Can we put aside our fascination with Socks to become more sustainable in business?
The call and offer were a regular one – a content marketing company had just analysed my website and found it below par. They could guarantee to deliver millions of leads and 1st place globally in SEO content – watch out the Cambridge Inst. for Sustainability Leadership!. The marketing hook this time was a series of free searches to identify keywords. As wet dark autumn afternoons working from home in the UK can be slow affairs, I decided to take up the offer.
The caller then started feeding back the monthly activity level in the UK arising from a specific keywords that I was interested in. I was surprised by the overall interest levels from keywords associated with ‘Business and Sustainability’ so on my last keyword search I decided to set a baseline comparison keyword to compare previous results against. An earlier online distraction looking for stocking fillers for the family may have influenced my choice.
Keyword Search comparison – results are average monthly
inquiries made to Google
Sustainability in business
101-200
Socks
11,500-30,300
Why is sustainability important in business
0-10
Socks and sandals
851-1,700
How to improve business sustainability
0-10
Bamboo socks
11,500-30,300
Role of sustainability in business
0-10
Socks for dogs
501-850
Business sustainability plan
0-10
Christmas socks
1,700–2,900
Benefits of sustainability
11-50
Vegan thermal socks
11-50
We’ve all have moments in our life when it seems that the
world’s priorities don’t line up with our own.
In this case is was comparing the greater interest in ‘socks for dogs’
and surprisingly ‘socks and sandals’ (the latter a candidate for the return of capital
punishment for social crimes) than the level of UK internet interest in how
sustainability benefits organisations and business activities despite the
strong evidence emerging globally.
There is a visible upturn in business community interest into environmental stewardship affairs and the consequences of poor environmental management practices in areas such as single use plastics, energy management and recycling. However in order to extract the greatest value from organisational initiatives, there has to be senior management commitment to greater business sustainability and a clear understanding of their role in leading the business towards greater sustainability as well as in promoting strategic change when sustainability opportunities, issues and risks arise.
To achieve this, the surest route is through the exploration,
and adoption of strategic sustainability business models within the business owners,
leaders professionals. Executive level decision-makers
still lags far behind that of the wider environmental manager community in their
understanding of future intangible risks associated with sustainability.
Professional development training and coaching can help break down these knowledge barriers, and allow an opportunity for more detailed examination of what opportunities exist and how the integration of a sustainability business model or strategic plan could fit your ‘future fit’ organisational culture. The other great benefit is that it can allow time and an opportunity for senior managers to understand, reflect on and retain a stronger position when reviewing new initiatives arising within the marketplace – or within the minds of more junior colleagues who now hold an alternative worldview on business’s interaction with society.
Key message: Consider your future sustainability and leadership developmental needs in a key area of future business practice, and can Leading Green help you achieve this?.
On the socks front – am I a bad parent for even considering
socks as a present, and is it wrong to feel that I have now at last discovered a
Christmas gift for my eco-conscious, vegan and feminist elder daughter – and the
dog!
Bridging the Gap between Sustainability & Business
There are 5 good reasons why many business owners and managers are driving more strategic sustainability approaches in their businesses:
Because their current competitors are thinking
about it
Because their clients and customers want them to
do it
Because their next significant marketplace
competitor is already doing it
Because it makes business sense and is the right
move to make
Because they realise their cash flow, profit and
future growth will suffer if they don’t!
For many Organizations today, sustainability is the business. Their founders and leaders have deliberately positioned themselves either in the blind spot of thier competitors or have a clear strategy to differentiate themselves from other sector suppliers by appealling directly to consumers who value ethical and socially responsible products (i.e. Unilever’s domestic cleaning products), services (Green Tariff energy suppliers), or who wish to associate with organisations that mitigate issues of environmental or social concern they are alert to (i.e. Patagonia’s recycled sea plastic clothing range).
Why develop a Sustainability based Business Plan?
