Business & Society Belgium
In this month's interview, Sabine Denis, Executive Director of Business & Society Belgium, discusses the challenges of engaging employees in CSR and the objectives of their Best Belgian Sustainability Award. After going into the issue of discrimination and age management, Denis talks about a future challenge - the Belgium EU presidency in 2010. 
Business & Society Belgium is organizing on the 24th of November a conference titled "We want you for CSR - mobilization of personnel for CSR". What are the main objectives of the conference?
Several of our members have expressed challenges in mobilizing their colleagues for CSR and inducing a change of behavior over the long term.
On November 24 we are organizing a workshop to help them implementing a change management program and therefore involving and mobilizing everyone in their companies. This workshop will be animated by a consultant who has proven record in this field and will offer the possibility to our members to ask questions and share their issues with each others.
This workshop aims to be the first in a series of events on the topic that Business & society Belgium will be organizing in 2010.
In regards to the event, how important is the involvement of employees on matters of CSR and what, in your experience, are the main challenges in doing so for companies?
When conducting our CSR assessment in companies, in most cases our members have expressed that the workload of everybody is increasing. Too often CSR is still seen as an "add on" and this is the real challenge: to change behavior and processes so that CSR becomes part of the normal activity of every person in the company. Integrating CSR in the core business and making it part of everyone's daily job is the best way to progress. Another challenge in the area is the natural resistance of people to change which can only be overcome if they feel involved.
Business & Society Belgium organizes an award scheme for the Best Belgian Sustainability Award. What role do you believe CSR/Sustainability reports play in further embedding CSR in Belgium and what are the objectives of such an award?
The primary objective of the award is to promote reporting and transparent communication. But we believe that the benefit goes further. When companies decide to report, the person in charge has to involve colleagues from various departments across the company. Progress has to be communicated so the company will have to define targets and KPIs. Ideally, to define the materiality (or what the company should report on) the company should dialogue with various stakeholders. This will help define the boundaries of the report but also bring to the fore where to company may have an opportunity or a potential coming issue. So editing a report goes much further than communicating on the company activities in the area of CSR, its helps embedding CSR by getting the various departments on board, it gives an impulse to stakeholders' dialogue and, by defining objectives, targets and measure progress, it is a tool for CSR management. Additionally it can also make employees proud of their companies and attract new ones.
According to the Belgium CSR Insight as part of the Guide to CSR in Europe, in Belgium discrimination is still a problem in the economic landscape. What are the main actions that are being taken national or regionally to address these issues and what is Business & Society doing to help Companies to increase inclusion and diversity in their business?
An important section of our CSR assessment that we conduct in our member companies is dedicated to the subject. For companies at stakes, the simple fact of obtaining a low score helps them getting involved with the issue. Additionally, when we notice that a member obtains a "low score" on diversity, we offer a set of recommendations to help setting a specific HR policy in the area, which addresses the various groups that are at risk, as such, ethnic minorities, women, people with a handicap, ageing employees etc. and covers the entire career, from recruiting to retirement.
At Business & Society we believe that the exchange of best practices and challenges is a very good way to progress CSR in companies. Therefore, we have organized this year a dedicated session on diversity for our members.
Business & Society Belgium organized a conference around Age management. In light of the current demographic trends across Europe, what, in your opinion, are the main challenges that will surface for companies in this area?
There are several challenges, for example the adaptation of job function with age, the transfer of knowledge and competences, the motivation of older employees, the fact that they hardly attend training etc. And, with demographic changes in Europe it will become more and more important to focus on ageing employees and companies have to be prepared for it. One of the main learning from the work group we had for a year is that age management should start from the beginning of the career with clear procedures for the transfer of knowledge and competencies.
The EU Presidency will be the responsibility of Belgium in the second half of 2010. What will be key priorities and action in relation to CSR during this Presidency? What role will Business & Society play, in cooperation with the Belgian Presidency, to drive CSR further?
We are currently discussing with the Belgian government, the cabinet of the first minister, our Belgian ambassador to the EU and CSR Europe to bring CSR on top of the Belgian Presidency agenda.
We will also collaborate with CSR Europe for the launch of the Enterprise 2020 at will take place during the Belgian presidency ( October or November 2010). One of the idea is to present a Marketplace around innovative business models targeting the European Institutions, governments, companies and other stakeholders.
More information
Read more about Business and Society Belgium at http://www.businessandsociety.be/fr
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