I was recently assigned to complete ON Semiconductor's EcoVadis assessment to satisfy customer requirements. EcoVadis is an online CSR platform that aims to improve environmental and social practices of companies by leveraging the influence of global supply chains. Within the environmental realm, EcoVadis assesses companies on aspects such as energy consumption, water, biodiversity, local pollution and air emissions, to name a few. Similarly, social, ethical, and supply chain issues are also considered by assessing companies on practices related to health and safety, labor relations, corruption & bribery, and human rights within the supply chain. The methodology of EcoVadis is based on the Global Reporting Initiative, the United Nations Global Compact, and ISO 26000. Furthermore, EcoVadis is a trusted partner for organizations including Verizon, Johnson & Johsnon, Coca-Cola, Nokia, Bayer, Alcatel-Lucent, ING Bank, Air France-KLM, Centrica/British Gas, BASF, and Merck.
In order to submit sufficient information to cover the breadth of topics in EcoVadis, a team was in charge of retrieving and providing answers and relevant supporting documents. After submission, a team of analysts at EcoVadis analyze the answers and audit the documents provided. Thankfully, the group effort allowed us to score higher than the last time this test was taken and demonstrate continuous improvement to our customers. The results of the assessment are also presented in a way that allows a company to compare itself with other players in the field.
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Interview with a CSR Professional
For this blog post, I interviewed the Corporate Social Responsibility Communications Manager at Intel in Chandler, AZ. While looking to secure a full time job for the end of this year, I reached out to the CSR communications manager at Intel to find out about any openings. Although there were no openings, the conversation proved extremely helpful in learning about CSR at Intel and tips to become successful in the field more generally.
Background
The main responsibilities of the CSR communications manager at Intel is to engage in sustainability reporting like the GRI, which I covered in an earlier post. Prior to working full-time at Intel, the CSR communications managers completed a Bachelor of Science, Conservation, and Resource Studies from the University of California Berkley.
Advise
The main advise I was provided was to work on my soft-skills. Examples of such skills include communication, negotiation, and persuasion. While in the CSR field, there is a lot of coordination that happens between various departments. In order to coordinate well, communication skills is very important. Similarly, negotiation and persuasion skills are also equally important. CSR often involves implementing new programs that look beyond profit as the bottom line. However, to convince others of the importance of such a program does require some persuasion.
New trends
A newer trend in organization is to have a very decentralized nature to CSR. While most companies will have small CSR departments that handle all aspects of the sustainability and social issues, various departments are now becoming involved in the same area. For example, supply chain could have one employee who's just is solely to look at supply chain from a sustainable perspective. Accordingly, it is important to develop knowledge on how various operations in a company are related to CSR.
Background
The main responsibilities of the CSR communications manager at Intel is to engage in sustainability reporting like the GRI, which I covered in an earlier post. Prior to working full-time at Intel, the CSR communications managers completed a Bachelor of Science, Conservation, and Resource Studies from the University of California Berkley.
Advise
The main advise I was provided was to work on my soft-skills. Examples of such skills include communication, negotiation, and persuasion. While in the CSR field, there is a lot of coordination that happens between various departments. In order to coordinate well, communication skills is very important. Similarly, negotiation and persuasion skills are also equally important. CSR often involves implementing new programs that look beyond profit as the bottom line. However, to convince others of the importance of such a program does require some persuasion.
New trends
A newer trend in organization is to have a very decentralized nature to CSR. While most companies will have small CSR departments that handle all aspects of the sustainability and social issues, various departments are now becoming involved in the same area. For example, supply chain could have one employee who's just is solely to look at supply chain from a sustainable perspective. Accordingly, it is important to develop knowledge on how various operations in a company are related to CSR.
