ESG stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance, and encompasses the criteria used to evaluate an organisation’s impact in these areas. Partnering with us as your accounting recruiters, means some of the ESG leg work is done for you! As a B Corp organisation with people, planet and progress at our core, we are involved in many initiatives and opportunities in our wonderful city and beyond. We don’t approach our ESG responsibilities as a thankless duty or just as a gimmick to make more sales, it runs deep into the fabric of our business. As a company, we are hard-wired to bring change. Our staff all think the same way and we are on a collective mission to use our profits to make a genuine impact on our beautiful world and the people in it. So what does ESG really mean?
First let’s take a look at the different components of ESG and what the criteria looks like for each:
Environmental
The environmental criteria serve to assess a company’s environmental risk, and encompass some of the critical environmental challenges faced by society today – such as, climate change, water security, environmental health hazards and waste, and the loss of biodiversity. Companies are expected to do more than simply meet the minimum requirements (such as taking out the recycling, turning the lights off when leaving or using the short flush instead of the long one), rather they can earn higher ESG ratings by proactively taking measures to enhance the environment. Some examples of environmental criteria, as defined by Greenly.org are:
- Efforts to reduce carbon emissions
- Energy-efficient practices
- Addressing water scarcity
- Combatting air and water pollution
- Implementation of waste management strategies
- Preventing deforestation
- Protecting biodiversity
Social
Social criteria considers a company’s ability to enhance social well-being in a number of ways (not just in number of exceptionally regular staff socials). It includes efforts to reduce inequalities, uphold human rights, and safeguard the health and safety of their workers as well as members of the local community. Social criteria apply across the whole organisation and supply chain, encompassing a broad spectrum of social groups including employees, customers, suppliers and local communities. Businesses that consider their social impact are able to cultivate organisations that are inclusive, positive and vibrantly diverse. Some examples of social criteria are as follows:
- Human rights upheld
- Employment law compliance
- Customer satisfaction measurements
- Data protection and privacy safeguards in place
- Gender equality and diversity
- Employee engagement strategies
- Community relationship initiatives
Governance
This element focuses on the business leadership and what defines the company’s ethics. A company’s value system can amount to lip service unfortunately, and although it’s displayed on the office wall, nobody really believes in it or applies it to their working life. Governance criteria consider how transparent an organisation is, and what policies they have in place to address issues such as diversity within the senior leadership team, adherence to legal accountancy standards, executive team salaries, public disclosure, and potential conflicts of interest. Being aware of criteria (some examples below), can safeguard companies against activities such as bribery and corruption to tax evasion, to inclusive and equitable management structures:
- Executive compensation policies
- Senior team composition and diversity
- Anti-bribery and corruption measures
- Transparency around political contributions/gifts
- Clear and accessible whistleblowing schemes
- Audit committee structure and function procedures
More so than ever before, our finance departments are under the global spotlight, and at the forefront of ensuring their companies are making a positive contribution to the world. Choosing us as your finance and accounting recruiters, contributes to that mission as we can guarantee that we have put ESG at the heard of the entire recruitment process for you.
Our mission is: To pioneer the ‘conscious recruitment’ mindset; putting people, planet and progress first.
We aim to always hold true to our purpose, be guided by our values, and make a real difference – one placement at a time. We pledged to give back 3% of our sales to people, planet and progress before we even made a penny, and we are constantly consciously doing all we can for our stakeholders – our customers, shareholders, our finance and accountancy professionals, but also our employees, suppliers, community, and the environment.
Core3 is pioneering a new approach for accounting recruiters in Bristol and London. As our mission states, we put people, planet and progress first and in so doing, have created a company that is as human as the people in it; at the end of the day we value relationships over transactions, every time.
How exactly are we meeting the ESG requirements for our clients? Here are just a few practical examples of the real-life impact we’re making in our city:
Environmental
We work in partnership with Ecologi and are doing our part to prevent our collective home from being totally turned upside down. Reducing our carbon footprint is entirely necessary, and so far we have removed 284.6 tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere and planted 19,573 trees. You can see our forest here: https://ecologi.com/core3. Alongside this, we are a climate positive business, and are on our own journey towards net zero.
Social
Working with Bristol Sport Foundation, we support the physical and mental health of some of the most disadvantaged communities in our city. Bristol Sport Foundation is on a mission to use the power of sport to create ACTIVE, HEALTHY, HAPPY communities across Greater Bristol and beyond! With the purpose to engage and inspire, their coaches go into the community delivering sport-led programmes every day of the week. They break down barriers to participation in physical activity, as well as wider educational programmes including reading, numeracy, and health and well-being, helping to bring about real, positive change to the lives of the young people and families that they work with.
Another organisation making a difference in Bristol’s society is Babbasa; they aim to inspire and support under-represented young people in Bristol to pursue their goals and ambitions. Babbasa was formed in 2010 by four young graduates who observed rising levels of youth unemployment, educational underachievement, and the rapid decline in youth aspirations in Bristol’s ethnically-diverse inner-city communities.
Babbasa exist to create a world where all young people feel able and empowered to realise their ambitions, but they can’t do it alone. That is why they work with Bristol employers – including us at Core3 recruitment, as well as education providers and enterprise investors, to overcome biases and create inclusive environments for young people to thrive.
Governance
Core3 have founded the Conscious Finance Network, which for too long was the missing piece in the global movement of Conscious Business. The movement is still emerging in response to the unsustainability of current business practices, and while there has been plenty written and taught about Conscious Organisations and Conscious Leadership, not enough has been said about FINANCE.
Sounds rather obvious, but finance plays a vital part in how businesses function and how organisations can remain true to their vision and purpose. It matters how money is spent, invested, and distributed back into the communities which surround a company.
Businesses have to make their relationship with finance a ‘conscious ‘one. No longer can organisations blindly partner with or accept funding that simply meets a need, or makes ends meet. Becoming conscious and aware is to become empowered and transparent as a business; Conscious Finance is relevant whether the activities of an organisation are ‘for profit’, ‘not for profit’, and everything in between – the benefits have a ripple effect on all stakeholders and even in the personal lives of those within the business. In our view, the ‘triple bottom line’ concept is the future of finance – measuring not only profit, but also our impact on people and our planet.