In all cases, these businesses possess a strategic sustainability in business model that:
Reflect a societal concern within the consciousness of consumers
Delivers a competitive edge over existing incumbent rivals within their market sectors
Stimulates a ‘relationship’ between the business and customers
Drives innovation within existing products and stimulates the development of new longer-term replacements
Increase the motivation and ‘feel good’ engagement with their employer amongst staff; and as importantly
disrupts the market share of established suppliers .
The Risk of Remaining Unsustainable in Business
If a business wished to continue holding faith in more traditional business models and management approaches, then they have to ask themselves the question ‘Why are so many businesses changing course?’ and ‘Why are so many leading Business Schools exploring sustainable alternatives as the economic way forward.
What has propoelled the rise of Sustainability in Business so far up the Boardroom agenda, and in many of these Boardrooms why are they valueing the addition of sustainability into risk, governance and strategy debates. The upshot of this is that there is now a clear demand for business leaders and managers who have an understanding of sustainability issues and risks, comprehend responsible management and who are able to take accountability for sustainability initiatives within the business agenda.
All organisations ultimately derive their economic activity from the exploitation of the natural environment and its resources. You may be an IT or Financial sector player, or a Property Asset Manager, but ultimately what you in and on has at its basis the need for primary environmental resources such as
food (including seafood and game), crops, wild foods, and spices
raw materials (including lumber, skins, fuel wood, organic matter, fodder, and fertilizer)
energy (hydropower, biomass fuels)
water purity
biogenic minerals
medicinal resources
Climate Change & Economic Exploitation
It should be apparent to most organisational leadership groups by now that climate change and future global resource constraints will place limitations on future economic growth rates within some sectors, whilst the exploitation of sustainable resources, such as renewable energy and hydrogen, holds out the possibility of freeing up others. The critical issue is to what degree will they and thier choosen sector be impacted upon.
The strategic sustainability challenge that many early adopters are addressing is how to replace or secure continued access to the valuable, rare, difficult to imitate or non-substitutable resources they require!
These are some of the forward-thinking leadership challenges
that have elevated sustainability from the operational risk domain of QHSE and
organisational green teams green and upwards into the Business Planning and
Enterprise Risk Management domain of the C-suite.
Bridging the Leadership gap
Business owners or executives, with the support of their own
management teams, are the people best placed to bring about organisational
sustainability changes within their organisations. These individuals and teams are the ones who
most clearly understand the existing business, the challenges it faces and to
undertake the analysis of issues and scenarios.
They are also the people best placed to lead any change programme for
sustainability. Consultancies, such as
Leading Green, have the capacity to advise and support, but from experience as
a corporate executive in industry and government, they lack the networks and
insights required to overcome internal blocks.
Key Sustainability Leadership Functions Leading Green Training Courses
Stepping up into a Sustainability Leadership mindset?
Business & Sustainability – The management of
intangible risk
Sustainability issues are not significantly different from
many of the day to day issues that business leaders face. They impact just as readily on long-term cashflow,
profitability, growth, procurement, management, competitiveness and regulation
as much as any more traditional management issue. What sets sustainability leadership and
management practices apart is a greater focus on governance, the long-term
strategic needs of the business and a watching brief over many more intangible
risks than are usually overseen through financial risk management. Those e s that can rapidly engulf a business
and its management team.
The management of intangible risks has as its central focus issues of leadership and behavioural risk. Often derided as ‘soft’ risks, these can have brutal consequences for a business in terms short sightedness as to product life cycle (cradle to grave product type), managerial incompetence in the face of change, s ‘group think’ or ivory tower mind-set and arrogance on the part of management, ethical misjudgement, inability to integrate management, mismanagement of reputation risks, mismanagement of value conflict, poor public relations, ineffective corporate governance, and so on.
Case Study: H&M Conscious Collection derided in the press for greenwashing and for not giving the consumer precise information about why these clothes were labelled as sustainable. The furore attracted unwanted regulatory interest . The lesson to be learnt – consumers are more environmentally and sustainably conscious than ever and companies should think twice before making greenwash marketing claims.
