Move over G3. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is on track to finalize G4 reporting guidelines by May 2013. Significant changes will have a major impact on the 3,900+ companies that use the GRI standard for corporate responsibility (CR) communications. Here are some things you should know.

Goodbye Application Levels

There’s been too much confusion about what application levels mean. Calling the levels “A,” “B” and “C,” gave the mistaken impression that it was an indicator of sustainability performance or quality of reporting. Neither is the case. The new proposal is based on “in accordance” criteria.

Good news for beginners and smaller companies

A big emphasis on user-friendly guidance should make the guidelines easier to use and understand, especially for people new to sustainability reporting. A web-based version of the framework will be available — a welcome option to the current hefty PDF. Smaller companies will have an easier time reporting, because the number of disclosure items will be reduced for them, a recognition of their relative lack of complexity compared to larger organizations.

“As people become more aware, and actually see more information, they actually become more skeptical.”

— JAMES CERUTTI of BRANDLOGIC

Focus and clarity

The goal is to produce more focused reports that are specific to an organization’s key operations and challenges. The trend has been for organizations to produce glossy reports with generic content. As a result, a company like BP could produce outstanding GRI-based reports that don’t focus on real challenges. Improving the technical definitions should make it easier for organizations to get external verification of reported information.

This is evident in the disclosure changes for Anti-corruption (in a new Ethics section) and GHG Emissions Indicators (grouped into three subsets). Energy Indicators also have been modified for more streamlined reporting.

Changes to management approach disclosure and reporting boundaries will require more specific information on how organizational strategies are implemented and how far impact disclosures should go. Product and supplier disclosures bring supply chain into closer view.

Harmony

The new guidelines are designed to better harmonize with other internationally accepted standards.

MORE IS LESS

Most companies are doing better at sustainability performance but many aren’t getting credit. That’s one finding in the 2012 Sustainability Leadership Report by Brandlogic and CRD Analytics. Key audience perceptions aren’t rising at the same rate as their performance improvements. That may be because more reporting can simply mean more information that people can’t evaluate.

No Integrated Reporting Guidance

While integrated reporting remains the goal for many organizations, there is no internationally agreed-upon standard yet. Organizations pioneering this effort are inventing it as they go. Standards will likely emerge in future GRI versions that codify the best practices of these leading edge organizations.

Will there be a grace period?

This is not expressly stated yet, but a grace period of up to 2 years was given with previous framework updates. Since this is a major upgrade, a similar grace period is likely.

The bottom line

This is a step forward for sustainability reporting in a landscape that’s fast evolving. While the GRI framework is only a guideline, it’s a great tool that promotes consistency and clarity. We’re ready to welcome CR 4.0.

Head to the GRI site to learn more about the changes or to read the G4 Exposure Draft.

While the tangibles are important, today employees seek the intangibles for motivation and inspiration. Sounds obvious, right? Most companies have scattered the “rediscovery” of their culture across multiple departments, but it is our belief that it should exist in the CR efforts of the organization. An employee needs to know what the company stands for. All of this is communicated through your corporate culture and, by their very essence, CR efforts express values and ethos beyond money.

In our recent newsletter, our article on workplace trends outlines three stages for building CR that inspires.

Stage 1: Build social capital through employee engagement
Stage 2: Evolve employee engagement into employee integration
Stage 3: Crowdsource corporate culture

The true success will come from the engagement of everyone in your organization. Learn about these steps and get going on LIVING your corporate values. Read the article and subscribe to our newsletter for more.

Amidst all the different jargon for CR communications one can easily get lost. We’ve created an interactive timeline to help layout the history of CR communications and how we got to where we are today. Understanding where sustainability, corporate social responsibility, and corporate responsibility came from is just part of tackling how we communicate them. Each area has its unique space within a company, and must be delivered to the right audience. We’ve even given you the ethos for each: Corporate Social Responsibility – share the wealth, Sustainability – don’t squander the future, and Corporate Responsibility – be a good global citizen. Play around. We hope this helps you, not only understand how today’s CR terms evolved, but also assists you to use them more precisely.

Everyday we’re inundated with more reasons why companies need to communicate corporate responsibility. We hear about mistakes (Apple’s supply chain, McDonalds’ ties with inhumane egg farmers), and we applaud the good (Coca-Cola’s PlantBottle and Chipotle’s commitment to local and humane farming).

Individuals are willing to go further than ever to do good; from buying locally to hiring personal eco-concierges. Increasingly, consumers want to buy from companies that care about the triple bottom line—so much so that we’ll research brands and their parent companies to know who’s behind them. “People aren’t fooled by sustainable sub-brands” such as Kashi or Odwalla Juice. Moreover, employees want to work for companies whose corporate responsibility is up to par. They’ll seek out those that practice a “fundamental human value that is authentic to the brand.”

That information isn’t hard to find either. We live in an age of unprecedented transparency. Lists like Co.Exist’s “25 Companies that Practice Good Corporate Citizenship and Still Make Lots of Money,” Sustainable Brand’s “50 Fastest Growing Brands That Serve a ‘Higher Purpose’” as well as articles about the corporations that aren’t doing it  make it easy to spot heroes and villains. Through email blasts and social networks, this news spreads far and fast, making it harder than ever to get away with what consumers dub greenwashing.

With more eyes on accountable corporate responsibility, the way to do business is actually becoming the right way to do business. Customers and consumers know that information is power, and they arm themselves to and make decisions and a difference on every level. This is something to applaud, to step up to and engage.

In the 1990s, CR was downplayed as a “nice to do” or a mere marketing tactic. But in the past decade, the business case has been made: CR done right contributes to bottomline business success. The CR effort is not just something to bolt on to a company but can be a means to change the entire business. CR is a lens through which companies must see their business futures. Strategies and tactics that don’t consider impact on people and the planet, as well as profits, are already a step behind and living on borrowed time. But fear not. Consumers and employees alike know that CR is a process, and change takes time. For established businesses, the first step is commitment and accountability. Progress, as in life, is more important than perfection. So try!

“In every corner of the globe, we see the power of living and working more sustainably. When we look into the future, we know our actions matter. So while our work is complex, our commitment is simple: Succeed today without compromising tomorrow.” -Fluor Corporation 2010 Sustainability Report

Fluor asked Baker to help elevate their third sustainability report to a higher level than had been accomplished with the two prior reports. While still new to the arena of sustainability reporting, Fluor had a clear idea of what they wanted to do this year: communicate the commitment and accomplishments of its sustainable business practices in construction projects around the world within the context of an easy-to-navigate interactive PDF. We came up with the theme and title, Insight Onsite. We then brought it to life using bright colors and big, bold type to identify each section and interesting, easy-to-read graphics. Additionally, we included links throughout to navigate the user to different sections of the report or to the Fluor corporate website for more detailed information.

Read more about Baker’s role in our case study.