Input: CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY
Back to Basics
for the cost of
corporate
responsiBility
In an ideal world, no board would turn down investment in So where does it leave us? We need to get right back to basics and
corporate responsibility. But as we know, it doesn’t quite work the traditional arguments for the practice of CR to try and work out
that way. Nigel Wilkinson, Health, Safety and Environment how to convince a board to invest appropriately in CR initiatives
Manager for T-Mobile UK, discusses how to market the
message to sometimes sceptical ears. The moral, ethical argument is an easy convincer. And any legal
argument such as complying with the WEEE directive is a no-
I
t’s the biggest challenge facing our profession, and the one thing brainer. Board-level executives also tend to get the brand image or
that’s likely to keep us awake at night: how should we most reputational argument. But the one area that is that little bit harder
efficiently and effectively justify the investment required for Corporate is that CR should not just be considered an expense, but rather an
Responsibility (CR) initiatives to the board? investment – and one that can lead to true innovation and significant
financial returns.
We might be lucky enough to be working in an age where CR means
something to most business leaders – it’s an area they are watching I’ve been lucky enough to join a thriving, forward-thinking mobile
closely and know they should be doing something about – but we still telecommunications business where environmental commitment is an
seem to be grappling with the same problem of financially quantifying intrinsic part of the company culture – a commitment that permeates
and justifying how CR related activities add true shareholder value. the entire business from procurement through to sales. CR and the
environment are ultimately corporate values which we go to great lengths
In an ideal world, a CR manager would feel empowered to
to publicise both externally and – more importantly – internally too.
stride into the boardroom, declaring “You cannot put a price on
corporate responsibility!” If an environmental initiative saves just And this commitment from all sides of the business is what helps
one tonne of carbon emissions, then surely it’s worth the price to ‘sell’ CR initiatives to the people who hold the purse strings. In a
– however high the cost, right? Well, we’ve all discovered that it sense, CR already has their attention and this creates a willingness to
doesn’t work that way… listen, consider, and ultimately, commit.
So how do you go about it? Be bold, innovate and focus. Instead of
a scattergun approach – tackle a specific area of CR and own it – be
the best in your sector, and sell-back the results to your internal and
external audiences. And don’t be scared to pick a big project: big
projects mean big impact – and if an initiative isn’t going to have a big
impact, it’s not going to get go-ahead from the board.
An example of where we at T-Mobile have been particularly successful
with this bold approach is with our environmental initiatives – both
internal and external.
We were the first mobile network operator to install new energy efficient
network equipment on a large scale. As a result, we’re using 31 per
cent less energy on our network sites than we would have used with
less energy-efficient equipment, keeping an additional 1682 tonnes
of CO2 from being emitted into the atmosphere. That’s a statistic that
grabs attention on both ethical and financial levels.
We’re the only mobile network with ‘free air cooling’ across our
network of 13,000 sites, which uses the outside air to cool telecoms
ecoexecutive | 84
Corporate Responsibility.indd 84 18/4/08 16:46:08
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101