A case study summarising the improvements and business value Vicinity Centres derived by migrating their social investment reporting activities from multiple end user spreadsheets and in-house systems to the iSystain software platform.

The Client

Vicinity is one of Australia’s leading retail property groups, reimagining the way Australians live, work and play. It owns and manages 60 assets - some of the most recognisable and loved retail destinations across Australia including Chadstone in Melbourne and Queen Victoria Building in Sydney - and is evolving to transform its portfolio into destinations that offer a broad selection of retail, residential, and office spaces.

The Challenge

After joining Vicinity Centres in 2021 Karen Woo, Sustainability Manager – Community completed an internal review of Vicinity’s Social Investment reporting which formed the basis for Vicinity’s annual submission to Business for Societal Impact (B4SI.net). In consultation with her colleagues, Woo identified seven key areas of improvement to address the key challenges of its current system:

1. Increase ‘at source’ data capture, reduce rework/error correction, decentralise workload;

2. Increase visibility of data collection status across the centres;

3. Eliminate manual formulas, data calculation and checking effort;

4. Improve record traceability and auditability of the process;

5. Increase data management efficiencies for B4SI submission;

6. Reduce the manual effort to produce and distribute reports;

7. Improve capture of output & impact data from Social Investments.

The Solution

Vicinity reviewed the option of either enhancing its inhouse system or implementing a suitable off the shelf product. The second option was selected and three vendors were considered/approached to demo and provide proposals. The iSystain platform was selected based on the following attributes:

1. Maturity and fit for purpose design of iSystain’s Social/Community reporting module;

2. Alignment with B4SI’s benchmarking standard and flexibility to incorporate other internal/external reporting requirements;

3. The experience of the iSystain team who have collaborated with the B4SI team over the past decade; and

4. Future-proof integration options if Vicinity wanted to extend the use of iSystain to cover other Sustainability and ESG reporting needs.

The Result

The great working relationship quickly established between the Vicinity and iSystain teams ensured the project was delivered on time. Vicinity’s expectation for all targeted improvements were delivered and, in many cases, exceeded. Woo has greater transparency over the status of the data collection, can proactively and easily identify if any contributions are missing receipts (critical for her audit trail), all manual calculations are now automated and stored in iSystain’s formula library and an automated schedule has been set up for the distribution of reports across Vicinity’s centre portfolio and at National Office. These improvements have materially streamlined previously fragmented processes allowing more time to generate real time progress reports to focus on gaining valuable insights from B4SI and the data collected supporting Vicinity’s overall Community Investment strategy to achieve positive community impact.

Improvement #1: Increase ‘at source’ data capture, reduce rework, decentralise workload

iSystain’s flexible KPI structure, data tagging and classification tools enabled the implementation of standardised data models with flexibility to categorise and formulate data in-line with both internal and with B4SI reporting requirements. Use of defined categories and classification greatly enhanced system users buy-in due to reduced ambiguity and increased accuracy in reporting i.e., the right data captured in the right place. The visibility of the data status reduced duplication by multiple people entering the same data in different categories due to lack of standardised and centralised record viewing. The usability of the system increased participation rates across the Centres achieving the targeted decentralisation.

Business Value: Great user system, improved data visibility and clarity, time savings by eliminating duplication and rework, data capture as initiatives are completed and thereby ensuring the information is entered (ie. not lost/missed) at year end.

Improvement #2: Increase visibility of data collection status across the Centres

The centralised, real-time initiative & workflow view means real time status delivers faster refresh times compared to overnight or next business day from previous system. The Sustainability Team can now view data population over time and facilitate best practices, including data submission at regular intervals as opposed to once per year and data checking and uploading of supporting documentation to reduce the burden at submission time. It’s significantly improved the process for B4SI verification or for any external auditors looking at Vicinity’s reported data and reduced time spent on the ‘paper chase’ for external auditors.

Business Value: Transparency of the entire reporting process which includes data collection, calculation, collation, verification, submission, and reporting.

Improvement #3: Eliminate manual formulas and data calculation, reduce checking effort

The implementation of iSystain has eliminated the need for manual data calculation effort. Vicinity’s complex suite of data calculations required managing the different rules for internal, external and B4SI Standard reporting were added to iSystain’s business intelligence library. This feature has greatly reduced the opportunities and instances of errors and/or incomplete data records as well as removing the material risk of corrupting these manual files. Automated application of the correct rates for each centre. Automated calculation of the applicable discounts for different types of contributions where relevant to internal and external stakeholders. B4SI and internally aligned calculations are now embedded (but still flexible) in iSystain reporting.

