It makes sense

Once upon a time corporate social responsibility was called common sense. Then it got rebranded, the bandwagon began to roll and suddenly there are lots of people out there making shedloads of money as CSR consultants and advisers, all of them eager to tell us what we should be doing.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m certainly not against the principles and practices of CSR but much of what is cited today as “CSR best practice” is really what we’ve always done called by a different name. That’s certainly the case in Bovis Lend Lease and I know it goes for most of the bigger companies and practices that straddle the construction industry – and, encouragingly, many of the smaller ones as well.

Our challenge today is to be seen to be doing what we’ve always done and that is often a lot harder because it’s become a routine, a matter of course and not something we rush into print about or even seek to publicise. Respect for the environment, using materials from sustainable resources, safety, site welfare, supporting the community and equal opportunities are all hot topics on the CSR agenda but none is new to the industry, nor are the answers to them.

What’s changed is the fact that developers and contractors now feel constrained to publish long and detailed CSR reports, telling their clients, their shareholders and the public just how socially and environmentally responsible they are, regardless of the numbers of trees that get felled to make the paper they’re printed on.

To me that seems a curious anomaly – using paper, inks and energy to produce a report that says “we care about the environment”. Of course we do. As corporations, as individuals and as a nation we are constantly bombarded with messages about energy conservation, recycling and doing our bit to save the planet.

And that message is getting through, both at a personal level and corporately. In Lancashire, Bovis Lend Lease has just taken a 25% equity stake in a massive PFI waste treatment and recycling scheme. Showing real vision, 15 local authorities have teamed up to tackle the county’s waste disposal with three treatment plants. By 2015, their intention is to recycle or compost 55% of all Lancashire’s municipal waste.

To my mind that’s true CSR in action and it’s great to see local government rising to the challenge, because their example will encourage not just their ratepayers but businesses and local authorities too.

But CSR isn’t just about the environment. In the best-managed businesses, people figure strongly and by its very nature the construction industry is a big employer. Other industries rely increasingly on automation but building is something that is still largely done by hand, meaning we must always care for and protect those people we employ.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m certainly not against the principles and practices of CSR but so much of what is cited today as ‘CSR best practice’ is really what we’ve always done

That protection needs to go beyond hard hats and toolbox talks. They certainly have a vital part to play in the day-to-day safety of site personnel but if we want to attract the right calibre of craftsmen as well as graduates into the industry, we need to worry about their welfare as well as their safety.

Welfare means something very different to safety but they are inextricably linked. A fit, well-fed and healthy steel erector is also likely to be a lot safer in his job. Our own experience shows that a bit of time and trouble spent on the menu in the site canteen, employing site nurses to carry out health screening checks and providing dietary advice are all well received, even by toughest characters on site.

Our future and our reputation is in their hands, so isn’t it worthwhile investing that little bit extra to make life better as well as safer? You could call that corporate social responsibility but, as I said at the outset, I call it common sense.

People are the ambassadors for our business and we need to treat them that way. Architects, engineers, contractors, brickies, chippies, plumbers and scaffolders – we’re all in it together and we each have a part to play in selling UK Construction plc to cautious clients, sceptical investors and a cynical public whose perception of our industry is coloured by media stereotypes and cartoon characters.

CSR is also about supporting the community in its broadest sense, and again the construction industry is uniquely placed to play its part. If you’re building something in Manchester, it makes sense to give the work to local contractors that employ local people. That generates local jobs, benefits the local economy and, the closer someone lives to where they work, the less damage they do to the environment getting there.

Too often CSR becomes the tool by which we try to sell ourselves; a useful new marketing accessory that can be rolled out to demonstrate our socially inclusive, eco-friendly credentials. Instead, CSR should be seen for what it is – a force for good, putting the traditional principles of socialism into practice and compelling companies to be more conscious of their own corporate and civic obligations.

Nor is that such a bad thing for the companies themselves. By adopting a common sense approach, by doing the right thing, whether it’s for their workforce, the community at large or the environment in general, CSR becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy, and helps to make companies sustainable as well as credible.