Survey: Salaries Increased by An Average of 10% for CSR Professionals Amid Downturn

Believe it or not, the downturn has had its benefits for some. According to a new survey conducted by Acre Resources, a recruitment firm that focuses on sustainability, corporate responsibility and the environment sectors, estimates that most professionals in the CSR field actually saw an improvement in their salaries and job security in 2009.

Over 600 respondents comprising of senior CSR executives from North America, U.K. and Europe were polled by Acre along with Ethical Performance magazine and Acona, an independent consultancy, on several questions, including their salaries, their roles, their team sizes as well as their oversight on budgetary decisions. For U.K.-based CSR professionals, salaries were reported to have risen by 10% on average. For 5% of the respondents who work for multinational companies, salaries crossed the $200,000, with an additional 40% reporting making over the median salary of $85,000.

And that’s not all. Two-thirds of the respondent said they received bonuses last year and 84% even went as far as stating that their job stability improved amid the downturn. These results are indicative most efficiently of the strategic role corporate responsibility is beginning to take at companies worldwide. While arguably the progress has been slowest in the U.S., it is picking up. For regular readers of this blog, this will draw parallels for you with my recent interviews with EMC’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Kathrin Winkler, as well as cofounder of Seventh Generation, Jeffrey Hollender.

Corporate consciousness is picking up. However, as the survey results gone on to illustrate, we cannot be hasty in declaring CSR as a strategic direction at companies a success just yet. As CSR professionals begin to capture senior management roles at businesses, they are also increasingly realizing that they need to continually expand their skill commercially to remain viable and relevant in their respective industries.

BusinessGreen.com, which reported the survey results, quoted Andy Cartland, a managing director at Acre saying, “As opportunities from the transition to a sustainable world and economy emerge, I anticipate a growth in the numbers of individuals in such positions,” adding, “The metamorphosis is not yet complete, but when it is, expect to see dramatically increased salaries and new job titles such as Chief Sustainability Officer becoming common place.”

And he isn’t referring to eco-officers instituted by some companies to pay mere lip service to sustainability. He’s referring to professionals who take on the sustainability role by evolving their skills within their industries to master the sometimes technical and sometimes elementary aspects of corporate responsibility. To see further results including how the salaries breakup by gender, by role, and more on the level of responsibility the surveyed executives enjoy, see the complete survey. Do you have something to add to the results? Join the discussion by leaving a comment, emailing In Good Company or connecting with me on Twitter @VaultCSR!

Aman Singh is the CSR Editor at Vault.com, where she focuses on how corporate diversity practices and sustainability translate into recruitment and strategic development. Her blog, In Good Company, discusses on many of these issues

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The Growing Role of Virtual Conferencing and Webinars in the Sustainability Meeting Landscape

A report last month by Market Research Media said the virtual conference marketplace will grow over the next five years. Why?  Because, sustainable businesses looking to reduce cost, increase productivity while simultaneously reduce environmental impacts are looking to virtual conferencing and webinar technology to do the trick.

 The usual discussion around environmental benefits of virtual meetings centers on carbon output from commercial air travel.  However viewed from the cumulative perspective of a conference, the cost savings and environmental attributes add up.  As noted by Ken Molay, President of Webinar Success, traditional conferences require “presenters and attendees to travel to a central location for a physical meeting, it’s not just the air travel that impacts the environment. A meeting room that had been sitting dark now needs lighting, air conditioning, electricity for sound systems, vacuuming, possibly washed and dried tablecloths, and so on. Attendees use hotel rooms with yet more resources devoted to lighting, temperature control, washing sheets and towels, vacuuming, etc. If you serve meals or snacks to your attendees, you are responsible for additional transportation of the ingredients, along with the impact associated with cooking, serving, and clean up.” 

 Business sustainability programs integrating virtual conferencing, webinar technology and remote working policies are saving money and reducing environmental impacts while maintaining and improving prospects, customers, vendor relationships. 

 •    Conserving Energy
•    Preserving the Environment
•    Increased productivity: flexible scheduling, increased attendee participation
•    Reduced travel cost: airfare, hotels, meals
•    Reduced carbon emissions
•    Improved work/ life balance

 Small businesses looking to capture these gains have multiple small business resources from which to choose.  Highlighted by SmallBusinessTrends are 26 webinar services for you to consider.