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Leadership
Defining leadership is often a difficult task. There are several words that come to mind when attempting to describe a leader: visionary, influential, respectable, respectful, motivating, encouraging, knowledgable, inclusive, and engaged. Rather than defining a leader, however, it is sometimes easier to recognize a leader. In my opinion, a leader is one who is able to inspire, empower or enable others to realize their full potential. My supervisor at ON Semiconductor has definitely been a leader in that sense. She has acted as a mentor who has guided me in an area that I had no previous experience. However, while providing the necessary guidance my supervisor has also allowed me to engage in my own projects and act upon my own ideas, thereby providing me with the independence required to realize my potential.
I have noticed the importance of leadership within a CSR capacity at my internship. In fact, I would like to further my leadership skills to inspire other departments to behave in a manner more consistent with sustainable practices. I believe this is especially important when you are encouraging other departments in a company to adopt programs that are not typical of a profit-maximizing business. Through leadership skills allowing one to recognize and influence the power dynamics within an organization, I believe I will be able to better further CSR programs.
I have noticed the importance of leadership within a CSR capacity at my internship. In fact, I would like to further my leadership skills to inspire other departments to behave in a manner more consistent with sustainable practices. I believe this is especially important when you are encouraging other departments in a company to adopt programs that are not typical of a profit-maximizing business. Through leadership skills allowing one to recognize and influence the power dynamics within an organization, I believe I will be able to better further CSR programs.
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Toward the end of my Spring 2015 semester at ASU, I set up a meeting with a career advisor to get tips on landing an internship. I had been actively looking for an internship within the nonprofit sector (particularly in fundraising or grant writing, since that was a gap in my resume) or CSR work, which I was deeply passionate about.
The first thing I realized during my meeting was that I really needed to focus in on what I wanted to do. If I was not as passionate about landing a nonprofit internship, I should focus all of my time and energy on CSR-related jobs. Furthermore, I also needed to zero in on which city I would like to work in. While I was willing to move away for three months for an internship, I knew Phoenix would be the ideal city to gain work experience. I wanted to remain in Phoenix after graduating in December 2015, so finding an internships in the same city would be beneficial. After realizing which type of internship I wanted over the summer and where I wanted to live, the next step was to find companies that have CSR programs in Phoenix or individuals within Phoenix who are in CSR-related positions.
The best way to do this, according to the career advisor, was to use LinkedIn. The business networking tools enables individuals to connect with professionals within different industries, showcase talents and skills, and look for jobs. Although I have had a LinkedIn account for a few years now, I never really used the tool to its fullest capacity. I've regularly updated my professional and educational experience on LinkedIn and connected with people I knew through school or work. However, what I learnt during my meeting with my career advisor is that there several other ways I could used LinkedIn. It was important for me to not only showcase my experience but to also connect with people who could be important in furthering my career.
By using key words such as "corporate social responsibility", "corporate responsibility", and "corporate affairs" I was able to find professionals within the Phoenix area in the field I was most interested in. Finding these individuals also gave me a better idea of which companies valued CSR. Similarly, I was able to search ASU alumni in the same field, who could offer their advise as I looked for an internship.
Although I ultimately did not find my current internship through LinkedIn, I learnt a tremendous amount about the online tool through my meeting with my career advisor. Since then, I have been careful to regularly update my profile and routinely search for companies, jobs, and individuals within the CSR field.
To learn more about my educational and professional experience and see how I've used linked in please have a look at my page, https://www.linkedin.com/in/nehalshah1990.
The first thing I realized during my meeting was that I really needed to focus in on what I wanted to do. If I was not as passionate about landing a nonprofit internship, I should focus all of my time and energy on CSR-related jobs. Furthermore, I also needed to zero in on which city I would like to work in. While I was willing to move away for three months for an internship, I knew Phoenix would be the ideal city to gain work experience. I wanted to remain in Phoenix after graduating in December 2015, so finding an internships in the same city would be beneficial. After realizing which type of internship I wanted over the summer and where I wanted to live, the next step was to find companies that have CSR programs in Phoenix or individuals within Phoenix who are in CSR-related positions.
