2GOOD TRUE CSR DRIVERS

Pallavi.Chakravorty@timesgroup.com

The 2nd edition of theET2Good4Good CSR Ratings indeedturned out be an event to

remember. With the Jury in fullattendance along with most participatingcompanies, it was encouraging to seehow we have made a mark in just oneyear. Plus, a 38 per cent jump in thenumber of participating companies and awonderful feedback from both, the juryand the participants, made the secondyear a really positive one for us.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR)has become one of the standardbusiness practices of our times,particularly with the government gettingmore and more serious about it. Forcompanies committed to CSR, it meanskudos and an enhanced overallreputation — a powerful statement ofwhat they stand for in an often cynicalbusiness world.

The ET2Good4Good Ratings — thehighest recognition by ET in the CSRdomain — was precisely drafted by ETand KPMG as the gold standard in CSR to

recognise the corporates doing best CSRwork. The idea was to create a platformfor comparative benchmarking andprocess improvement, and encouragecompanies to keep up the good work.What makes the platform even morecoveted is the fact that the ratingsscheme doesn’t really stop after theconferral ceremony. Each corporate hasan individual feedback session with ETand KPMG where they are given detailedinputs and feedback on theirperformance and the best in classpractices. These sessions help the

companies ascertain where they stand interms of CSR and also what more canthey do in the field of doing good.

In her opening speech, Naina LalKidwai, Ex-Country Head, HSBC Indiaand also one of our jury members,brought out the true essence of CSR andthe relevance of this ratings scheme forthe companies. “It’s always good to seecompanies which are in the business ofmaking money also learning to give itaway,” she said. “In most of the boardsthat I am involved with today, I can seehow CSR is being driven right from the

top and indeed becoming a part of thecompany’s DNA. The most meaningfulbeing those efforts which engageemployees and embrace CSRcompletely,” she said.

Regarding the scheme, there was aconscious effort not to portray it as anaward as an award doesn’t really leavesmuch scope for improvement, while arating has an aspirational value. One ofthe biggest changes that the jury broughtabout in this year’s ratings was the ratingsitself. Apart from the 2Good and 4Goodratings, we introduced two new ratings ofAspire 2Good and Challenger 2Good. Theidea was to acknowledge those who arereally trying to make a difference to thesociety and also to give them anopportunity to try harder to achieve the ET2Good and ET 4Good ratings.

We are still evolving, particularly interms of process and parameters. The jurymeets twice a year — an unlikely ritual forany other event — to brainstorm on theprocess and again to evaluate thesubmissions. And we can proudly say thatwe really have come a long way in termsof experience in the past one year. Bracedwith very positive feedback from thecompanies and the overall momentumthe ratings has gained, we look forward toan even better year in terms ofparticipation and bettering of processes.

For any feedback/information reach usat et2good4good@timesgroup.com

Driving positive change is an integralpart of our core purpose wherebywe enable communities to rise. OurCSR efforts are focused onsupporting girls, youth and farmersin the domains of education, healthand environment.

SHEETAL MEHTA Senior Vice President - CSR,

Mahindra Group

The beauty of this ratingsscheme is its structure.The feedback sessionswith the companies arereally helpful particularlyin terms of self-assessment

DEEPAK ARORA Head - Corporate

affairs, Nayara Energy

This initiative is a good way tomeasure your CSR progressand ground impact. The goodpart is the feedback from ETand KPMG that helps us assesswhere we stand in terms ofCSR and how can wecontribute more

PRATYUSH PANDA CSR Head, ACC Cement

We do CSR using the Toyota WayPlan-Do-Check-Act principle.This ratings helps us reflect onour activities and kaizen them sothat we can serve our stake-holders and communities better

NAVEEN SONI VP (External Affairs,CSR & PR), Toyota

Kirloskar Motor

The evaluation process is such thatevery year it sets a benchmark forthe company itself, thus allowing acompany to self-evaluate. This ratingsystem is distinctive in the way thatit allows a company to grow fromwithin

AVANISH KUMARProfessor, Public Policy & Governance, MDI

If India has truly to become acountry with equality and socialjustice and we are to achieve thegoals of social development andsustainability, it is important thatmany more companies participate inthe process

T.C.A. RANGACHARIDistinguished Fellow,

Vivekananda International Foundation

What struck me this year besides thegenerosity of the companiesinvolved in CSR activities, was thecareful measurement of the impact,some of the innovations, and theattention to so many factors that gointo doing quality CSR work

ASHOK ALEXANDERFounder, Antara Foundation

What makes the platform stand out isthe criteria itself, which isn’t justabout the spend but also, outcomes,impact, governance, and the waycompanies actually process andprogress on the CSR criteria as havebeen set out

NAINA LAL KIDWAIEx-Country Head, HSBC India

Pallavi.Chakravorty@timesgroup.com

Compassion, as they say,cannot be built or legislated.It comes from within.

