Adapting the Global Reporting Initiative to fit your company

A round-up of Q&As from Melcrum's online discussion group

Question

One of the complaints about the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has been that the guidelines are too vague, and that most companies end up having to create their own specific indicators based on the guidelines, or

Answers

"We reported in accordance with GRI for the first time this year. We found the GRI guidelines useful in that they provided us with pointers and core indicators of value to stakeholders, but also offered us the flexibility to choose the additional ones relevant to our specific needs. I feel that the principles themselves are often overlooked - these are also important.

"For example, by reporting 'in accordance' we had to satisfy the core indicators, some of which rely on insight from stakeholder dialogue processes. We identified areas that needed more work (i.e. making it clearer how our stakeholder dialogue drives action) and have implemented these for our next report."

- Claire Alder, BP

"We use the GRI guidelines as a framework for our report. One of the most valuable aspects of the GRI approach for us is that it's a voluntary guideline that companies can adapt to meet their particular situations, rather than a rigid set of requirements that may not apply to all situations.

"The variability in the reports from company to company arises because of the particular concerns of each firm's stakeholders and the situations that different firms are experiencing at a given point in time. If GRI does not allow for this necessary local adaptation, the arguments for using it as a framework will be diminished.

"We believe that GRI has been making a conscious effort to allow for variability by having some required indicators and some that can be chosen based on need. Also, as GRI develops guidance for specific industries, they are adding more specificity using an approach that doesn't paint all stakeholders, companies and industries with the same brush.

"We are also of the opinion that as more firms use the flexible GRI framework, report users will get more comparability - this is an added bonus for high-level benchmarking on corporate responsibility issues. With respect to indicators, we have considered both the ones that are suggested by GRI and some additional ones that we have developed on our own to reflect our individual situation."

- Alvaro Rego, Agilent Technologies

"The International Council on Mining and Metals (based in London) has been working with the GRI to develop a Mining and Metals sector Supplement to the GRI Guidelines. This work is well underway and has been developed through a stakeholder Advisory Group."

- Anita Roper, Alcoa

www.bp.com

www.agilent.com

www.alcoa.com

www.globalreporting.org