NHL Sustainability Report - Good but incomplete. -by Wayne Dunn
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www.csrtraininginstitute.com/knowledge-centre NHL Sustainability Report Good but incomplete. -by Wayne Dunn Helping business to serve shareholders AND society SIMULTANEOUSLY
NHL Sustainability Report Good but incomplete. It is missing the good works by teams and players. Why? The NHL’s recently released Sustainability 2014 report http://www.nhl.com/green/report/ was interesting, for what it contained, and for what it didn’t. For all you readers from around the world, I’m Canadian and love hockey – ice hockey – so you will see occasional topics like this. For my Field Hockey friends - Ice Hockey is Hockey Proper! :) Seriously though, the NHL Sustainability Report is good. It does what it says it will do, discuss the effort and results the league and various teams are achieving as they work to reduce their environmental footprint. They are clear that is what the report aims to do, Commissioner Bettman’s letter states “The purpose of the 2014 NHL SUSTAINABILITY REPORT is to address our recent efforts and the challenges we face from an environmental perspective.” The Sustainability Report contained a lot of good efforts and good information. But, there was a lot of good work and valuable impact that wasn’t included. I’m not sure why they didn’t include the great work that players, teams and even the league are doing to support people, communities and important social causes. I think it should have been, especially when they went so far as to mention players on the contents.
Page 02 NHL Sustainability Report Good but incomplete. But, I’ve seen other major players and great communicators make similar mistakes that ended up leaving a lot of value on the table for good works that they are already doing. NHL teams support and sponsor all kinds of outreach and support in the community, touching hundreds of worthwhile charities and efforts and raising many millions of dollars for them. They also spend time and money supporting and engaging with minor hockey. And, each team has many other things that they do to help make the community a better place. Sure, this is all part of their marketing but so what. The best and most sustainable CSR happens when there is an alignment between community interests and business interests. Nearly all players also give back to the community in some way, with some of them making major efforts. They are supporting a range of projects and causes and having real positive impacts on programs, people and communities.
Page 03 NHL Sustainability Report Good but incomplete. Many players reach far beyond hockey and use their profile and personal wealth to help make a difference in the world. Some players take their efforts international. And, I suspect if there was some organized support you would find more players making efforts to support people and projects in remote areas and emerging economies. I live on Southern Vancouver Island in Canada, home to some great players and our local boys truly do us proud with the work they do in the off-season to support local causes and help local kids. They set a great example for my son and the thousands of other young players who see these NHL players coming home and giving back. Ryan O’Byrne’s camp, which has many local NHL players donating time and helping out, has helped over 200 Greater Victoria, BC to get into sport.
Page 04 NHL Sustainability Report Good but incomplete. Nashville Predators’ Mike Fisher, Chris Neil of the Ottawa Senators and Kevin Bieksa of the Vancouver Canucks helped World Vision to create awareness on the food crisis in the Sahel http://youtu.be/ewT_TLjSuVg There are other examples of players working with development organizations, or sometimes even on their own, to help address international development issues. I believe there could be a lot more if more was done to support and encourage it (and to communicate it in reports like the NHL Sustainability Report).
Page 05 NHL Sustainability Report Good but incomplete. All of that good work is happening every day. By the teams and the players. I don’t understand why that was left out of the NHL’s Sustainability Report. The league, the players, the teams and owners and society itself would have benefited from telling that story. The 2014 NHL Sustainability Report tells a great environmental story, about important environmental efforts being made by teams and the league itself. It could have told a bigger story and shared about the wonderful work the teams and players are doing in society. It would have been valuable for the league, the teams, the players and society. Strategic application of CSR communications principles could have created more value for all stakeholders, at virtually no cost. Maybe they had a reason not to mention the social and charitable work of teams and player? If so, I’d love to find out. Because it doesn’t make sense to me that they didn’t. I’d love to hear from anyone with insight into this. You can reach me at wayne@csrtraininginstitute.com
WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT OUR WORK Professor Dunn brings a practical and realistic approach to CSR, blending theory and practice to develop realistic models and approaches to address real-world challenges Dr. Ellis Armstrong Former CFO, BP Exploration …coherent, thoughtful, stimulating and insightful… state of the art! The network of participants from the public, private and civil society sectors was incredible, some of the leading experts in the field. Kojo Busia, Ph. D. Snr. Mineral Sector Governance Advisor United Nations Economic Commission for Africa/UNECA …pragmatic blend of theory and practice, very applicable to helping organizations meet real-world challenges. Frank McShane Manager, Corporate Responsibility Policy and Ethics, Talisman Energy … readily available to provide support to organizations like Amref that are seeking partnerships, and looking to bring about positive change in a collaborative and concrete way. Wayne and the CSR Training Institute helped us to identify and connect with potential partners and are always available. The training, the expertise, the network and the overall support are world-class. Onome Ako Director of Strategic Partnerships, Amref Health Africa “The program enhanced the CSR knowledge and strategic skills of our Kosmos Energy Ghana team, and offered the participants a platform for networking with professionals from other organizations across Africa and Ghana.” Reg Manhas Sr VP Kosmos Energy Very much helpful Wayne; some of the tips and questions you gave will be an extremely helpful guide in the process of developing a CSR Strategy for my company. Emmanuel Aubynn Regional Social Responsibility Manager, Newmont Africa The CSR Program was excellent. A key aspect of my work is to encourage and support private sector development that contributes to Ghana’s overall socio-economic growth. The learning that I and my staff take away from attending this program will help us immensely with this responsibility. I highly recommend this program. Hon. Rashid Pelpuo (MP) Minister of State for Private Sector Development and Public Private Partnerships (Ghana) New and exciting insights into the theory and practice of CSR… great faculty and participants, very diversified. An excellent learning experience, very practical and useful. I’m very happy I was able to participate in it. Hon InusahFuseini (MP) Minister of Lands and Natural Resources (Ghana)
Should Business Serve SHAREHOLDERS? Should Business Serve SOCIETY? IT SHOULD SERVE BOTH. WAYNE DUNN, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER Wayne Dunn is President & Founder of the CSR Training Institute and Professor of Practice in CSR at McGill. He’s a Stanford Sloan Fellow with a M.Sc. in Management from Stanford Business School. He is a veteran of 20+ years of award winning global CSR and sustainability work spanning the globe and covering many industries and sectors including extensive work with Indigenous Peoples in Canada and globally. His work has won major international awards and has been used extensively as ‘best-practice’ by industry and academia. He’s also worked oil rigs, prospecting, diamond drilling, logging, commercial fishing, heavy equipment operator, truck driver and underwater logging, done a couple of start-ups and too many other things to mention. Wayne’s career includes big successes, and spectacular failures. He hopes he’s learned equally from both. Helping business to serve society and shareholders, SIMULTANEOUSLY. www.csrtraininginstitute.com
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