The report "Corporate social responsibility from the board of directors", prepared by SERES and KPMG, aims to reflect the perception of some directors of listed companies about the challenges, difficulties and obstacles faced by boards when supervising matters related to corporate social responsibility. It also seeks to deepen the competencies and capacities that the directors wish to perceive in the executives who have the responsibility to manage this matter.
To carry out this analysis, 13 people - mainly directors and secretaries of the board of directors - from large Spanish companies were consulted.
We can draw the following conclusions:
- Monitoring CSR issues poses difficulties. Their presence on the board is even less than that of other issues.
- 77% of those consulted consider that the boards of directors are comfortable with exercising their responsibilities. They also see the importance of incorporating non-financial profiles to raise board awareness and promote CSR within companies.
- 62% of those interviewed considered that the definition of CSR policies was the area to which the councils devoted most attention. Scorecards should be defined to enable the board to evaluate the company's performance by monitoring the established objectives and indicators.
- The boards could strengthen the dedication to matters related to extra-financial risk, CSR strategy, monitoring of performance and evolution of indicators, relationship with stakeholders.
- 92% of respondents indicate that monitoring unemployment and the evolution of key indicators is one of the most difficult responsibilities of the board of directors.
- Eighty-five per cent of respondents said that councils would like more information on non-financial issues.
-77% of those interviewed believe that the ability to speak to the board and senior management is the main competence that the director of corporate social responsibility should be able to show. It would make sense for him to report directly to the Company's Chief Executive.
Please note that the report is in Spanish.
