Integrating sustainability: overcoming a lack of capacity and resources

TagsCorporate social responsability (CSR)Growing sustainablyReporting & assuranceStrategy & due diligence+1

17 February 2022 - Gaining competitive advantage through a more sustainable business proposition can be achieved by all companies, irrespective of size. Some, however, are still daunted by the challenges, known and unknown, of building a sustainable business. And the perceived burdens on resource of new commitments such as measuring and managing impact of ESG over time.

Below, you’ll find examples of how capacity concerns in relation to sustainability can be readily overcome. You can take advantage of a more comprehensive set of solutions in our joint publication with ecoDa “A practical guide for boards and leadership teams on sustainability”.

1. Taking your people with you. Critical to embedding sustainability into your business will be the engagement of employees and wider stakeholders with your vision, strategy and how it will benefit them over time.

Key also will be the involvement of employees (of all levels) in working parties that contribute meaningfully to your sustainable goals. These groups can, in turn, own responsibilities ranging from the measurement of tasks (such as employee CO2 reductions) to creating new parameters for the recruitment of a more diverse workforce.

2. Embedding sustainability into everyone’s role. Sustainability-related tasks can also be added (within reason) to employees’ existing functions, job descriptions and personal development objectives. This will often be an extension of their existing responsibilities, rather than increasing workload. Yet, by definition, this will often increase the purpose and value of individuals’ roles. According to a recent global survey¹, published by Hewlett Packard¹, employees are more productive, motivated, and engaged when working for an employer who is a leader on social responsibility.

3. Using your business size to evolve faster. With traditionally fewer rigid hierarchies and processes, medium-sized enterprises have the proven ability to adapt faster to a more sustainable business model. Change can be implemented more quickly, with medium-sized enterprises needing less resource and capital as larger ones.

To better understand how advanced your business is on its ‘sustainability journey’, you can request Mazars’ online ESG Diagnostic and Health Check tool?. This user-friendly tool gives you an overview of the risks - and opportunities - specific to your company. Our sustainability team will give you feedback on the results in a workshop.

¹HP Workforce Sustainability Survey

More information?

Do you want to know more about sustainable business operations? Then contact Danny Janssen by e-mail or by phone: +31 (0)88 277 13 20 or Daphne Hendriks by e-mail or by phone: +31 (0)88 277 41 57. They will be happy to help you.

Ruben Freudenthal vertrekt bij Mazars

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