Natalie Teear, SVP, innovation, sustainability and social impact at Hudson Pacific Properties, Inc. (NYSE: HPP), participated in a video interview in conjunction with Nareit’s ESG JumpStart Workshop: 2022 Webinar Series.
Teear described the social element of ESG as still a “work in progress.” She said she envisions the social element as three concentric circles. At its heart is the social impact of running a business and the impact on employees. A second circle encompasses the social impact of the business, such as supply chain issues, health and safety, and labor and human rights. A third, broader circle, looks at the impact on communities and how companies use that influence.
With a wide array of components within the social element of ESG, Teear commented on how companies with limited manpower and resources can get started and build a program. She noted that in many cases, companies are already addressing social issues through their HR and legal departments.
Meanwhile, Teear discussed some of the challenges in tracking performance on social issues. She highlighted the need to figure out which metrics are most important for an organization and then to invest in quality data. Work to try to aggregate a lot of those metrics up to a broader social ROI is at the early stages, but is an interesting avenue for companies to explore, she said.