American Gas - July 2014 - (Page 21)

It was 2002, just one year after an energy crisis that had left thousands of Californians in the dark and many more dealing with skyrocketing power bills. The relationship between the state's energy companies and their customers, regulators, and even their employees had been badly damaged. As director of corporate community relations for Sempra, Molly Cartmill knew something had to be done to repair it, so she began exploring what was then the emerging ﬁeld of corporate social responsibility (CSR). It wasn't that Sempra-parent company of San Diego Gas & Electric and Southern California Gas Co.-wasn't a socially responsible company. To the contrary, it was doing lots of things right: creating good jobs for thousands of people, being a good steward of the environment, making grants, and encouraging employees to volunteer for a variety of philanthropic causes. But it didn't have a strategic, comprehensive corporate social responsibility plan, and it didn't have a way to communicate the results of its good works to stakeholders. Convinced of the value of making a more intentional effort, she began advocating with top company leadership for a dedicated CSR division. Twelve years later, Cartmill and her team have put out Sempra's ﬁfth annual CSR report with input from hundreds of employees in every division of the company. Across 70 pages, it details the company's corporate responsibility efforts, from cutting carbon emissions to employing wounded veterans to providing food and shelter for San Diego's homeless. Sempra is listed among North America's "100 Best Corporate Citizens" by Corporate Responsibility magazine. It has been named one of the "World's Most Ethical Companies" by the Ethisphere Institute, and it has made Fortune magazine's list of most-admired companies several times. "Corporate responsibility is integrated into everything we do as a company," says Cartmill, now director of corporate social responsibility for Sempra. "It's who we are." Today the ﬁeld of corporate social responsibility is well established, and con- sumers are increasingly demanding that businesses show they are making a positive impact on society. According to the annual "goodpurpose" study conducted by the global public relations ﬁrm Edelman, 44 percent of respondents says they would refuse to buy products and services from a company that does not actively support a good cause. With new technologies making more alternative forms of energy available to consumers, that should be a concern for utilities, says Edelman Senior Vice President Henk Campher. Employees-and prospective employees-care about CSR too. In a Cone Communications survey of more than 1,800 Millennials-who are just beginning to enter the workforce in large numbers-80 percent say they want to work for a company that cares about how it impacts and contributes to society. Utilities should take notice, because nearly 40 percent of their workforce is expected to retire within the next decade, and the sector will be looking to attract more employees soon, says Cone Chief Reputation Ofﬁcer Mike Lawrence. Institutional investors are also increasingly asking questions about companies' CSR practices, and regulators want to know that utilities are being good corporate citizens before they approve infrastructure expansions and upgrades. "We talk a lot about corporate social responsibility as the way to earn your license to operate in the community," says Leela Stake, vice president at public relations ﬁrm APCO Worldwide. "It's also how you earn your license to grow." With more at stake than ever, natural gas utilities need to build strong relationships with their communities well before a crisis strikes. So American Gas talked with top CSR practitioners about how they'd recommend companies build a better corporate social responsibility program. Here's what they had to say. Step One: Focus Simply creating jobs and complying with government regulations is not enough in today's marketplace. As Campher puts it, "You're a business. You're supposed to create jobs. You're supposed to follow the law." Utilities need to show they're making the world better. But they can't support every worthy cause, so it's important to choose where to invest limited resources. There was a time when taking on a philanthropic cause too aligned with your business's purpose was considered unseemly, says Stake, like "muddying the waters" by mixing charity with business. Now, it's considered a best practice. "The idea is to ﬁnd an area where you can really move the needle, where you can do something no one else can," she says. For example, one APCO client-a logistics company-had been supporting a literacy initiative for years. But after a review of its corporate outreach programs, it decided to shift to a cause that would directly tap into its capabilities: helping UNICEF move humanitarian relief supplies into disaster-stricken areas around the world. Another good pairing: UPS's Road Code Teen Safe Driving Program, offered in partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, through which the company's famously skilled brown delivery truck drivers teach safe driving techniques to teens. The focus of a business's corporate citizenship efforts don't necessarily have to be a particular organization, but rather could be in support of a worthy goal. Investing in the development of a new product that helps the environment is one example, Stake says. JULY 2014 AMERICAN GAS 21

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American Gas - July 2014