Joyce Evans, FCGA , présidente de CGA Canada, conférencière invitée au centre de recherche CGA

Faire preuve de leadership au 21e siècle en matière de responsabilité sociale des entreprises et la Triple Bottom Line

The CGA Accounting Research Centre at the Telfer School of Management of the University of Ottawa was pleased and honoured to have at its Distinguished Speaker series, Ms. Joyce Evans, Chair of the Board of CGA Canada. Her topic was directed at showing how CGA and its members contribute to the achievement of the triple bottom line of corporations. She opened her remarks by stressing how important the CGA designation really is. It provides opportunities in business and industry, public practice and in the public sector and not-for-profit organizations. The designation provides an interesting, challenging and satisfying career.

In the modern world corporations must live up to their responsibilities as global citizens and local neighbours. Included in the factors driving these social oriented goals are demographics such as an aging population and a low birth rate. These increase competition for the kind of skilled workers that CGA can provide. This, in turn, means that corporations must provide the motivation to attract and retain excellent people. They do this by aiming to increase employee satisfaction by making them feel secure and appreciated and ensuring that they are effective contributors to the organization and can exercise their dedication and skills.

There is no longer just a single bottom line, rather there is a triple bottom line composed of people, planet and profit. This shift from just profit reporting has resulted in an expansion of the traditional reporting framework of financial performance to include accounting for social and ecological performance. Accordingly, attracting and retaining excellent people is important. Pursuing for its employees a work\life balance and flexibility are critical. Finally, ensuring that business practices are friendly fulfills the third feature of the bottom line.

CGA Canada embraces these three principles by becoming an award winning triple bottom line organization and trains its members to know how to respond to this challenge.