I know why I care... but why should you?

If you want readers to understand why CR matters to you in the long term, you need a long-term context. That means talking about corporate strategy.

Most CEO statements claim ‘CR is part of every decision’. But very few answer the simple questions: What are our objectives? How will we achieve them? How does CR help or hinder progress? Generic descriptions of the marketplace are not enough; referring to global challenges doesn’t help. If polar bears don’t help you enter the Chinese market or recruitment of engineers… Why are you telling us?

The best reports clearly describe corporate strategy and how CR informs and supports it. They explain the risks and opportunities, and the potential impacts on future business performance. Addressing strategy effectively will leave the reader thinking: ‘Of course you need to manage CR. You’d never succeed otherwise!’ Getting that kind of buy-in from a reader is a prerequisite for an effective report.

Top marks:

• Clear company overview
• Business strategy and CR strategy are explicitly linked
• Discussion of risk/opportunities and company’s marketplace issues

Low marks:

• No indication of what the company actually does
• None, or very basic description of what the company means by CR
• Lack of link between business strategy and CR