Outsourcing Your CSR Efforts: A Primer ? BPO News & Trends

By Dan Berthiaume
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a hot topic throughout the business world today, but there has not been a lot of discussion about outsourcing processes such as carbon inventory or energy reduction. That may soon change, as an increasing number of BPO providers are involving themselves in helping clients meet environmental sustainability regulations and generally ?clean up their act.?

BPO Outcomes recently spoke with Matt Ellis, associate director and carbon reduction manager of real estate services outsourcing firm CBRE, about the benefits of CSR outsourcing and the steps a company considering outsourcing CSR processes should take. CBRE is involved in CSR BPO as both a provider and purchaser, and in its role as real estate CSR services provider recently won the inaugural IAOP/ISG Global Outsourcing Social Responsibility Impact Award from the International Association of Outsourcing Providers and Information Services Group.

CSR Benefits Extend beyond Doing the Right Thing
While every company (hopefully) wants to ?do the right thing,? enacting CSR efforts offers ?more concrete business benefits, as well. ?It really does come down to resource management,? says Ellis. ?There are simply not enough trees, or iron, or oil in the world. Energy is volatile, and companies that smartly manage their resources will be the winners.?

Ellis says enacting CSR also pays dividends in bringing disparate units of the business together. ?You?re talking about a broad topic that requires work across the organization,? he explains. ?You get a lot of enhanced communication and eliminate silos. For example, environmental management systems require carbon inventory management plans, which are ?Bibles? that need input from lots of different people, top-down from members of the executive committee to grass roots facilities managers.?

Furthermore, CSR can enhance a company?s brand image, and not just with consumers. ?There is such a competitive market out there for top talent,? says Ellis. ?The differences are often made on the margins. If two great companies offer two great compensation packages, CSR shows that a company has ethics and motivation, which can make the difference for attracting motivated people.?

CSR: What to Outsource?
A company seeking to outsource CSR processes needs to determine what tasks to perform out-of-house and what tasks to keep in-house. Ellis advises a company in this situation to assess its core business, both to craft the overall strategy and decide what functions should be turned over to a BPO provider.

?CSR means different things to different companies,? he says. ?Take Pepsi, for example. Pepsi is basically a water company, so it focuses its CSR program on water efficiency. CBRE is a real estate manager and outsourcer, and up to 16% of US carbon emissions come from commercial real estate, so we?re a huge driver of carbon emissions, which means we want to focus on energy.?

Ellis specifies that any company?s CSR program should focus on all aspects of sustainability, but have core business concerns at the center. As far as what to outsource, ?if it?s not part of your core business, get it out of there.?

CSR: Who to Outsource?
Finding the right provider is crucial to any successful BPO relationship, and CSR outsourcing relationships are no exception. Ellis advises that buyers of CSR BPO perform some basic due diligence.

?Understand the capabilities of your CSR BPO provider,? he says. ?The proof is in the pudding. What has the organization actually done??

Ellis says reviewing a potential BPO provider?s reports on its CSR activities is very important, and can reveal problems. ?Look for specificity of products,? he says. ?If there is no CSR-specific language, that?s a great red flag the vendor is not right for the job.?

Ellis says BPO buyers should also look at the tenure of a provider?s involvement in the CSR area. And he speaks not just as a provider, but as a buyer. CBRE itself uses many different BPO vendors for certain non-core areas of its own CSR program. ?For example, PricewaterhouseCoopers does validation of our carbon inventory management,? he states.

Related posts:

1. Capgemini UK Improves Sustainability Management via BPO

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