What gets measured gets done' is the view expressed by Rodney Reed in this article.

In the May 2008 'The Executive Times' the term Social Responsibility (SR) was put forward as a term to replace Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) because SR makes it clear this duty is one that should be accepted by all Organisations in a Society and not simply by the Business Sector in Bangladesh. Social Responsibility should be seen in all of an Organisation's activities and not simply in one Department. It is an attitude and a practice that should be evident in Universities, Government Ministries and Departments, Businesses in all Trade Sectors, in the Military, Police and NGO's. It is not an external act, a donation or a project; it is something mainstreamed into employment practice, in management attitudes to workers, in the intention to do least damage to the natural environment and in the practice of 'giving back' to the community.

This article picks out some of the main areas of an Organisation's life and work and then suggests some Key Performance Indicators that could be used to measure the 'SR performance' against the 'SR targets' the Organisation sets for itself.

A more complete list of the KPI categories for SR practice and SR measurement would include:-

• Environment

• Health & Safety

• Finance

• Legal & External Relations

• Governance

• Compliance & Standards

• Human Resources

• Information Technology

• Innovation & Improvement

• Project Portfolio

• Property & Facilities

• Sales

• Marketing & Customer service

• Supply Chain

• Procurement & Logistics

Governance

Corporate Governance is the structure through which Corporate Objectives (including SR objectives) are set. It is the means by which Objectives (including SR objectives) are delivered, performance is monitored, and resources used efficiently and profitably. Governance is the process by which Organisation's are directed and controlled.

The extent to which SR is embedded in the culture and working practices of an Organisation may be 'measured' by the number of Board meetings where SR is an agenda item and in the number and extent of Minutes recording discussion of SR and decisions made in favour of 'mainstreamed' SR (activities inside the company). Another measure is of how the Board maintains compliance with the Organisation's SR policies and procedures and explains and remedies non compliance.

For each of the following areas the SR task is to measure and continually improve:

Health and Safety

• Accident rate per thousand employees and contractors for all significant industrial injuries (e.g. those were time was lost at work or required time to be spend away from work)

• Annual hours of health and safety training provided to personnel of all grades

• Percentage of relevant personnel who complete 'Health and Safety at Work' training

Environment

• Reduction in the tonnage of waste produced

• Increase in the percentage of waste segregated on-site for more efficient recycling and so a smaller percentage sent to landfill

• The percentage of waste recycled - paper, cloth and other leftover products etc.

• Percentage of factories with a Freon-free HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) systems

• Reduced CO2 emissions

• Reduced water used annually

Employees

• Staff satisfaction as highlighted by bi-annual employee surveys and the percentage of Executives, Officers and Workers who rate the organisation 'above average' or as 'one of the best companies' they know or have worked for

• Reduce annual employee turnover

• Average number of training hours per employee

• Percentage of employees who consider that management supports equality of opportunity and diversity in the workplace

• Percentage of staff who feel that employees in the businesses are treated with respect

• Percentage of staff of each grade who participate in employee surveys

• Women in management and senior management roles

• People from minority communities employed in the company

• People with disabilities employed in the company

Customer Care

• Customers who would recommend the company to friends, family and business colleagues

• Customer care score as highlighted by customer questionnaire results

• Improved customer satisfaction and reduced number of customer complaints

• Benchmarked customer satisfaction against local and national competitors.

• Systems implemented to tackle corruption and other financial crime

Suppliers

• New business suppliers signing a Supplier Code of SR Conduct

• Existing suppliers signing a Supplier Code of SR Conduct

• Number of contracts with a SR weighting of greater than 20% in the final decision process

• Number of managed suppliers with a SR improvement plan and KPIs

• Collaboration with property management suppliers to improve environmental performance

Community Engagement - 'Giving Back'

• Total investment in the community (company cash donations and staff volunteering)

• Employee hours spent volunteering

• Percentage of employees who consider the business acts responsibly in society and the community in which it operates

• Support offered to schools, masjids, universities and hospitals

Embedded SR

• Numbe of 'key awards' and 'benchmarking recognition' given to the Organisation for its SR initiatives

• Effective measures in place to show the extent to which SR is 'mainstreamed' in the company rather than being an external 'add on'

• The Organisation's 'Standard Operating Procedures' (SOP) as evidence that SR is an integral part of all policies and procedure

• Each factory and business unit reporting on SR to the Governing Board

External benchmarking

A good test of evaluating how well SR is integrated throughout a business is by external benchmarking. This ranges from participating in surveys through to being assessed on publicly available SR guidance standards and in comparison to definitions and materials published by other companies and organisations.

Benchmarking provides valuable feedback on what is going well and what could be done better. Recent external benchmarking activities undertaken by some leading European companies are listed below:-

• Dow Jones Sustainability World Indexes, which track the economic, environmental and social performance of the leading sustainability-driven companies worldwide.

• The Sustainability Yearbook, compiled by SAM (Sustainable Asset Management).

• FTSE4Good Index Series, the index measures the performance of companies that meet globally recognised standards on corporate social responsibility.

• Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP5), a coalition of over 300 global investors, Climate Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI), a roll of honour for global corporations addressing the challenges of climate change.

• Employees participating in Global Employee Climate Survey and the rating the company favourably on leadership and engagement indices

• Accountability Rating of the world's largest companies shows the extent to which companies have built responsible business practices.

• Business in the Community's Corporate Responsibility Index

Mature Organisations are confident and willing to admit their SR deficits, underperformance and faults and are ready to make public their commitment to rectify underperformance, accidents and failures. Organisations should adopt SMART SR targets and need to regularly carry out a Gap Analysis of the space between their 'SR performance' and their 'SR targets' and then act to remedy those deficits.

Many companies in Bangladesh seem keen to prove that all of their SR activities are external to the company because the whole of their reporting is of their donations to community projects. Usually no mention is made of their employment practices or environmental protection work. Most organisations in Bangladesh outside the business sector seem content to ignore their SR responsibilities by hiding behind the myth that CSR is a duty only in the Corporate Sector. The reality is that SR is a duty on all sectors of Society in Bangladesh. It is an attitude and a practice that should be evident in Universities, Government Ministries and Departments, Businesses in all Trade Sectors, in the Military, Police and NGO's AND by the business sector - from the entrepreneur running a small family workshop to the largest of the national and international companies manufacturing and buying in Bangladesh. Measuring SR using the KPIs listed above, and by using other metrics to be devised in the country, will demonstrate the extent to which SR is evident in Bangladesh Society and will 'year on year' show the progress being made in implementing Social Responsibility.

- Rodney Reed M.Soc.Sc (Birmingham) is the Chairman of Reed Consulting (BD) Ltd. The author and his wife Mrs Ann Reed, who is the Managing Director of the Company, are residents of Dhaka. Reed Consulting Bangladesh Ltd www.reedconsultingbd.com is Incorporated in Bangladesh. Reed Consulting (BD) Ltd is a Strategic Partner of CSR Asia and specialises in developing the policy and practice of Social Responsibility in Bangladesh and neighbouring countries.