Planning for Results: From Accidental to Intentional CSR

By: Vicki Bohlsen, president of Bohlsen Group, and Kathy Pedrotti Hays of Pedrotti Hays, Inc.

Join guest speakers Vicki Bohlsen and Kathy Pedrotti Hays on the road with Indiana Philanthropy Alliance, March 6-10, for our speaker series on corporate social responsibility.

It seems that everyone is talking about Corporate Social Responsibility these days. Called by different names, CSR – or the desire of a business to do more than impact their own bottom line – leads to increased employee engagement, greater loyalty and attraction by consumers, and increased overall company efficiency and profitability. With all those benefits, it’s no wonder that CSR is spurring conversation and action.  

Some companies – large and small – set out to incorporate social responsibility into their strategic plan. Others are more “accidental” corporate do-gooders.  The one thing that they have in common, though, is their concern with more than just the bottom line.  Once considered a strategy only for large corporations, socially responsible practices are being implemented by small and medium-sized companies in all industries.

Bohlsen Group, an Indianapolis-based communications and marketing firm, was more of an accidental corporate do-gooder. With the help of Pedrotti Hays, Inc., they were able to take their passion for doing well while doing good and put it into practice.

Bohlsen Group, like so many other small companies, was attempting to do meaningful work in a sustainable way when they hired Kathy Pedrotti Hays to help with their strategic plan in 2014.  By the second discovery meeting, Kathy was asking Bohlsen Group president, Vicki Bohlsen, if she had ever considered becoming a B Corp certified company.

Vicki soon learned about the simple but ambitious mission of a B Corp certified company. Realizing she was unintentionally using “business as a force for good,” Kathy suggested she take the B Impact Assessment.

Kathy helped Vicki use the free and confidential tool with the intention of learning how to measure and compare Bohlsen Group’s impact against other companies. What came of the process has been nothing if not inspirational.

The assessment uncovered that Bohlsen Group was thoughtful about many employee benefits but that they hadn’t formalized their values as “company policies;” transparency was practiced, but a governing framework wasn’t communicated internally or externally; and their community engagement, while existent, was inconsistent and poorly executed.

After completing the B Impact assessment, Bohlsen Group revamped their practices and policies and had created a 3-year strategic path forward. Having scored 20 points more than the minimum for certification, Vicki was not only excited – but proud – and decided to seek formal certification, becoming the only B Corp certified company in Indiana.

With the B Corp designation, many people approached the two to share their experiences. With such interest in the topic, Vicki and Kathy developed a speaker’s series on CSR last year and are continuing with that quarterly program in Indianapolis this year. For more information on upcoming events, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/o/bohlsen-group-7485384457 or email info@bohlsengroup.com.

The demand for the pragmatic, results-based information from companies of all sizes was apparent.  This spring, the founding principals of these two companies are taking their experiences and expertise on the road in March for the Indiana Philanthropy Alliance CSR tour. The duo is excited to take their “show on the road” throughout Indiana to share tips for developing and implementing CSR in the workplace while also highlighting the work of other Indiana companies that extend their business excellence into serving as a force for good.

Their goal is to help others uncover what CSR practices they are already doing in the workplace, how those practices can be built upon, and how to formally integrate CSR into their organization’s strategic framework to achieve maximum results.

Their story is built on their “real world” experience in developing formalized CSR programs and improving organizational performance.

View event details and register for CSR: Planning for Results at https://www.inphilanthropy.org/csr2017.