Icheon Forum 2022
Why Social matters for business
In August 2022 Tove Kinooka, co-founder of Enteleco and parent company Global Perspectives, joined a panel discussion at SK Group’s Icheon Forum alongside world-class sustainability thought leaders Fiona Reynolds, Professor Mark Kramer, Global Compact co-founder Georg Kell, and SK Telecom Chairman Yong-Hak Kim. The plenary session of a 4-day event looking at in depth at each pillar of ESG, the panel explored the importance of the "S" in ESG, and why it is often less well understood than the E and G.
A few of the (many) key takeaways:
- Human rights are are fundamental to the "S", whether they are the rights of workers in your office to a decent work-life balance, or the fair treatment of producers far away at the end of your value chain.
- Strategies and processes are only part of the solution: developing a corporate culture where people understand and are rewarded for sustainability-focused behaviours is vital if those strategies are to succeed.
- Data is important. The indicators for social factors may be qualitative and less tangible than for environmental issues, but they are no less meaningful or important. Companies need to learn to trust and work with qualitative data more effectively.
- If Purpose is embedded in your corporate culture, then you should feel confident about the increased transparency that is being demanded by your investors, consumers, and other stakeholder groups. (And if the thought of being more transparent in your reporting worries you, it is probably time to review your company's core values…)
- We need to view and embrace technology as a key enabler, and make better use of it. For example, it can help us to improve access to information, bring more transparency to our supply chains, and facilitate better engagement with our broader stakeholder groups.