Business Value: Increased integrity, accuracy, confidence and time saving through automated calculations.

Improvement #4: Improve record traceability and auditability of the process

Leveraging off the ‘at source’ capture of data from the Centres, the ability to attach files to transactions delivered an enormous benefit for Vicinity’s having greater transparency of reported data. This was the case particularly for its B4SI verification. The ability to view evidence of contributions greatly streamlined the B4SI verification process and reduced follow-up time and effort. Most importantly there is greater transparency over the status of the data collection, can easily identify any contributions missing receipts proactively.

Business Value: Greater auditability, reduced time spent on the ‘paper chase’ for external auditors, captured at source, easy to proactivity identify missing receipts.

Improvement #5: Increase data management efficiencies for B4SI submission

iSystain’s ‘B4SI formatted’ export capability provides Vicinity with greater efficiencies by automatically producing a data output suitable for direct submission to B4SI’s reporting portal. Additionally having the full exported source data file assisted with auditability, two-way feedback and troubleshooting.

Use of defined categories and classification greatly enhanced system users buy-in due to reduced ambiguity and increased accuracy in reporting i.e., the right data in the right place.

Business Value: Time savings, faster submission and verification process into B4SI portal.

Improvement #6: Reduce the manual effort to produce and distribute reports

Before implementing iSystain, Vicinity’s social investment reporting was managed using a temporary inhouse data file that generated fragmented spreadsheets requiring manual data and formulae updates. iSystain’s Report Designer and template tools are highly regarded, particularly in delivering fully customisable, formatted Social Investment Reports. iSystain consultant Jim Wallace was able to replace and automate the spreadsheet creating several audience relevant, fully formatted reports. These reports were linked to a scheduling function with defined recipients and frequencies automating the distribution of the reports. Additionally, authorised system users can log into iSystain to access and run reports for themselves.

Business Value: Time savings, scheduled or self-serve easy to read interim reports available for participants to check progress throughout the year.

Improvement #7: Improve capture of output & impact data from Social Investments

Vicinity’s previous system focused on the capture of data related to inputs only. iSystain’s flexible output and impact data capture section enabled Vicinity to extend its data capture and focus on what happens and what changes as a result. Information such as ‘how many people were helped by this initiative?’ Additionally, iSystain’s reporting and analytics functions provided Vicinity with new filtering, drill down and ‘slice and dice’ options resulting in the ability to view data from different perspectives.

Business Value: Structured capture and greater insight in value and positive outcome of social investments

About

iSystain is a software platform that drives both management and reporting processes across the full scope of Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) requirements. Our Social Investment module is design in alignment with B4SI’s benchmarking data capture and calculation requirements as well as offering flexibility to incorporate other social reporting outputs. Our Sustainability Management solution combined with our Health, Safety and Environment and Supplier Management solutions work together to implement key business processes necessary to drive your organisation’s sustainable development. To organise a chat with an iSystain consultant go to https://www.isystain.com/contact/

Vicinity is one of Australia’s leading retail property groups, reimagining the way Australians live, work and play. It owns and manages 60 assets - some of the most recognisable and loved retail destinations across Australia including Chadstone in Melbourne and Queen Victoria Building in Sydney - and is evolving to transform its portfolio into destinations that offer a broad selection of retail, residential, and office spaces. To learn more about Vicinity’s social programs go to https://www.vicinity.com.au/sustainability/social

B4SI is the globally recognised methodology used by the world’s leading companies to articulate and measure the positive impact they have in the world. The B4SI Framework currently underpins the Community & Philanthropy question in the DJSI questionnaire, is reflected in the GRI standard and is recognised by the UN Global Compact as evidence for a company’s social impact narrative to stakeholders. To learn more about B4SI go to https://b4si.net/about/

Case study written by Jenni Mulligan and Shelley Anderson, iSystain in collaboration with Karen Woo, Vicinity Centres, Jim Wallace, iSystain and Simon Robinson, Corporate Citizenship.

Acknowledgement

As owners of businesses across Australia, we recognise the continued connection of the traditional owners to the land and waters of these beautiful places and pay our respects to their elders past and present.