Posted via web from 3BL Media, CSR News, and Emily

PlanetShifter.com Launches PlanetShifter.com Networks (PSN) on EarthDay 2010

(3BLMedia/theCSRfeed) Burlingame, CA – April 27th, 2010 -  Born out of love and necessity, the wildly successful sustainability and innovation blog Planetshifter.com is announcing the formal launch of Planetshifter.com Networks (PSN) in celebration of Earth Day. “We formed Planetshifter.com one year ago on Earth Day with the goal of creating a resource, a collective of sorts where businesses and individuals could go to learn about sustainability,” says Willi Paul, Green Business Certified Consultant and Founder of Planetshifter.com. “At its highest level, Planetshifter.com’s immense database of interviews, articles and reviews about innovation and sustainability can support everyone’s vision for a green evolution. Planetshifter.com appeals to experienced greenies and novices alike because we’re open source, collaborative and ready to teach people 24/7. We believe that the little steps we all take each day encourage people and business to get together and take on the larger challenges.” 

Willi Paul began building PSN as a way to connect businesses with activists. “Green start-up companies and non-profits know they need to market themselves in the sustainability space, but they aren’t sure where to start. Through PSN we’re now able to effectively communicate our clients’ green achievements to others with similar questions and plans. At Planetshifter.com, we’re really proud of this development and plan on making a live announcement via Ethical Impact radio’s live Earth Day broadcast.”
 
Planetshifter.com was launched on Earth Day 2009 and since inception has garnered international attention and amassed nearly 1600 posts Nearly 200 green innovators have chosen to be featured on Planetshifter.com, including actor/activist Ed Begley Jr. and author Dennis William Hauck from the Alchemy Guild. Planetshifter.com Networks aim to provide more integrated support for its business clients by one-on-one consulting and social media tools such as LinkedIn and community forums.
 
Live EarthDay Interview Radio broadcast: www.blogtalkradio.com/enlightened-business
 
Planetshifter.com Networks (PSN): http://www.planetshifter.com/PS/networks.htm
 
Questions?
Contact:
Sally Dehm
512.799.4468
sally@penmanpr.com

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Delivering a Social Message with Social Media

TOPIC: Delivering a Social Message with Social Media
Plenary Session 5 at CSR and Social Media 2010
WHEN: Thursday, May 13, 2010, 1:45 pm
Priority Code: 3BL1
WHERE: Toronto

Featuring:
Billie Mintz, President, Web Scientist, and Storyteller, Artists Raising Consciousness, Inc.

Self-described storyteller, web scientist, and social media strategist, Billie Mintz is president of Artists Raising Consciousness (ARC), a social media company that helps corporations and non-profits manage their philanthropic and social responsibility mandates. ARC helps organizations raise their profile and promote change with documentaries, short films, and animation projects in a wide range of social media forums.

Billie Mintz will share his insights into how to enhance your community investment and strategic philanthropy efforts by capitalizing on social media’s potential to reach new audiences, extend the message, and build communities around social and community issues.

For more information on this session, or to see a copy of the full agenda, please visit our web site, or contact Joel Elliott at elliott@conferenceboard.ca. Please quote priority code 3BL1 when registering.

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The Business Sustainability Monday Morning Quarterback

As any professional consultant knows, working with clients involves more than discussing business or even the topic at hand.

In fact, a large number of my daily interactions are on topics unrelated to sustainability concepts, or so it would seem.

With the National Football League (NFL) Draft dominating the sports headlines this past week, many of my casual interactions over the past few days have converged on American football, specifically outsiders looking back on decisions made by teams on player choices that would either promote or hinder the success of the organization.  As a sustainability consultant, I observed these “Monday Morning Quarterbacks” (a new phrase I learned) and think about how this same perspective applies to sustainable business actions.

Our observation has been that many companies fail to take proactive or immediate action to respond to change.   The far too common approach role is the one of Sustainability Monday Morning Quarterback.  This shows up in business comments like: “We are going to see what happens and watch how others respond before taking our own action.”