Perhaps true. In a very thought-provoking session, R.A. Mashelkar,National Research Professor;Vineet Nayar, Founder &Chairman, Sampark Foundation;Akhil Bansal, Deputy CEO, KPMG;and Vikram Kirloskar, ViceChairman, Toyota Kirloskar Motorand Vice President, CII, discussedthe future of CSR and how societycan benefit from it. The panel wasmoderated by T.K. Arun, Editor-Opinion, The Economic Times.

The speakers discussed ifpooling in of resources bycorporates to address a commoncause could be the way forward.While Nayar didn’t really see muchscope in that, he said an ideathrough which corporates deploythe best of their people andresources, and help solve somecomplex issues that thegovernment hasn’t been able tosolve, can be the real game-changer. Bansal felt otherwise.

“Collaboration on a local levelbetween companies to worktowards a common cause canhelp as it can have a biggerimpact.” He also felt thatlegislation has encouragedcompanies to invest in CSR andalso attracted involvement fromthe top-most stakeholders.

Often credited as being adangerous optimist, Mashelkar,said, “CSR 2.0 to me is doing wellby doing good.” He spoke about

how a scholarship of ̀ 60 permonth that he got from the TataTrust, helped him study and reachwhere he is today. Agreeing to thatthought, Kirloskar said that it is notso much about the money you putin, but more about what impact isachieved with that. “I belong to acentury-old business family, andwe have developed a culture ofcompassion over the years. For us,CSR is a core activity.”

The panellists also spoke about

how corporates can contribute toCSR just by paying their taxes ontime. “If all corporates pay theirtaxes diligently, the governmentwill have enough money to fundbetter healthcare, education and ahost of other issues facing thenation,” Bansal said.

One big learning that emergedfrom the session was theimportance of investing in aninnovative idea that is disruptive.“Within two years of the SamparkFoundation being formed, werealised the need to concentrateon just one area — education — aswe had a disruptive innovativeidea that could help us reachmillions of children in less than $1per child per annum,” Nayar said.

“I agree,” said Mashelkar. Citingthe example of an innovation byTCS that could have helped checkilliteracy, he said, “TCS came upwith an idea called computer-based functional literacy thatenabled learning via pictures. Forexample, a person could learn theword Mother by looking at apicture and not by first learningthe alphabets as we did. In 46hours of training, an illiteratecould read a newspaper,” he said.

The discussion ended on thenote that CSR is about impact andnot money. And the sooner werealise it, the better it is.

The sustainability of any CSRprogramme depends on the whole-

hearted participation of itsstakeholders. We work a lot withthe government, for example.We have signed an MoU withthe Gujarat government forimparting digital education

in 1,000 schools

BRIG ATUL WAHI,Trustee for Welspun

Foundation and Executive CSRHead, Welspun India Ltd.

OMC has presence mostly in thebackward areas of the state,

which have a big tribalpopulation. Their human

development index in terms ofeducation, health and social well-

being is very poor. Our focus isto address these issues and

help them improve theirliving standards

SANTANU RATH, Director (Personnel)

and Member of Board,OMC

Ours is a veryinvolved and

empowered team, andwe engage in very deep discussions

regarding various aspects of CSR.We follow a very systematic and

structured process and do the bestwe can to sustain the programme.

D.K. SEN,Director and CSR committee

member, L&T

Digital platform andusage of modern

technology helps to reachout to the targeted people, with the

required need at a much fasterpace. That itself is extremely

satisfying.

HARINDER SIKKA, Group Director-Strategic Business,

Piramal Enterprises

Winning the ratings second time in arow is very encouraging indeed. Asfor our CSR process, we are a veryinvolved team and we first try to

assess the needs of the people weare targeting to reach and then

build a plan around it. We alsouse lot of technology in our

innovations.

A.K. TOMAR, Executive Director, Maruti

Suzuki

This is our second year ofassociation with the

ET2Good4Good ratings and ourexperience has been very

encouraging. The best part is afterthe evaluation, we are given

feedback in terms of where all wehave improved and where all we

are required to step up

VIJAY SETHI, Head-CSR, CIO and Head-HR,

Hero MotoCorp

We are a company from theBellary district of Karnataka. We

recognise the needs of theneighbourhood and work as perwhat the society needs. We haveadopted 16 plants under our CSRprogramme and this is precisely

our success story

MEDA VENKATAIAH, Executive Director and

Member of Board,MSPL

CONSUMER CONNECT INITIATIVE

The second edition of the ET2Good4Good CSR Ratings turned out to be a major success with 33companies walking away with the accolades in the presence of several industry bigwigs

