Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility

Where does your business or profession stand in terms of ethics and corporate social responsibility? I teach a business course where we explore the imperative of ethical and socially responsible behavior for businesses and business professionals. Earlier this week I watched a very provocative movie, The Corporation (www.thecorporation.com), which explores these topics in a very candid, upfront manner.

Social responsibility is often seen as the integration of economic, social and environmental initiatives into a businesses operation and culture. Strategis Canada has established a website dedicated to the exploration of this critical topic for business today. As they state, "Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) resembles the business pursuit of sustainable development and the triple bottom line". Historically business' bottom line has equaled profit, with no or little regard to the business impact on communities, small scale economies, or the environment.

A couple of years ago I was privledged to hear Nobel Peace Prize Winner, and former President of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias speak on this topic to the 2002 ASTD International Conference in New Orleans. As someone who dedicated the early part of my career to sustainable development initiatives around the world, and a Masters in Environmental Studies, I was very intrigued by what he had to say. Sadly, more than one-third of attendees left before the end of his keynote in which he challenged American business to play a leadership role in the world on corporate social responsibility. Interestingly enough this was before the ImClone and Enron scandals hit the radar screen.

What is your role in supporting corporate social responsibility? What is your stance on ethics - do you have an ethical code in place?

For more information on corporate social responsibility you may want to check out the Government of Canada's Strategis website dedicated to this topic - it includes discussion on the definition of CSR, best practices, as well as tools which can be used by business and other organizations to review and enhance their performance with respect to CSR.

If you haven't seen the movie, The Corporation, check it out. It will certainly generate some interesting dialogue.

Jennifer
Jennifer Britton, MES, CPT, CHRP, CPCC
Potentials Realized

Another Resource for Creating an Engaged Workforce

As I've said in earlier posts, creating an engaged workforce is a major theme in corporations at this time. A new book came across my desk last week which addresses this issue. Destination Profit: Creating People Profit Opportunities in Your Organization, by Scott Cawood and Rita V. Bailey is an excellent read on employee engagement. Based on the premise that people=profit Cawood and Bailey look at a handful of very successful organizations which put their people front and centre in terms of bottom line success.

This book is a great read, and provides a trusty toolkit of questions and exercises for organizations to reflect on. This book is also a great resource for organizational consultants who partner with organizations to address employee engagemet issues. Thoughout the book, Cawood and Bailey share their 4 A Process to maximize business growth while handressing engagement and passion of employees. Co-published by ASTD, this book can be ordered at the ASTD Online store at http://store.astd.org.

What resources have you come across related to employee engagement that are useful for your organization or work?

Until next time,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, CHRP, CPCC, CPT
Potentials Realized
http://www.potentialsrealized.com
Email me here

The 90 Day Business Success Group Coaching Program starts July 18th

Are you looking to dedicate time and energy in order to move your business forward? The 90 Day Business Success Group Coaching Program begins in a few weeks.

The program will start on July 18th and we will be meeting twice a month for group calls, and twice a month for a thirty minute individual coaching call. The program will be held from mid-July to mid-October on Tuesdays from 12 - 1 pm (EST). We will be looking at issues related to business vision, business planning, marketing, partnerships and more.

This is a hands-on, interactive program designed to support business owners in growing their business. As a result of the program, business owners will have:

• Developed or refined their business plan, grounded in their passion and purpose;
• Clarified their buinsess vision and values;
• Created their annual marketing plan, along with the associated budget;
• Identified their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

Participants will also be asked to identify and work towards two other goals for their own business during the 90 day period. Business owners will benefit from the on-going support and resources during the 90 days of this program.

The program cost is $175 CDN per month (for 3 months), or $450 paid in one installment. The course is limited to 8 business owners.

For more information, or to receive a course information package, please email me at jennifer@potentialsrealized.com or call toll free 1-866-217-1960. Registration forms can be downloaded by clicking the blog title above. I hope that you will join me!

With best wishes,

Jennifer Britton, MES, CPT, CHRP, CPCC ~ Potentials Realized

Web: http://www.potentialsrealized.com

Toll Free: 1-866-217-1960