In contrast, the business leaders and true innovators of today are anticipating and taking proactive steps to address change in the business world.  These organizations view the changing landscape of business to be making sustainability a critical component to future business and are challenging traditional models by asking:

 •    How are consumers responding to sustainable offerings in the new market economy?
•    What new market sectors are driving consumer behaviors for sustainable brands?
•    What is most likely on the horizon and how can the business proactively respond?
•    How ‘in-touch’ are business sustainability strategies with changes in the market?

Our sustainability consulting experience with leading organizations has shown there to be an exponentially increasing number of benefits to sustainability and we are currently working with clients who are building their companies around this value.  We work directly with clients to take proactive steps and create a business case for sustainability for their organization.

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10 Tips from Elegant Roots When Choosing “Recycled”

ElegRoo Blog

1. Choose truly “recycled” ~ Truly “recycled” (like for silver) means: extracted from some component and melted down to something new. That can use a lot of energy, but it’s clearly better than mining new silver. Some great jewelry designers work exclusively in recycled precious metals. Check out the Avenue Green Colection from C5 company.

2. Choose reclaimed ~ Other practices get tossed under the word “recycling.” Laura Bergman of Bottled Up Designs forages for broken antique glass pieces from the woodlands of Pennsylvania’s Amish Country, cuts them and mounts them into astounding jewelry pieces. That’s reclaimed or repurposed. Laura designs her peices to avoid use of solder, another way to lighten the footprint of Bottled Up Designs. Reclaimed and repurposed use only a bit of energy, and Bottled Up is also cleaning up the woodlands habitat. By contrast, true recycling of glass would entail melting it to start anew. That’s energy intensive but still prevents waste. Try Bottled Up Designs reclaimed jewelry — the colors of antique glass are astounding.

3. Choose precycled ~ Melissa Kolbusz of [wired] designs salvages obsolete but unused industrial material to create her edgy jewelry. That’s precycled, and it uses no additional energy. Melissa also makes knock-out jewelry from repurposed Effen Vodka bottle labels. You’ve got to see [wired] designs.

4. Don’t choose collectible ~ A collectible item, (antique subway tokens?), are not otherwise going to the landfill – they’re valuable.

5. Don’t choose phony “recycled” ~ African weavers made baskets from reclaimed telephone wire. It was so popular they ran out of reclaimed wire. They began buying new wire. Everybody’s got to make a living, but those baskets are not “recycled.”

6. Choose recyclable ~ When you’re finished with it, can it be reused, repurposed or recycled?

7. Don’t buy junk ~ Don’t buy something that’s throw-away junk, even if it’s made from recycled materials. Encourage producers to design products that stand the test of time.

8. Know the social impact ~ Would you buy a recycled product if you knew the workers were sweat-shop exploited?

9. Buy less but buy better ~ Sometimes quality recycled products cost a bit more. Get used to buying fewer things, while buying things that are meaningful in their environmental and social impact.

10. Demand information ~ ElegantRoots.com supports the transparency movement. We want you to have the info that allows you to make an informed choice – to align your purchases with your values. That why we provide “our four Ws”: Who made it, Where, of What, and Why, beyond its beauty and function, it would be a worthy choice.

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Modern Brides Opt for One Ring

In the two years since I have had my custom jewelry business, I have noticed a steady trend not mentioned on any of the wedding blogs or publications – a trend toward one ring.

5-row diamond engagement/wedding ring by C5 sustainable fine jewelry

In my experience, it is becoming increasingly popular for women (or couples) to forgoe either an engagement ring or a wedding ring for a single perfect ring that truly reflects their values and commitment as a couple. I’m not claiming to have started this trend, but I am an example of someone who has a single ring as a representation of my marriage.

In talking with my clients, I have identified 3 primary reasons for the one-ring trend:

1. Sentiment – more and more people are purchasing unique, custom rings rather than ring sets from traditional retailers. Just as there is a trend for highly personalized wedding ceremonies, there is a trend for highly personalized rings.
2. Resources - rather than stretch the budget for two separate rings, couples are putting their time and money into a single, perfect ring.
3. Design – as larger stones and wider settings have become more desireable, many women have found two rings to be uncomfortable and unattractive.

Do you think this trend is just among our clients or is becoming mainstream? Let me know what you think.