CSR 2.0: About Innovationand Compassion

(L to R): T.K. Arun, Editor-Opinion, ET (Moderator); R.A. Mashelkar,National Research Professor; Vineet Nayar, Founder & Chairman,Sampark Foundation; Akhil Bansal, Deputy CEO, KPMG; andVikram Kirloskar, Vice Chairman, Toyota Kirloskar Motor

Winners of the ET 4Good ratings pose with their certificates

The ET Aspire 2Good rating has set the aspiration levels high for these participants

ET 2Good winners pose with their certificates

OMC bags the ET Challenger 2Good rating

POINT OFVIEW

We asked some of ourwinners to talk about whatCSR means for them and

how important it is in theirscheme of things

CSR is not a one-time activity for us;we see this more as an ongoing

process. Plus, we involve ouremployees at various levels — fromthe top to bottom. The top level isinvolved in approving budgets andprojects, the middle and bottommanagement are involved in the

execution part

VINOD SINGH, Director & Board Member — CSR

Committee, GKN Driveline

It’s interesting to watch howcompanies looking to work towardshumanitarian good, progress overthe years, the impact they create, thekind of governance structures theybring in, and the innovations theymake to drive social change

VINEET NAYAR Founder & Chairman, Sampark Foundation

Compassion has to come fromwithin. I have seen many companies,irrespective of them making profitsor not, being involved in CSR anddoing excellent work. I hope thisinitiative helps drive morecompanies towards CSR

R.A. MASHELKAR National Research Professor

There has been a big improvementin terms of the quality ofsubmissions and the evaluationprocess. There are so manycompanies who are doing excellentwork and I would encourage suchcompanies to participate in thisratings

NISHI VASUDEVAEx-CMD, Hindustan Petroleum

AND THE WINNERS ARE...

IT WAS A PROUD MOMENT FOR OUR PARTICIPANTS. HERE ARE SOME CANDID SHOTS THAT CAPTURED THEM ALL

ABOUT THE PROCESS...Santhosh Jayaram, Partner and Head-Sustainability and CSR Advisory.KPMG in India, explains the process —in its entirety — about how thesubmissions are analysed and winnersare chosen. Before we started and collaborated onthis ratings initiative, we realised that agenuine benchmarking process wasmissing in this space. With CSR gaining

board-level attention in mostcompanies and the government tootaking it more seriously than ever, itwas a good time to launch a ratingsscheme such as the ET 2Good4Goodratings.

In the first year, we put thecompanies in just one category but werealised that it was resulting in anunfair comparison. So, this year webucketed them into four categories of

annual CSR spend of less than ̀ 10crore, ̀ 10-30 crore, ̀ 30-100 crore andmore than ̀ 100 crore.

These companies are rated acrossseven pillars of Innovation, Impact,Governance, Stakeholder Engagement,Strategy, Monitoring and Evaluation,and Reporting.

Companies can apply as per theparameters relevant to them throughan online portal. There are 65

questions across all the seven pillars,each carrying a benchmark. Thecompanies are then evaluated incomparison to these benchmarks andthe evaluation is then presented to thejury.

After the conferring of the ratings,feedback sessions are conducted foreach participating company, so thatthey know where they lacked and howthey can improve their rating.

JURY SPEAK

WINNERS’ SPEAK

CROWNING THE TRUE CSR DRIVERS

www.economictimes.com/et2good4good

ET 4GOOD ■■ Bharat Aluminium Company

Ltd.

■■ GAIL (India) Ltd.

■■ Hero MotoCorp Ltd.

■■ JSW Steel Ltd.

■■ Larsen & Toubro Ltd.

■■ Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.

■■ Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.

■■ Mytrah Energy (India)

Pvt. Ltd.

■■ Piramal Enterprises Ltd.

■■ Tata Motors Ltd.

■■ Tata Projects Ltd.

ET 2GOOD ■■ ACC Ltd.

■■ Ashok Leyland Ltd.

■■ Central Coalfields Ltd.

■■ Power Grid Corporation ofIndia Ltd.

■■ Tech Mahindra Ltd.

■■ Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt. Ltd.

■■ WNS Global Services Pvt. Ltd.

■■ YES Bank Ltd.

ET CHALLENGER 2GOOD■■ Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

■■ Odisha Mining CorporationLtd.

ET ASPIRE 2GOOD■■ Amway India Enterprises Pvt.

Ltd.

■■ Aparajitha Corporate Services

Pvt. Ltd.

■■ Embassy Group

■■ GKN Driveline (India) Ltd.

■■ HDFC Asset ManagementCompany Ltd.

■■ HPCL

■■ ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Ltd.

■■ MSPL Ltd.

■■ Nayara Energy Ltd.

■■ Tamilnadu Newsprint & PapersLtd.

■■ Welspun India Ltd.

SPECIAL COMMENDATIONFOR COMMITMENT TOWARDS CSR ■■ Vedanta Ltd.