This document discusses building the business case for sustainability and CSR engagement. It outlines how sustainability initiatives can improve employee engagement which leads to better business results. While there is value in sustainability and CSR efforts, much of it is "submerged" or not fully realized. Uncovering this submerged value shows the total benefits are greater than expected. The presentation provides strategies for proving the value of sustainability to different stakeholders and improving initiatives by targeting investments in areas that will have the highest impact and returns.

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Va l u t u s
Building the Business Case for
Sustainability & CSR Engagement
Mark Bissell – VP, Customer Success
Daniel Aronson – Researcher & Consultant
Dec 10, 2014

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Presenters
Mark Bissell
Vice President,
Customer Success
WeSpire
Daniel Aronson
Sustainability Consultant
& Founder
Valutus

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About WeSpire
Cloud-based environmental,
social, and business impact
through:
• Behavior Science
Foundation
• Social & Game Mechanics
• People-Centric Design
• Customized Content
• Active Learning
Empowering employees to impact positive business outcomes.

4. A Holistic Platform for Engagement
Sustainability Projects
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• Zero Waste
• Water Conservation
• Energy Efficiency
• Health
• Custom
CSR Projects
• Social Responsibility
• Citizenship
• Volunteering
App-based model for creating employee engagement programs.

5. Latin ('val-yü-tis): Value, Values
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About Valutus
Valutus provides consulting and tools to help organizations realize more
value—for their business and for the world—from their sustainability and
responsibility efforts.
Valutus does this through helping:
• Uncovering submerged value to make visible the full benefit of
sustainability & responsibility (3x-10x as much as previously believed)
• Creating tools that reduce the time required to do things like set
targets by 95% or more
• Helping communicate benefits to finance and business executives

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Agenda
• The Premise and the Disconnect
• Understanding Submerged Value
• Prove the Value
• Improve the Value
• Questions
• Final Word

7. The Premise and the Disconnect
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Premise
• It is possible to simultaneously drive
improvements in sustainability,
engagement and business results
• Direct business benefit
• Raises employee engagement
– Participating employees
– “Bystander” employees – “pleased or proud”
Quote: Andy Savitz

9. Engagement Leads to Revenue
Bain & Company Research shows:
“Companies with highly engaged workers
grow revenues two and a half times as much
as those with low engagement levels”
“Employees increasingly view their company’s
sustainability agenda as a critical factor in
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engagement.”

10. Understanding Submerged Value
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11. “Sometimes, I feel separated from the core business.
I would like to be more involved.”
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Disconnect!!
Despite the value provided - professionals
in CSR and Sustainability say things like:
“I wish the business better understood what we
do in Sustainability & CSR and how it matters!”
“It would be nice if more people appreciated
the value of what we do”

12. Business Case: Direct Value
• Articulate future direct business value
• $84/year per employee in certification project at
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Sony Electronics
• As program evolves – report back

13. Business Case: Direct Value
Share widely for brand benefit as well as engaging “bystander employees”
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14. Business Case: Engagement Value
The impact of improved
employee engagement can
quickly surpass “direct
value”
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Prove the Value

16. Changing the Question
What if we could change the questions…
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FROM
Should we be more
sustainable?
How do we know how much
to do?
TO
How should we be more
sustainable?
Are we investing enough?
Where could we shift
investments to improve
results?

17. A Starting Point: Proving the Value
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 Should we be more sustainable?
 How do we know how much to do?
 There is real value in sustainability and CSR, much of it
submerged.
 When you uncover the submerged value, the total value is
much more than expected
 How should we be more sustainable?
 Are we investing enough?
 Where could we shift investments to improve results?

18.  To stakeholders
 To the market
 To customers
 To executives
 To employees
Prove
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19. Actions Create Engagement
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Which creates results!
Taking
Sustainability
& CSR
Actions
Becoming
More
Engaged
Business
Results

20. The Value of Engagement is Submerged
e.g., Energy Conservation
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e.g., Attrition Costs
e.g., Customer
Relationship
e.g., Brand
e.g., Brand Clarity
e.g., Organizational
Execution
TANGIBLE INTANGIBLE

21. Engaged Employees Are Less Likely to Leave
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Likelihood to Leave (Index)

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…And Work Harder

23. …And Affects Lots of Outcomes
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Negative:
• Attrition
• Absenteeism
• Shrinkage
• Safety Incidents
• Defects
Positive:
• Productivity
• Innovation
• Customer Service
• Profitability

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Once Identified…
Human Capital Value Element Explanation
New Hire Comp Premium as Percent of Total Compensation
New hires are willing to accept lower premium at a company
with strong CR program
Value from Recruitment Premium Savings in new hire premium
Productivity with Engagement Effects Productivity effect of more engaged employees
Value from Productivity Gain
The (minimum) amount it's worth to have more work done
by the same number of employees
Attrition Rate
Percentage of the organization's employees that leave every
year
Average Productivity of New Employees
Productivity of someone new (Where's the bathroom? How
do I do this?)
Turnover Difference
Number of employees that do not leave a company due to
CR program
Average Recruiting & Training Cost as Percent of Total
Compensation
The cost of recruiting, interviewing, training a new
employee, as a % of their comp
Retention Savings from Vacancy The savings from not having vacant positions
Retention Savings from New Employee Productivity
The savings in productivity from not having new (less
productive) employees

25. …These Benefits Can Be Quantified
For more information about this
calculator, please contact Daniel
Aronson directly:
daniel@danielaronson.com
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26. Process Case Study: 100,000+ Person Company
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27.  To stakeholders
 To the market
 To customers
 To executives
 To employees
Prove
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 Sharpen discussion
 Enable experimentation
 Support tools
 Link to continuous
 improvement
Im

28. Improve: Targeting Investments
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| V a l u t u s

29. Improve: Added Content
Focused:
Fewer, higher-return initiatives
with more investment behind
them
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Emphasis / Investment
Diffuse:
Some higher-return initiatives,
some lower ones
| V a l u t u s

30. Improve: Targeting Investments
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That Raise the Floor
| V a l u t u s

31. Improve: Targeting Investments
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That Affect Locations Differently
| V a l u t u s

32. Improve: Targeting Key EE & Groups
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Employee Group
Employee Group
Employee Group
Employee Group
Employee Group
Employee Group
Employee Group
Employee Group
Employee Group
Employee Group
Employee Group
Employee Group
Employee Group
Employee Group
Employee Group
Employee Group
Employee Group
Employee Group
Employee Group
Employee Group
Employee Group
Engaged
Partly Engaged
Disengaged
Engagement
2013
Engagement
2014
| V a l u t u s

33. Recap
| V a l u t u s

34. Recap: Business Case/ROI
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 Consider the full impact of program
 Map out intended business results in addition to
external benefits
 Define plan to assess, track and report impacts
 As you achieve success – jointly analyze
Sustainability/CSR program participation and
HR data

35. Questions
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Final Word

37. Improve:
Supporting Company Strategy
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Execution Disciplines
Finance
Sales & Marketing
HR
Sustainability & CR
Overall Corporate Strategy
Operations
1

38. Improve:
Support a Service-Oriented
Strategy
“The correlation between high employee
engagement and high customer satisfaction
scores at Vi is no accident. Our attention to
giving employees best-in-class training leads to
a dedicated workforce that keeps our residents
happy.”
— Judy Whitcomb, Vice President of Human Resources, Learning &
Organizational Development
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2

39. 3 Or an Innovation-Focused One
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Va l u t u s
Thank you!
mark@wespire.com
daniel@danielaronson.com