In leadership terms, we can be clear that if a sustainability issue becomes material to business success or survival, then only the foolish would ignore it as an issue. What is material will depend on the wider mindset of the leadership team to risk management, the specifics of the industry sector and the degree of dependency in specific supply chains or service providers. The lesson to be learnt is that sustainability and its management must link to and align directly with how the business operates, its expenditure and material flows, its governance and strategic planning processes, and importantly how the leadership team and organisation views its mission and desired approach to business and its customer base.
To continue viewing sustainability as an ‘add-on’ or cost to
the business, keeping it separate from core business decision making and
long-term business planning remains a common mistake amongst many business
owners and managers. Limiting the scope
of sustainability management to marketing, branding and the management of
direct environmental impacts can eventually be a costly mistake.
Sustainability and Responsible Management
Sustainability has developed close links with leadership
theories promoted by many leading Business Schools regarding responsible
management, transformational and ethical leadership practices and Governance within
Boardrooms and senior leadership teams.
It is rapidly shaking off the old misconception of a ‘doing good, but
not core to the business’ managerial activity.
Environmental Management Systems (such as ISO14001) have over the last
three decades provided organisations with a solid administrative base from
which middle and lower tier managers can control bio-physical risks, waste
management and act as a policy platform for other localised or industry
specific issues, but has continued to struggle through lack of leader
engagement to become a strategic tool in business. Hence the revision of the ISO14001 standard
in 2015 to place a greater emphasis on the visible (auditable) commitment to and
engagement with the system by the organisation’s leadership team.
How Inspirational Leaders Bridge the Gap Between Sustainability
and Business
I have worked with several visionary business and sustainability
leaders — people who inspire and set the culture within their organisations,
permanently changing how they conducted themselves professionally. They have all had several things in common.
First, they don’t hide out in the management suite – they walk
the floors, engaging with employees across all functions talking about their
aspirations, vision for the organisation and what they are working to
achieve. They also use these floor walks
to gain business & sustainability insights.
Dropping in on teams they repeatedly ask penetrating questions regarding
current issues, behaviours, scenarios and encourage open feedback by encouraging
staff to tell them about what they are concerned with, the practical issues and
realities of life on the shop floor, the perceptions of front line staff on their
client future needs and wants, and critically how engaged with the business the
staff and the organisation’s repeat purchase customers are!
Secondly, they work internally across the business’s boundaries
and reporting lines, helping themselves (and the teams they lead) build up a
wider business mindset of organisational activities and issues. This helps them maximise information flows
and to determine options. They also encourage
their teams to follow a similar open-door approach and to working in collaboration
with other teams – a rare attribute in some organisations where internal discord
and intra-executive competition stifle productivity.
A third skill is an inherent understanding of systems
thinking, the ability to simplify and integrate different systems, and a
curiosity that extends further than just understanding business systems and
processes into innovation and problem solving.
Inspirational leaders have the gift to mentally and linguistically breakdown
issues in their strategic communication skills and actively encouraging:
Cross-silo working and the linking of internal operational activities to deliver mutually beneficial goals;
Challenging and examining individual function and corporate objectives to determine inter-relationships and the potential for unintended consequences; and
delivering business outcomes (including sustainable cash flow) in a way that supports the characteristics of a sustainable organisation.
Fourthly, they create strong teams that foster a wider sense
of corporate engagement, intellectual curiosity, and cross-functional
collaboration than colleagues that focus exclusively on their core
administrative, professional, technical or business support roles.
Finally, transformational business and sustainability leaders
and take accountability and responsibility for their duties. They actively lead their managerial
portfolios and direct them back into the organisation’s primary purpose or
business objective.
The Future
There is now a proven body of research that identifies
clearly that Businesses with strong environmental and social sustainability
leadership approaches commanding greater customer brand loyalty and higher
stock valuations. This is of credit to
the individual executives and managers who have brought about these changes in
organisational culture over the last decade.
