choice may result in a dilution of your message, if not outright derision from a skeptical audience.
A better and more powerful approach to conveying your company’s commitment to environmental stewardship is through the use of specific images that truly illustrate your actions. How about that solar panel array on your warehouse roof or your new grey-water recycling system?
And if you’re really that into dirt, show photos of your employees restoring natural habitat.
On a side note: if we actually spent more time with our hands in the dirt, we might develop a deeper appreciation for the complexity of nature, not to mention a renewed sense of commitment to find solutions to the grave environmental challenges our world faces today. And that wouldn’t be a bad thing.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Framework:CR among the panelists at FCPRA’s “Green PR Series”
On Wednesday, November 19th, Framework:CR Principal Kyle Whitaker will join a panel of distinguished speakers at the Fairfield County Public Relations Association's "Green PR Series." The event, which is entitled "Where Business is Thriving, Growing, Sustainable... Green: Finding PR and Marketing Opportunities," begins at 12:00 PM at The Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, CT. Please click here for further details.
Monday, November 10, 2008
The Politics of Personal Responsibility
While watching a speech that President-elect Barack Obama gave a few days before the election, I was struck by two things that he said: First, that while his administration would develop a comprehensive renewable energy policy, we as individuals need to reduce our own energy consumption. And while the Obama administration will work to improve our educational system, he said, we parents have an obligation to shut off the television and help our children do their homework. And so began my rumination on the politics of personal responsibility and its relationship to sustainability.
As consultants whose mission is to promote sustainability, we often chide companies for dragging their feet—as if they somehow exist apart from their management and employees. In truth, it is up to employees at all levels of the organization to move their employer toward greater sustainability. In order to do so, it has to be personal.
An example: We recently facilitated a task force meeting for a client that is embarking on a wonderful journey: to instill environmental stewardship throughout its operations, from product development to sales to logistics to corporate operations. The company, whose environmental efforts heretofore have been mainly compliance-driven, had assembled fifteen or so middle managers to generate big ideas for environmental initiatives. The energy and excitement in the room was palpable. Here were employees who had been asked to take on an effort that would undoubtedly increase their workload by as much as 30 percent over the next several months, and they were thrilled—and not just because their participation presented a career opportunity. The project allowed them to personally influence the organization’s direction and performance, perhaps for the next several decades. Some of their ideas were surprisingly simple, such as stacking boxes a different way so as to fit more on a pallet and reduce shipping costs, energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions; and engaging with property managers to ensure that cleaning crews put recycling in the recycle bins rather than tossing it in with the garbage. Others were hugely complex and potentially expensive but were thrown in for consideration nonetheless.
If that one meeting could energize those fifteen people, imagine engaging every single employee in every company, every student in every school, and every entrepreneur and retiree to generate ideas for us to live our lives in more environmentally responsible ways, and to really, truly act on those ideas. For far too long we've not been asked to come together to address any of the very real challenges we face: not the Iraq war, not our fragile and failing economy, not climate change and dwindling resources. But what if we did?
What if we all used CFLs or, better yet, LEDs? What if we recycled everything we could and composted? What if we turned off our lights every single time we left the room (my kids have to give me a dime every time they leave a light on, and I pony up when I do). What if we weatherproofed our homes and turned the AC two degrees warmer in summer and wore sweaters in winter? The impact of our collective action would be staggering. And so very gratifying.
But who will get us to do what needs to be done? It could be President-elect Obama; he has asked us all in a general sense and has the political capital,ability, and will to inspire so many of us to do our part as individuals. But the CEOs of the world must also inspire their employees to commit personally to living greener, healthier, less consumptive, and more fiscally prudent lives.
Imagine the response if, instead of layoffs to reduce labor costs, your CEO announces that he’ll take a 20 percent annual pay cut and asks each employee to take a ten percent pay cut for just the next year. I’ll wager that employees would take a 10 percent pay cut over a 100 percent pay cut any day of the week, and that both morale and productivity would rise, along with a renewed sense of purpose, as a result.
Imagine that, in a performance review, you ask “what have you done at your home to reduce your personal consumption?” And as your direct report struggles to come up with one thing, you shake your head and make a note in his file.
Maybe I'm still basking in the glow of last Tuesday. But I feel so strongly that, if we look not only to our leaders but our neighbors and ourselves to find new and unusual ways to approach the myriad problems we face, we can achieve amazing things.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Without further ado…
Welcome and thank you for visiting the new Framework:CR (FCR) blog!!! In case you missed the multiple exclamation points, we are quite pleased to provide this feature for your reading pleasure.
You see we’ve been kicking around this idea for months now—exploring the blogosphere, discussing content options, and, per usual, waxing philosophical. But reaching consensus can sometimes be a challenge for us. With three full-time staffers split between our Wilton base and our respective home offices, our most thoughtful and innovative conversations are sometimes too short and/or infrequent for our liking. So, rather than speak for everyone, I will encourage each of my colleagues to share a bit of their own vision for the blog in the coming days and weeks.
From my perspective, the FCR blog is poised to address the timeliest issues of sustainability and society. Of course, the two are interdependent, and there is no timelier issue, from both the sustainability and societal perspectives, than the meltdown on Wall Street. With stock markets still reeling and credit tightening, we are all bracing ourselves for the challenges ahead.
In recent weeks, I have noticed the impacts of the financial crisis most palpably on the sustainability conference circuit. Many of the events that typically command high prices and draw large crowds are now turning out far fewer attendees than they have in years past. We’ve seen this firsthand at events in both Europe and the United States.
While I fundamentally understand the reasons why this trend is taking shape, I also fear the impacts that it will have on our common goal of promoting sustainability over the next 12 to 18 months. To my mind, low conference attendance means that fewer people have a forum in which they can discuss and explore environmental, social, and governance issues, including the very reasons behind this financial mess; namely a lack of transparency and good governance. Both are considered central tenets of a sound corporate sustainability program.
It is imperative that we all continue to talk about challenges and opportunities, share best practices, and, ultimately, advance the practice of sustainability. Ergo, it is important for us to blog and even more important for our stakeholders—be they colleagues, clients, competitors, and so on—to join with us. So don’t be shy. Feel free to comment and participate as you see fit.
As far as blog content goes, let’s just say that from here on anything is fair game and anything is possible. Vague—I know—but I am convinced that this open-ended approach is a very positive thing. In September I attended a lecture by a well-known corporate executive and regular blogger. To paraphrase one of his key insights: “if, in business, you only make decisions for which you know the outcome, your business will likely fail.” With that in mind, we are pleased to jump into blogging with two feet, to address our industry’s risks and opportunities, and, ultimately, help to build greater dialogue and transparency.
The floor is now open…