The best way to do this, according to the career advisor, was to use LinkedIn. The business networking tools enables individuals to connect with professionals within different industries, showcase talents and skills, and look for jobs. Although I have had a LinkedIn account for a few years now, I never really used the tool to its fullest capacity. I've regularly updated my professional and educational experience on LinkedIn and connected with people I knew through school or work. However, what I learnt during my meeting with my career advisor is that there several other ways I could used LinkedIn. It was important for me to not only showcase my experience but to also connect with people who could be important in furthering my career.
By using key words such as "corporate social responsibility", "corporate responsibility", and "corporate affairs" I was able to find professionals within the Phoenix area in the field I was most interested in. Finding these individuals also gave me a better idea of which companies valued CSR. Similarly, I was able to search ASU alumni in the same field, who could offer their advise as I looked for an internship.
Although I ultimately did not find my current internship through LinkedIn, I learnt a tremendous amount about the online tool through my meeting with my career advisor. Since then, I have been careful to regularly update my profile and routinely search for companies, jobs, and individuals within the CSR field.
To learn more about my educational and professional experience and see how I've used linked in please have a look at my page, https://www.linkedin.com/in/nehalshah1990.
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Blending Business Practices and Social Good
One of the main factors attracting me to the world of CSR was the potential to blend business practices with social good. One of the classes I am taking this semester, titled Social Entrepreneurship has further advanced my knowledge on this topic. There are several types of social enterprises, including nonprofits with ventures supporting the organization's social mission, or for-profit organizations that address social issues through its operations. During the course of the semester, I've learnt about social entrepreneurs such as Muhammad Yunus or facilitators of entrepreneurship such as the Ashoka Foundation.
While scoping the internet for inspiring individuals who have engaged in social entrepreneurship, I stumbled upon a 45 minute video on Manoj Bhargava, the founder of five hour energy. I've never been a consumer of five hour energy as I've resorted to coffee for those all nighters that are necessary from time to time in grad school. However, after viewing this video, my conception of five hour energy, its parent company, and the founder of the product has changed significantly.
Manoj Bhargava, while valued at $4 billion has chosen to give away over 90% of his income to address social issues. Through technological innovations, Bhargava has chosen to address three main areas: energy, water, and healthcare. According to Bhargava, individuals are often trapped in the cycle of poverty due to their inability to access basics such as energy or safe drinking water. To address this problem, Bhargava has established certain divisions of his organization that are dedicated to creating sustainable forms of energy and safe drinking water. One example is a bicycle that can generate electricity. In fact, one hour of peddling can provide 24 hours of clean energy that can be used for basic necessities such as lighting or charging appliances. Similarly, Bhargava also works with graphene, which is a fantastic heat conductor, for energy purposes.
To learn more about Bhargava and his entrepreneurial endeavors, I would highly recommend "Billions in Change", which can be found on YouTube.
While scoping the internet for inspiring individuals who have engaged in social entrepreneurship, I stumbled upon a 45 minute video on Manoj Bhargava, the founder of five hour energy. I've never been a consumer of five hour energy as I've resorted to coffee for those all nighters that are necessary from time to time in grad school. However, after viewing this video, my conception of five hour energy, its parent company, and the founder of the product has changed significantly.
Manoj Bhargava, while valued at $4 billion has chosen to give away over 90% of his income to address social issues. Through technological innovations, Bhargava has chosen to address three main areas: energy, water, and healthcare. According to Bhargava, individuals are often trapped in the cycle of poverty due to their inability to access basics such as energy or safe drinking water. To address this problem, Bhargava has established certain divisions of his organization that are dedicated to creating sustainable forms of energy and safe drinking water. One example is a bicycle that can generate electricity. In fact, one hour of peddling can provide 24 hours of clean energy that can be used for basic necessities such as lighting or charging appliances. Similarly, Bhargava also works with graphene, which is a fantastic heat conductor, for energy purposes.
To learn more about Bhargava and his entrepreneurial endeavors, I would highly recommend "Billions in Change", which can be found on YouTube.
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