In over 10 years of operating in complex environments it has always been a key tenet of the Drum Cussac risk management philosophy that relations with impacted communities must be positive – because it’s the right thing to do and because it makes business sense.

The world is watching businesses today. For a number of years campaigning organisations in the area of social engagement, environmental protection and human rights have raised the bar of expectation regarding greater corporate responsibility. Growing numbers of external stakeholders and non-governmental organisations (NGO’s) are closely monitoring corporate conduct and companies’ social performance on ethics, labour issues and environmental as well as human rights concerns. This pressure has multiplied through increased scrutiny by global news media and the ‘outing’ of more and more companies implicated in abuse or accused of complicity, with the resultant reputational damage and often litigation. This increased public attention has also manifested itself in ethically minded investors carefully selecting socially responsible organisations for favourable investment decisions, and consumers preferring to buy from companies whose ethics are evident.

In their quest to ensure a holistic and engaging approach to client services, Drum Cussac has strived to understand the challenges of socially responsible corporate behaviour, both for its own and its client’s benefit. To that end they have engaged the best possible risk management expertise in this area, finely tuned from years of corporate experience, to assist themselves and their clients in the development of key policies and processes to ensure cutting edge commitment to socially responsible behaviour in all its forms. The argument for moral obligation and sustainability, and desire to avoid complicity in abuses can only enhance an organisation’s integrity and business credibility (licence to operate) and ensure its reputation remains intact. Drum Cussac prides itself on helping clients to create shared value in this arena as a long-term investment in its client’s future competitiveness. We are able to support our partner-clients largely in the energy, extractive, manufacturing and security industries, to assess exposure to social risk through stakeholder engagement and security and human rights risk mitigation using successful approaches and practical implementation plans. We work with business and across industry sectors to create leadership and embed security and stakeholder engagement into business strategy, culture and practice.

As a key part of that commitment to socially responsible behaviour, Drum Cussac has fully embraced the Voluntary Principles on Security& Human Rights (VPSHR) to ensure that it manages its own and its client’s security provision through the lens of human rights. To that end it has developed training and awareness programmes in all aspects of the issue and designed implementation processes to meet its client’s needs.

For Drum Cussac, taking an ethical approach to the provision of security is second nature but we also know that creating collateral benefit for impacted-communities is a cost-effective risk mitigation strategy. Furthermore, when assistance is given to a host community it must be done so fairly, accountably and transparently.  Community support engagement must come with training and a logistic trail that maintains the value of the support; and the support must be feasibly sustainable beyond the duration of the commercial operation otherwise the community will potentially be left in a worse condition that when the Corporate footprint was first laid. Drum Cussac inevitably works with clients in areas where the rule of law is weak or non-existent. This adds extra challenges to the protection of our client’s assets.  However, the consideration of our host community remains critically important.  We take our Corporate Social Responsibility very seriously and we look to work with clients who have a clear understanding of theirs.