One of the most interesting recent trends has been the movement in many Boardrooms to actively engage sustainability risk management approaches as a means of testing the strength in Corporate Business Plans and strategic programmes. Increasingly many are integrating Sustainability and Responsible Management practices with their existing Governance, Enterprise Risk Management and Economic Sustainability activities – as all share a common focus on business longevity. The objective being to provide a clearer boardroom picture on the tangible and intangible factors influencing cash flow, profit, strategic growth, risk and to map emergent trends in organisational culture, consumer and stakeholder relationships.
This willingness to embrace sustainability as a Boardroom
parameter, reflects a greater understanding that an organisation’s
profitability is now a key driver in its valuation. Previously the greater percentage of a
company’s ‘value’ was linked directly to its tangible assets (property, assets,
etc). Today in some of the larger
corporations less than 20% of share price value can be directly attributable to
financial performance and physical assets, the remaining 80% reflecting
intangible assets such as brand, customer base, future market risk,
intellectual capital and whether a business has a ‘future fit’ business model
aligned to responsible management & sustainable business practices.
This has encouraged many business leaders to adopt a more active and hands on role in the management of organisational sustainability practices, rather than just advocating responsibility down to their QHSE teams, increasingly business sustainability leaders and their Boardrooms are identifying why and when a sustainability issue needs to be addressed, and the functional and green team managers then respond in how the business should adapt.
People like plants need more than a basic environment in which to thrive
(2 minute read)
As soon as I see this statement in CSR reports, on websites and in marketing statements, I immediately dig deeper and look for positive proof that the statement can be backed up. I am often disappointed!
This phrase is at risk of becoming a modern day cliché, and any CEO tempted to use it should ensure that they have satisfied themselves:- firstly that the organisation has put a bit more thought behind the phrase than just good PR, and secondly that they personally have an understanding of organisational reality at shop floor or operational level. In fact I often recommend to organisational leaders that they leave the safety and power-interactions in the C-suite and spend time regularly engaging with the workforce …… in listening mode!. Go out and listen to what they are saying, it can be tough but rewarding. Why? because it is common for less than 20% of a workforce to feel ‘engaged’ with the organisation and its existing leadership group.
Whilst it is without question important for employee’s to ‘hear’ a CEO express such a statement, it means nothing unless they ‘feel’ it in their employment or more importantly ‘know’ it in their interactions with their leaders and managers. That’s the true route to having an engaged workforce.
Sustainability means different things in different market sectors, but employee relationships are common to all businesses, and the way in which an employee feels they re ‘valued’ is not just a financial relationship. It can involve many tangible and intangible factors – the organisational culture, how the organisation aligns with their own beliefs and values, and the manner in which the business treats them and wider society – especially in the knowledge based or innovation driven employment sectors! This often determines whether the intangible factors of their goodwill, support, loyalty and ultimately presence are sustained or lost.
An active leadership approach to sustainability within organisations helps employees engage better with the organisation and to feel alignment with it. The best way to demonstrate ‘value’ (rather than state they are valued assets) is to explain directly how the work they are doing is appreciated and important to the business. Take time to research how their contribution fits into the larger picture, and by investing in their growth, engagement and satisfaction.
Reflection point: Do your employees ‘know’ and ‘feel’ your organisation’s core values, and are they aligned with your sustainability objectives?
At Leading Green, our approach to sustainability in business training & consulting encourages our clients to look closely at their own internal leadership strengths and goals. Helping them adopt an inquisitive state of mind and supporting them in how sustainability can support their long-term business strategy. 1
There are times in all careers when you have to ask yourself should I move on and find a new employer?
An organization full of employees who believe they belong is an
organization full of employees who feel purposeful, inspired and alive — in
other words, engaged. These engaged employees are more productive and better
performers.
Many organisations are seeking to integrate environmental compliance and
management processes into their ways of working, and several are attempting to
drive sustainability into their cultural DNA!
To achieve this, they are enlisting a new group of employees – the environmental
or sustainability specialist – as change managers. Many are having spectacular success in
altering the organisational beliefs, ways of working and the mindset of their
organisations. In the course of which
they deliver a new lease of commercial life in their sectors and marketplace, but
others are failing as they become dispirited with entrenched leadership attitudes,
lack of accountability and on occasion evidence of organisational acceptance of
illegal or unethical practices.
