Speaker Transcripts Back to List Ralph Izzo. President & COO, PSE&G Commencement Address to the Rutgers Business School May 20, 2005 Corporate Social Responsibility I am honored to be your commencement speaker, and congratulations to all the students receiving their diplomas. It wasn’t too long ago that I graduated from Rutgers Business School. So I think I can relate to how you feel today. You have every reason to be proud. I can also relate to what you may be feeling as you listen to me. So let me assure you, I am not going to make this the Boston marathon of commencement speeches. But I do want to share a few thoughts with you about a subject of particular interest to me – Corporate Social Responsibility and Citizenship. I believe this subject should also matter a great deal to you for a couple of reasons. First, you will be building careers with many outstanding companies – and even creating companies of your own. You will need to consider the social dimension and impact of business activity. Second and even more important to you personally: Remember, we are all much more than what we do for a living. Being President of PSE&G defines what I do, but it does not define who I am. Community involvement is something you can combine with your career to find even greater satisfaction and rewards. You may already appreciate this: Research shows that the new generation making its way into the workforce – the Millennial Generation – would rather work for companies that define themselves by more than just the bottom line. In a recent survey 92 percent of this age group placed great value on volunteer work. Only 33 percent said earning a high salary is important to their career. A survey of the graduates here would probably find similar results. People today are looking for many avenues for enrichment. This is commendable and is something I try to keep in mind as I strive for a good balance in life. I wouldn’t want to overemphasize the generational aspect, however – and not just because I am a baby boomer. I believe people have always wanted and needed a higher purpose in life than just dollars and cents. I urge you as graduates to keep the following in mind as you go about any job search: Companies that care about the community, that care about the environment are also much more likely to care about their employees – and all their stakeholders – for that matter: All these aspects of caring go together. This raises the question, how to differentiate the company that just gives lip service to social responsibility from one that really means it? According to a recent study, the answer is “to observe what employees do.” I couldn’t agree more. It is clear who are the true heroes of our company’s role in the community: It is the men and women in the field – and what they do on the job and after it. For example: An employee we had at our nuclear station in South Jersey had grown up in a housing project in a Midwest city. A few years ago, he went to see a housing project in Salem County, New Jersey and noticed there was no playground anywhere near. He saw a problem and took action. He raised funds and enlisted volunteers to build a playground. It has made a difference to that community and improved the quality of life of many children. As a company, we encourage and recognize our employees’ volunteer activities. But I wouldn’t want to suggest they need any prompting on our part to get involved. I am constantly inspired by their example – and humbled by it, too. I’ve been told I should quote a famous person in a graduation speech. But I want to share with you something one of our employees said about his volunteer work with kids in Newark over many years. He put it this way: “A definition of a successful life must include serving others. So what better group than children?” Not a famous person, but I don’t think anyone has said it better. Giving back to the community is not only the right thing to do, but good for business, too. It can bring many benefits. Some of these go directly to the bottom line. Others are harder to measure but also real. We are all better off – and business is too – with stronger, more vibrant communities; with safer, better-educated children; with economic opportunity for all; a cleaner planet; and with the development of a more caring society. All these things are part of a world in which I want to live and which I hope my children and grandchildren and yours will inherit. All these things contribute to an environment in which people and companies can prosper. And business has a great deal to gain by doing its part to foster this environment. Each of us does, too. All other things being equal, a company known as a good corporate citizen will be more respected – by the general public and its customers, by suppliers and others it does business with, and, as I said before, by its employees. And, employees are much more likely to want to go the extra mile for such a company. There is another important consideration relating to regulatory issues and public policy. (And I know you have learned in your time here about important policy issues and their impact on business.) Certainly, a record of good corporate citizenship can only improve the climate in which policy decisions are made. And community support also is important in strengthening relationships with civic leaders, citizen groups and public officials. Finally, good corporate citizenship is a key component of a company’s reputation and credibility. All other things being equal, the public will be more understanding – and more likely to give the benefit of the doubt to a socially responsible corporation. Take the case of Johnson & Johnson, which has long been known as an outstanding corporate citizen not just in New Jersey but around the nation and world. In the early 1980s there was a nationwide scare resulting from a notorious case of tampering with Tylenol capsules, one of J&J’s leading products. The company based its response to this crisis on the values that had been the keys to its success from the start. It was very upfront in handling the situation and calming public fears. Its actions were seen as credible and responsible, in keeping with J&J’s reputation. As a result, Tylenol is still a leading product. The moral of the story: Corporate citizenship counts. Still, people have become skeptical about companies that constantly advertise their good deeds and good ethics – and for good reason. Five years ago, you’d find that the company most praised for having an outstanding code of conduct was Enron. Its code filled more than 50 