CSR: A load of hot air?

Well, isn’t CSR just hot air?

Absolutely not! CSR is an all-embracing phenomenon, concerned with all aspects of the relationship between businesses and their stakeholders. CSR can be instrumental in raising the intangible asset value and tendering eligibility of businesses. It is also increasingly influencing the government, investors and clients in their contractor selection criteria. CSR has now become a very high priority with enlightened businesses and their clients – others ignore it at their peril.

What will you have to achieve in your new job?

My main objective is to provide support for the 80 companies within the multi-disciplinary MITIE Group, to help them to achieve their corporate goals in an environmentally-sustainable way. Their turnover is around £800m and they have around 28,000 employees, so the challenge and opportunities presented are enormous. I will also be collating and assessing the many excellent examples of CSR initiatives already undertaken within the MITIE Group in order to obtain appropriate independent recognition for it and to establish a coherent CSR strategy.

How much power will you have?

I don’t consider myself to wield any ‘power’. I would prefer to positively influence people. As an indication of how important CSR is to MITIE, I will be reporting directly to the chief executive.

By how much will your salary go up or down?

It will increase, commensurate with my level of responsibility!

What’s the best example of CSR in practice right now?

The construction industry has actually been implementing CSR for decades – but it has only recently been coined as ‘CSR’. As an example, last October, during National Construction Week, many contractors, suppliers and an architect practice worked together and provided a new playground facility for Barnardo’s in Cardiff. Although it was initiated and co-ordinated by Stradform Ltd, it also successfully and harmoniously involved many of their competitors, suppliers and subcontractors. The project was a great success and it shows the community that builders have an altruistic streak too!

Instead of clients and their supply chain partners engaging in dubious outward bound team-bonding ‘partnering’ exercises in pot holes or on mountain tops – they could pool their resources and engage in worthwhile CSR events like the Barnardo’s project instead. The results will be much longer-lasting and it will also benefit a worthy cause at the same time.

The Considerate Constructors Scheme also provides an ideal framework for constructors and clients to implement CSR. Some of their award-winning projects have done amazing things in the community.

How does it feel to be entering the private sector?

Before becoming an ‘academic’ I enjoyed 14 years in the construction industry in Zambia and the UK as project manager and contracts manager. The past 13 years at the University of Glamorgan have enabled me to learn a great deal and also to make a contribution

to the learning experience of hundreds of students. However I am very much looking forward to the opportunity and challenge provided by the MITIE Group and going back into the private sector.

What homework are you doing to prepare?

I am currently formulating a CSR strategy and prioritising a set of short-term and medium-term objectives. I intend to hit the deck running!

What’s your attraction to CSR?

I would like to consider myself as public-spirited and I am interested in the added-value that businesses can bring to their communities. The construction industry particularly has a lot to offer (and gain) by implementing CSR strategically. I have therefore been attracted to the fast developing CSR agenda currently gaining momentum throughout the world.