The Benefits of Communicating on Progress
COPs create value for those preparing them and those accessing them. The information included in COPs can help satisfy the information needs and expectations of a wide range of stakeholders - including employees, communities, investors, NGOs and business partners. This page outlines some of the most commonly voiced benefits.
Internal
benefits
• Motivates a company to define
and live up to a sustainability vision and strategy.
• Motivates a
company to integrate corporate citizenship activities into their core business
operations and increase positive social impacts of their value
chain.
• Enhances corporate governance and leadership commitment by the
CEO, and promotes senior management involvement by reviewing and endorsing the
report.
• Supports efforts to identify business risks and
opportunities.
• Encourages internal information
sharing and learning due to connecting different corporate departments (e.g.,
human resources, communications,
environment, health and safety, operations, community
relations).
• Stimulates internal progress and contributes to continuous
improvement thanks to measuring actions by indicators.
• Clarifies the commitment of
senior management for employees.
External
benefits
• Demonstrates active
participation in the Global Compact and prevents company participation being
seen as a public relations exercise.
• Improves corporate reputation and
brand value due to increased transparency and creation of
trust.
• Enhances stakeholder relations by articulating a sustainability
vision, strategy, and implementation plans.
• Provides significant
learnings to stakeholders through collaboration.
• Makes inclusion in socially
responsible investment funds or indices possible.
Importantly, internal and external benefits are normally not the ultimate
benefits that many companies seek. These intermediate benefits are but steps
towards increased sales,
lower costs, more investors, or faster approvals.