pages. Being good at codes and hype doesn’t make up for being weak on ethics in action. Enron – when added to WorldCom and others – has generated great cynicism about corporate motives. That is unfortunate because the overwhelming majority of companies contribute positively on many levels to the quality of life. Enough about the past. What about the future? I foresee corporate social responsibility developing in several promising directions: Companies will increasingly see their philanthropy as needing to go beyond the one-time gift or isolated program, but ideally involve a sustained commitment. More and more companies will view social investments for what they ultimately are: as strategic business investments. More and more will recognize that corporate responsibility programs should not be pigeonholed or put in a separate box, but rather integrated into the totality of a company’s actions and seen as vital to the whole way it goes about its business. I also foresee more competition among companies in doing good in addition to doing well. A sign of this is Fortune magazine’s rankings of America’s “Most Admired Companies.” Social responsibility is one of eight key attributes on which companies are rated versus their peers. It is given equal weight with qualities such as long-term investment value, financial soundness and innovation. This is a good and healthy sign. Of course, the particular situation and culture of a company will influence how it goes about its corporate citizenship. In our case at PSE&G, we focus our community support on programs to benefit children and families, economic development, and the environment. These priorities reflect our role as an energy company deeply woven into the fabric of community life. They also are areas where we believe we can have the greatest impact. We work in partnership with many dedicated people and organizations across New Jersey’s public and private sectors. For example, we recently entered into a partnership (called New Jersey After 3) to improve access to quality after-school programs. And we’re also participating as the lead donor in a broad fundraising effort for the construction of a new Children’s Specialized Hospital in New Brunswick. Initiatives like these reflect the strong and continuing commitment our 6,400 employees have to the people and state of New Jersey. We’ve been serving essentially the same communities – including our headquarters city of Newark – for 102 years. Our customers are also our neighbors. I think you can see why it is in our own interest to support the communities we call home. As they thrive and prosper, we’re going to be in a much better position to thrive and prosper, too. We are an urban company serving all six of New Jersey’s largest cities – and we focus our community support there because that is where the need is greatest. We also serve one of the most diverse areas of the nation – which reinforces why diversity is essential to how we define corporate responsibility. It a key to bringing our workforce into closer alignment with our customer base – and developing new sources of talent and leadership. It has other important dimensions. Over the past two decades, for example, our company has done more than a billion dollars of business with minority and women-owned firms. A strong network of diverse suppliers helps us achieve business objectives while stimulating the local economy: A win-win all round. I’d like to briefly discuss an initiative that brings together our urban and diversity commitments – and especially fits this occasion because it is about education. It is a program we sponsor with a number of New Jersey community colleges to equip interested students from primarily urban backgrounds for careers with our company. It is helping us meet our future workforce needs, but it is also important from a community perspective. Just think about the difference it makes when a young person gets on a path toward a good job and a productive future. This program is making dreams come true. I’ve seen it in the faces of the graduates of the program, such as the young man who came to this country two years ago from his homeland in Haiti. He enrolled in the program with the hopes of gaining an engineering tech job with our company. He did well but faced the hurdle of passing a test that can be particularly challenging for students whose native language is not English. He stuck with the program, passed the test, and now is on the path of what we hope will be a long and successful career with the company. We are looking to replicate this success many times over. So far, we have hired 18 students from this program and have about 40 students currently enrolled. We expect 20 more students to earn their degree this fall. And we have also developed partnerships with high schools and vocational schools to create pipelines of future students interested in similar career opportunities – and pipelines of future workers for us: Again, a win-win. The socially responsible company recognizes it is about much more than the nuts and bolts of its business. It instead sees itself as part of the wider community. It takes seriously its commitments to all its stakeholders – to communities as well as customers, employees as well as investors. It seeks continually to improve its operations to earn a fair profit, in ways that also make life better and protect the environment. It doesn’t just keep promising, but is known for the promises it keeps. In closing, I strongly recommend that as you pursue your careers, look for opportunities to become more deeply involved in community and civic life. Volunteering is a commitment – and often a very demanding one – it can often seem like having another full-time job. Yet it can bring with it a great deal of personal satisfaction. I know it has contributed immensely to my life. It offers a powerful reminder of what really counts: the difference we can make in people’s lives. Each of you has reached an important milestone today and earned a highly valuable credential. You all have so much to look forward to – and so much to contribute. As you continue building productive and rewarding lives, I urge you, never stop pursuing what you find personally meaningful and fulfilling. Never confuse who you are with what you do for a living. There is so much more to life. I want to finish with some words of Ralph Waldo Emerson: To find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition, to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”/em> Congratulations, again. Best wishes for every success. Back to List