Why communicate about sustainability?

The systematic incorporation of corporate sustainable responsibility (CSR) into communication policy and resources helps companies to inspire, motivate and unite employees and to create a better reputation. In financial terms this is reflected in reduced sick leave and staff turnover while a better reputation leads to increased sales. There is a wealth of research to back this up*.

* Sources 
  • The Impact of a Corporate Culture of Sustainability on Corporate Behavior and Performance, Robert G. Eccles Ioannis Ioannou, and George Serafeim, Harvard Business School, 2011.  This research shows that companies which use sustainable business practices are 4.8 per cent more profitable than companies which don’t. For this research, the performance of 180 listed companies was tracked for 18 years.
  • A Study of Current Practice of Corporate Social Responsability (CSR) and an examination of the Relationship Between CSR and Financial Performance using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), Lorraine Sweeney e.a., Dublin Institute of Technology, 2009. This study shows that employees of companies which have a strong focus on CSR are more loyal and more productive than employees of companies where this issue is not prioritised.
  • Firms of Endearment: How World-Class Companies Profit from Passion and Purpose, Rajendra S. Sisodia, 2007.Sisodia presents a list of companies which all kinds of stakeholders love in terms of value development compared to the S&P 500 and the ‘Good to Great’ companies in the management bestseller by Jim Collins. Over a period of ten years, the firms of endearment appeared to increase in value ten times as much as the S&P500 and three times as much as the companies in ‘Good to Great’.

Which kind of questions can Glasshouse Communications help you with?

  • How can I strengthen the corporate identity of my company using corporate social responsibility?

  • How can I strengthen my brand using sustainability?

What can you expect from Glasshouse Communications?

Glasshouse Communications helps entrepeneurs and managers with the creation of sustainable communication strategies and and the translation to different means of communication through storytelling, copywriting, PR, corporate reporting, community management and use of social media. The objective: to influencing behaviour. You can also hire Glasshouse Communications for interim support (for instance, to replace a Head of Communication or Communications Consultant who is on leave), project management, giving workshops about CSR communication and as a day’s chair during sustainability events. Where necessary, Glasshouse Communications works together with other creative professionals from its extensive network. These professionals include copywriters, designers, filmmakers, photographers and coaches.

Transparency is key to all of Glasshouse Communications’ activities. This is because nowadays, what’s inside is outside and vice versa. This is not only due to the arrival of social media, but also because there are increasingly louder calls for transparency in society. Furthermore, it not only involves transparency afterwards (reporting), but also during the development of products and services. That is because transparency leads to creating support, innovation and new partnerships. Unsurprisingly, transparency is one of the 7 CSR principles of the international guideline ISO 26000.