Five Stages of
Stage 1
Corporate Maturity
Denier
Business case Irrelevant
State of play Yet to meet prevailing
legislation
Tone from top: Active / passive
Leadership resistance
Governance & Board none
oversight
Key Performance none
Indicators KPI
Strategic business Little activity
units and functions
Everybody’s business: Poor, ad hoc
People management
Everybody’s business Own volition
Below radar
Value-chain: Supply nothing
KM and training nothing
Communications: no
Explaining to
investors
Stakeholder Unilateral
Relationships Crisis management
Transparency & Little
reporting
Specialist CR function Marginal: Staff drive it
all
Stage 2
Complier
Licence to operate
Minimalist approach – simply
complying with legislation
Lip Service
inconsistent
If at all, risk-related
Some as start move to 3
Stage 3
Risk-mitigator
Commercially strategic
Stage 4
Opportunity maximiser
Entrepreneurial and highly
innovative
Sustainable development Extending the business case
contributing to
into new territory
commercial success
Steward,
Champion,
Spectrum of views
Able to articulate link to
business purpose
Set personal example
Lead director or board
Linked to strategy and new
committee
business / valueLink to Risk Register
enhancement
Linked to appraisals
Link rewards/promotion
Stage 5
Leader
Long-term, macro-economic
benefit
Creating new models for
business and economic
development
Visionary, Ahead of the Pack
Actively recruit other
companies
Promoting governance of
responsibility to others
Published KPI rigorously
promoted and managed
Showing innovation internally
and externally
Compliance with HQ requests
/ patchy
Perhaps a few vanguards
Employee satisfaction focus
confirm run business in
line with Company’s
principles
People development
Employee engagement
Sophisticated understand
when adopt, adapt,
innovate,
Great place to work
Employee advocacy
Specific tasks
champions
Spreading to other companies
ESG in tenders
Suppliers audits
Social entrepreneurs
encouraged
Suppliers knowledge
nothing
Start to incorporate
specific issues
Proactive to SRI
Reactive mainstream
Linked to mgt devpt,
appraisals
Able to explain how ESG
affects business value
Sharing knowledge with others
Mutual Influence
Towards engagement
Partnership
engagement
Public Reporting
May use GRI
External assurance
Assurance
Linked to management
processes eg EFQM
Functional Ownership
Organizational Alignment,
x-Functiona
Reactive to SRI
Interactive
Crisis to stakeholder
management
Public Relations
Flank Protection
Pro-forma
Little hard/longitudinal data
Limited, CR Function
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Defined mindsets, behaviours,
competences integrated
Promoting good practice
Investor education
Multi-Organization Alliances
Actively seeking new forms of
collaboration
Full Exposure
Reporting fully integrated
Mainstream: Business Drives