The Alphabet Soup of CSR and ESG: Unpacking Modern Corporate Impact Acronyms
ESG: Environmental, Social, and Governance. In impact conversations, this holy trinity has skyrocketed past the previously popular “corporate social responsibility,” commonly abbreviated to CSR. The relationship between these acronyms is nuanced, but it’s far from an old-school versus new-school comparison. To get a pulse on the current state of these impact acronyms and where the space is heading, we hosted a panel discussion featuring a few industry experts: Senior Director of ESG at GitLab Stacy Cline, Head of Enterprise ESG & Chief of Staff to the Chief Information and Operations Officer at Guardian Life Veena Jayadeva, and Loyola University Baumhart Center Professor Jenn Griffin. Miss the conversation? Watch the recording here and check out our top five takeaways below.
CSR vs ESG
These two acronyms are closely linked, with corporate social responsibility nestled underneath the broad ESG umbrella. Historically, organizations engaged with CSR “from a backfoot sort of defensive, reactive approach instead of, ‘Okay let’s think about where we want to make an impact.’” according to Loyola Professor and panel moderator Jenn Griffin. Environmental, Social, and Governance factors are changing the game, intentionally bleeding into every facet of an organization’s operations, products, services, and culture.
Panelist Veena Jayadeva of Guardian Life noted that “When we were using CSR, the assumption was that it was just this little piece,” instead of an enterprise-wide contribution to impact, innovation, and change. Now, consumers and investors alike are putting financial pressure on brands, demanding that they not only go beyond avoiding harm, but also proactively engage in positive change. According to Gitlab’s Senior Director of ESG Stacy Cline, “Typically some of these folks that might not value this work as much or haven’t been involved in it see CSR as nice-to-have. With this ESG push, it’s becoming a must-have. It’s helped accelerate the conversations and moved this to a must-have for companies. Even five, eight years ago, the conversations around this were about building the business case — how do you go to your c-suite and convince them that they need to invest in this? Why CSR matters. Why this work matters.Today, that’s not the case — when you talk to anyone in finance or the c-suite, they know that it needs to happen. That’s a lot in part of this rise of the term ESG and this pressure from the investor side of things.”
Jayadeva agrees. ESG “is a much more cross-functional, cross-enterprise, collaborative effort. I see for the first time, being able to actually proactively work with our investment team, DEI, CSR, government affairs — it’s everybody coming to the table, and it’s a part of ESG. We had to move and use a different acronym and say, “the remit was much broader, let’s bring everybody in to make this an enterprise-wide effort.”
ESG impacts everyone — and looks different for everyone too
As Dr. Griffin stated, “ESG means different things to different people at different times.” The type of organization, the size of the company, the industry in which it operates, the day-to-day employee output — each of these elements affects your approach to ESG.
With her work at Guardian Life, Jayadeva understands this firsthand. “We don’t have the same kinds of considerations in terms of shareholder expectations, but we do have policyholders. So for us, I think the innovation truly comes in terms of ‘How do we provide the right products and services that will support our consumers in a really holistic way?’ It’s really exploring, ‘What does wellbeing mean, and what role does our company play for our community, for our colleagues, for our consumers?’”
Cline’s work is different still. “What’s unique with Gitlab is that we’re an all-remote company — we always have been. We also don’t have a physical product, and we also don’t have data centers. So from an environmental standpoint, we have really no Scope 1 and 2 emissions. How we’re going to think about the environmental side of things is going to be very different because we’ll dive right into the Scope 3 side of things, which tends to be a little more tricky.”
Like Cline, you may not measure carbon emissions, but ESG goes so far beyond environmental impact and has a direct impact on your work. DEI strategies, partnership selection processes, and product pipelines all lead back to ESG — and so should your business strategies until impact becomes a constant priority and second nature in decision-making.
Invest with intention
ESG purposefully measures a wide range of categories and initiatives, covering everything from carbon emissions to DEI efforts to labor standards to business ethics. Investors use performance metrics in these areas to gauge the value of an organization. With this in mind, leaders are often tempted to throw resources — time, money, and employee talent — at every ESG initiative under the sun. But this often leads to what Jayadeva deemed a “confetti approach, where you’re throwing your money, your efforts in all different places but it’s confetti, and you’re not really making that impact.” Instead of doing everything at once, Cline argues, “Best practice is to understand your stakeholder concerns and understand the impact those concerns have on your business, and then stick to those key issues. Really focus on the things that your company can do, the things that your company can do best, and how you can meet your stakeholder demands and what they’re looking for.”
