Forex

chief executive of Business
in the Community for barely
six months, but he is fizzing
with ideas for pushing
forward the corporate social
responsibility agenda. The
economic forecast is cloudy,
and many of the
organisations that have been
pillars of the responsible
business community are
dealing with the fallout from
the credit crunch. But Mr
Howard remains confident
that member companies will
see the strategies developed
through BITC as part of the
solution to their current
woes.
“It’s inevitable that
companies will be much
more cautious on how they
spend their money,” he
says. “Less will go into
traditional charitable
causes, as in previous
downturns. But I believe
companies will realise that,
in a decline, how they
relate to their employees
and their communities
becomes more important
than ever.”
That is not to say that
BITC can avoid change,
says Mr Howard. “We’ve
had a successful 25-year
run, and the whole business
responsibility agenda has
matured in that time.
“It is more competitive
and there is greater
sophistication in companies
– which means we need to
do more. The question is:
how do we raise the bar for
companies in a
collaborative way, without
duplicating what’s already
out there?”
In recent years, the focusat BITC has been on
business responses to
climate change. That is not
about to change, but Mr
Howard is keen to develop
a new theme – the talent
challenge – where he sees a
vital role for business in
developing the skills of
employees and the wider
community.
“If Britain doesn’t get a
hold of this issue, other
countries will,” he warns.
“Unlocking talent is an
issue for the country.”
From its earliest days,
BITC has focused on
aspects such as raising
education standards and
skills, and drawing on
untapped pools such as
women, ethnic minorities,
the homeless and the
unemployed. Now Mr
Howard wants to draw
these elements together
with what he calls a “talent
map”, setting out seven
points of intervention.