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15 Sustainability Programs for Your Business

Green business practices are rapidly approaching a tipping point. Companies both large and small have learned the value of integrating eco awareness into their operations and business strategies.  The question is where to start.

CEOs around the world are evaluating the bottom-line potential of integrating sustainability concepts into their core business.  Companies are beginning to realize cost savings through sustainable implementations.

In addition, ‘green business’ has become a top-line business sustainability opportunity.  Business sustainability has shifted from a movement to a market, as companies target a new and growing customer segment.

Leading companies are implementing sustainability concepts that reduce cost and value.  Here are some ideas:

1.    Office Energy Consumption – Evaluate the average energy use per square foot of office space and implementing best practices to reduce: energy consumption studies, efficiency practices, equipment modifications, etc.
2.    Employee Commuting – Offer employees incentives to ride public transportation or participate in car/van pooling.
3.    Employee Telecommuting – Reduced office space and transportation as a potential win-win-win practice for businesses, employees, and the environment.
4.    Sustainable Design – Consider materials selection, energy consumption, manufacturing, product use and operation, and final disposition, early in the product development process.
5.    Water Conservation – Manage water entering the company and look for opportunities to reuse water.
6.    Management Systems  – Raise eco awareness and company commitment through established sustainability policies, standards, metrics, and self audits.
7.    Environmental Philanthropy – Beyond just corporate volunteering efforts, provide access to technology, engineering support, information and research that benefits the local community and the environment.
8.    Packaging – Focus on using as little packaging material as needed and making packaging as recyclable as possible.
9.    Pollution Prevention – Keep attention on both source control and waste reduction
10.    Recycling and Waste Reduction – Anywhere there is a trash can, there should be a recycling bin.
11.    Resource Conservation – Consider material and energy consumption across the entire value chain…reduce, reuse, recycle.
12.    Printing Less – Paper makes up about 35% of a typical company’s total waste stream
13.    Go Digital – Reduce paper use and get contracts and documents signed more quickly by using electronic signatures.
14.    Sustainable Partnering – A key aspect of business sustainability is making sure that you manage your supply chain and partner with companies with similar values.
15.    Sustainable Education and Development – There is always more you can do to make your business more sustainable.  Encourage education and innovation within the organization.

Today’s business environment is changing and companies have to respond.  Recognizing the need for change and taking action can get a business on the right track.  At Taiga Company, our professional consulting advises clients to implement solutions that are in alignment with stakeholder needs and add value to the organization.

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The CFO Forum: New Thinking for the New Normal

The CFO Forum: New Thinking for the New Normal
WHEN: Monday, May 17, 2010
WHERE: Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel, Toronto, Ontario
Priority Code: 3BL1

What do financial leaders need to succeed?

Recent global economic volatility has put financial leadership at centre stage, playing a much broader enterprise-wide role than ever before. Lingering uncertainty and renewed financial awareness has organizational experts predicting this shift may be permanent. CFOs and senior finance leaders face increasing demands to provide accurate information, reliable forecasts and strategic insight, all in an environment with little margin for error.

Are you and your finance organization equipped for expanded and elevated responsibilities? Are you prepared for your evolving role in a rapidly changing environment?

Original global research from IBM will help answer these questions, and more.

The Conference Board has partnered with IBM Canada to present their original research along with compelling real-life examples in a focused, practical, and interactive forum exclusively for top-level financial executives across Canada.

Based on the responses of more than 1,900 CFOs and senior finance executives in 52 countries and 35 industries, IBM’s just-released study identifies a new standard for CFO excellence – the “Value Integrator.” Value Integrators run a world-class finance organization, find new ways to integrate and make sense of mountains of new data from across the enterprise, and take on a strategic leadership role. The study will also explore how financial executives around the world have risen to today’s challenges, overcome obstacles, and delivered results.

To find out more about the IBM Global CFO Study, please click here.

This exclusive event will feature in-depth case studies and the insights of respected thought leaders. Benefit from the conclusions of important and timely research, and discuss your challenges with the experts and your peers at the exclusive post-forum reception. To view the full agenda, please click here.

Join us to find out how you can increase your department’s control over the forces that shape the financial and overall direction of your organization.

For more information, please visit the Conference Website.

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