Once you’ve determined where you can foster a genuine impact that stakeholders value, invest your resources with intention. Jayadeva encourages organizations to take a close, intentional look and where they grow their ESG work. “Where does it best live? Where are the places you have the resources, the leverage, the influence, the folks who are going to get it done? That looks different in every place.”
Data will be a differentiator
With potential regulations on the horizon, data-driven ESG strategies will be a key factor in showcasing business success. Cline sees this transparency as a helpful way to pinpoint who is only walking the walk: “There are a lot of companies talking about this great work that they’re doing, and this does spur competition. That’s the positive side of regulations — you can say you’re the best, but now you’re going to have the data to back it up and you’re going to have to prove it and be very transparent about what you’re actually doing. I do think that is causing companies to pause and make sure they’re really being authentic, that they’re really thinking strategically about what you’re doing. It isn’t just what you think — the data will need to be there to back it up.”
Griffin agreed, noting that today’s market demands an intentional approach instead of a defensive one. “It’s not just about responding to regulations, it’s really about innovation and your peers and that competitive pressure — that rivalry — which is very different from before. This is a space for competitiveness. This is a space for organizations to distinguish themselves. This is a space increasingly where employees choose to be with an organization because of what they do or do not do.”
We’re all still learning
No matter how long a practitioner has been in the impact space, there are constantly new things to learn. “It’s a learning journey for those of us who are in it, and it’s certainly a learning journey for the companies that we work at,” said Jayadeva. New regulations are on the horizon, new trends are constantly surfacing, and industry practitioners are still getting on the same page. Everyone is still fine-tuning their approach to ESG, but it’s crucial for organizations of all shapes and sizes to start somewhere and continue to grow. “Let’s not forget that this is an investment in tomorrow,” said Griffin.
Regardless of when you begin or where you place your focus, ESG must become a primary consideration in your overarching business strategy in order to differentiate yourself from the competition and prove to your stakeholders that you care. Cline perhaps said it best: Whether it be your customers, your investors, your employees, or your leaders, “People, in general, are not going to stand for companies that are going against their values or are not speaking out on issues.”
About our speakers
Stacy Cline - Panelist
Stacy Cline is the Senior Director of ESG at GitLab, responsible for driving the strategic direction of GitLab’s Corporate Sustainability efforts, programs, and ESG reporting framework. Stacy has spent 10 years in Corporate Sustainability and impact-driven roles spanning from creating and scaling social impact and employee engagement programs and building ESG programs, strategy, and reporting. Her experience focuses on operationalizing sustainability programs to drive engagement across cultures to create business value.
Veena Jayadeva - Panelist
Veena Jayadeva is currently Head of Enterprise ESG & Chief of Staff to the Chief Information and Operations Officer at Guardian Life, supporting the company’s strategic priorities and leading their expanding Environmental, Social and Governance efforts. She was formerly Guardian's Head of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), driving social community investments, leading employee engagement, and supporting environmental sustainability.
Veena holds a M.B.A. from MIT Sloan School of Management and a M.A. in International Economics and a B.A. in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University. Veena currently serves on the Board of Directors of Global Impact and serves on the Corporate Leadership Council of CHC: Creating Healthier Communities. She is an active advisor and investor in mission-driven startups.
Jenn Griffin - Moderator
Dr. Jennifer (Jenn) J. Griffin, Raymond C. Baumhart, S.J., Endowed Chair of Business Ethics and Professor of Strategy at Loyola University Chicago is an award-winning scholar and internationally recognized educator on corporate social responsibility. Her book on social impact and innovative CSR, published by Cambridge University Press, Managing Corporate Impacts: Co-Creating Value, won the Best Book Award from the Academy of Management Social Issues in Management Division.
Jenn has earned numerous educator awards including the Teaching Excellence Award and the MBA Teaching Award at GW’s School of Business. She was also nominated by students for the National Inspire Integrity Award and nominated nine times by students for the Best PhD Teacher Award.
