How can you collaborate with your board to improve CSR reporting?

1 Align your CSR goals with your board's vision

Your board is ultimately responsible for setting the strategic direction and oversight of your company, including its CSR agenda. Therefore, you need to align your CSR goals with your board's vision and priorities, and demonstrate how they contribute to your company's long-term value creation and risk management. To do this, you should engage your board regularly and proactively, and provide them with clear and concise information on your CSR performance, challenges and opportunities. You should also seek their feedback and input on your CSR strategy, targets and initiatives, and involve them in key decisions and stakeholder engagements.

3 Integrate your CSR reporting with your financial reporting

Another challenge of CSR reporting is the disconnect between your CSR performance and your financial performance. This can undermine the credibility and relevance of your CSR report, and limit its impact on your board and other stakeholders. To address this challenge, you should integrate your CSR reporting with your financial reporting, and show how your CSR activities and outcomes affect your financial results and vice versa. This means that you should use a consistent and coherent methodology to measure and report on your CSR and financial performance, and link them to your company's strategy, value drivers and risks. You should also highlight the materiality and interdependence of your CSR and financial issues, and explain how you manage them holistically.

4 Verify and assure your CSR report

A third challenge of CSR reporting is the lack of trust and confidence in your CSR data and claims. This can erode the reputation and legitimacy of your company, and expose it to legal and reputational risks. To prevent this challenge, you should verify and assure your CSR report, and provide evidence and assurance that your CSR information is accurate, reliable and complete. This means that you should use reliable sources, methods and tools to collect, analyze and present your CSR data, and apply quality control and assurance processes to check and validate your CSR information. You should also engage an independent and credible third party, such as an auditor or a certification body, to review and assure your CSR report, and issue an assurance statement that confirms its quality and credibility.

5 Communicate and engage with your board and other stakeholders

A final challenge of CSR reporting is the low awareness and engagement of your board and other stakeholders with your CSR report. This can limit the value and impact of your CSR report, and miss the opportunity to build trust and relationships with your stakeholders. To overcome this challenge, you should communicate and engage with your board and other stakeholders throughout your CSR reporting cycle, and tailor your CSR report to their needs and interests. This means that you should identify and prioritize your key stakeholders, and understand their expectations and preferences for your CSR report. You should also use various channels and formats to communicate and disseminate your CSR report, and solicit feedback and dialogue from your stakeholders. You should also showcase your CSR achievements and best practices, and acknowledge your CSR gaps and areas for improvement.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?