VP, Corporate Social Responsibility
Every action is a data point. And in a world where you can do pretty much anything from your smartphone, we are constantly creating and cultivating an increasingly data-driven society. Today, you can track everything from your daily steps to profile views, while brands can measure everything from page clicks to purchases.
在所有这些噪音不断争夺我们注意力的情况下，我们如何将重要的东西与其他东西区分开来？
在尼尔森，近百年来我们一直致力于利用消费者数据为客户创造可操作的洞察力。我们的企业责任（CR）项目正是建立在这一利用数据推动决策的传统之上。自 2010 年以来，我们的工作重点已从通过志愿者计划吸引员工参与，发展到监测对我们的利益相关者和公司最为重要的环境、社会和治理 (ESG) 问题。为此，我们授权员工设计并实施能够推动公司发展并对公司所在社区产生影响的计划和政策。
Clients, investors, employees and the general public are increasingly focused on the corporate responsibility issues that matter most. Recognizing the unique intersection of industry concerns and a company’s core competencies drives a more comprehensive understanding of what’s most material to a company and its stakeholders. For Nielsen, these material issues include areas like data privacy and security, greenhouse gas emissions from energy and travel, supply chain responsibility and our employee experience.
从根本上了解最重要的问题，就能挖掘潜力，推动商机，为企业创造共享价值。与许多公司一样，我们有意识地决定扩大企业责任的范围--将其从 "可有可无 "转变为我们长期生存能力的核心贡献者和因素。我们的企业责任团队是人力资源、供应商管理、投资者关系和环境可持续发展等业务部门的重要业务合作伙伴。为了帮助管理这些不同的需求，我们在整个业务中建立了一个扩展的领导者网络，专注于合作，以确保我们在所有工作中都能定期进行负责任的思考并采取可持续的行动。
With this mission in mind, data presents a unique opportunity to focus on measuring what matters — and to do so through the lens of longevity and collaboration. Internally, this means raising the mirror to our own practices — emphasizing the need for continuous improvement and increased transparency. But we’re not just asking ourselves. We want to know what data matters most for our clients and communities in order to collectively address social challenges. In our first Nielsen Global Responsibility Report, we recognize that measuring what matters is not only key to our business’ value proposition but also essential to how we can improve our own performance. It’s our core belief as a company: that transparency and measurement create value.
When we set out to put together this first report, aligned with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 standards, we knew that the data we had about our own programs and operations could unlock new opportunities: reducing emissions and energy use at data centers; using the power of analytics to enhance ongoing talent development, retention and recruitment efforts; and instituting ESG requirements for top suppliers. Working together to collect and analyze our data created opportunities to improve existing programs and start new ones.
我们不仅能够更好地回应利益相关方的关切，而且还能发掘以前未曾考虑过的新机遇。发展和应对未来的力量并非可有可无。为了在今天为我们的利益相关者创造价值，数据是一个关键的驱动因素，可以帮助我们确定需要改进的领域，衡量我们的进展，提高我们保持灵活性和做得更多的能力。我们认识到，这不是一个线性过程，我们不会独自实现目标；我们也不会在 2016 年完成这一切。考虑到您的长期目标，今天就必须创建一个能够在明天取得成功的整体结构。
Nielsen is not alone in these efforts. The Government & Accountability Institute has noted a rise in sustainability reporting from just 20 percent of companies in 2011 to 81 percent in 2015. While the business case for sustainability is becoming an easier sell, investors, clients and employees want more out of those sustainability reports than they did even a couple of years ago—especially more clear, concise information about how and why your company provides real long-term value as an investment, supplier and employer.
Data as a critical part of our sustainability strategy is here to stay — whether it’s the data and expertise we provide to nonprofits through Nielsen Cares with skills-based volunteering and in-kind giving, or the collection and analysis of our own data to help us make better, more informed decisions about how to operate our company more responsibly and sustainably. The question for companies like ours is not whether we measure our efforts, but how we measure what matters most to our stakeholders and the communities we serve.
This article originally appeared on TriplePundit. Crystal Barnes is the vice president of corporate social responsibility at Nielsen.