No company is perfect and on many occasions the change management
activities that are required to embed sustainability issues and thinking into organisations
can feel like draining the Atlantic Ocean with just a recycled Starbucks coffee
cup for help! That is why I was
surprised in one recent mentoring session on how dismayed a young sustainability
adviser was with her career choice.
No one said entering the environmental profession would be an easy one
or a free pass to career success. You
are after all trying to bring in a new mindset into business before the
traditional mindset impacts too severely on the lives and prosperity of people
and their environments! The challenge
and the excitement of the role and ultimately why you are here in these
positions are why most of us get out of bed each morning.
We analysed some of the problems she faced and then took them apart to
examine the specific issues that were causing her so much grief in detail:
Some were clearly based around her lack
of experience and could be rectified through training and development coaching;
Some were based simply around her lack
of misunderstanding of how the industry operated and could be rectified through
the identification of a suitable internal mentor to be a guide and someone she
could bounce her future ideas off in advance, and
In one scenario it was clear that she had
mis-communicated badly her case to a group of managers. She had used technical jargon familiar to
sustainability professionals but new to the audience and lost them. She hadn’t aligned her case close enough to
corporate outcomes to interest them and as a result had made an unpersuasive argument
for change. These again could be
rectified through further coaching and mentoring.
But in a couple of situations the issues were clear and the challenges
she faced significant. Despite her best
endeavours, there were several key sustainability issues where she felt that
her efforts were being purposely disregarded, where the context of sustainability
claims were being manipulated for greenwashing/marketing purposes without organisational
evidence. Whilst these indicated a lack
of responsible leadership or management in those above her, ultimately our conversation
had to address a cruel set of question that only she could answer:
Had her contribution as an employee hit
a rough patch on these issues that she could work through with time and support?
Could she live with the unethical or non-environmental
behaviours and with time correct them?
Had she reached a performance plateau in
how far she could take this company in terms of her own sustainability vision against
the willingness of the people within the organisation to change?
Was she still excited by the role – or
was it time for someone else to take up the reins and try it their way?
Should she move on and find a new
employer?
Should I stay or should I go now?
Ethics and strong values underline an environmental or sustainability
professional’s career choice. Many of us
remain optimistic and holds an altruistic view on how business can work in economic
and social partnership with the rest of society for the economic betterment of
all. Your work is integral, not only to
how you see the world, but how your chosen sector or employer actively improves
their environmental or sustainability performance into the future as core business
strategy.
So, when your employer makes headlines for the wrong environmental reasons
or continues to act in an unsustainable manner contradicting its stated polies should
you look for a new role with a new employer? To figure that out, you need to closely
examine your emotional relationship with your work and with your employer:
Do your employers continue to act in
the knowledge of the social and environmental impacts they are accountable for?
Where is the redline before they will seek
to correct the issue?
If the issue blows up due to regulatory
or negative publicity, will you be innocent of any wrongdoing or culpability?
Dependent on your answers you may not need to leave, many companies
weather small environmental scandals and they are often a golden opportunity to
enhance changes in behaviour – simply put don’t waste a crisis but be aware of
how such situations could damage your reputation.
At the end of the day and to repeat the starting paragraph – An
organization full of employees who believe they belong is an organization full
of employees who feel purposeful, inspired and alive — in other words,
engaged. And these engaged employees are more productive and better performers.
Ultimately you must consider your own job satisfaction, your well-being,
career prospects and future development if you stay. If the company’s actions (or inactions)
violate your moral and professional code of conduct, then you may need to take
a professional stand and move on.
If you do decide to leave, be ready to answer the obvious question ‘Why did you leave your last employer’ from the next HR or recruiting manager. Prepare an answer in advance that acknowledges the organisational risks you identified, the actions you sought to take for that organisation’s benefit, how you personally felt your values and ethics were being compromised by the management responses received and seek to distances yourself from their behaviours. Turn it back on the recruiter as a first step in what sort of professional they are hiring – How would this company deal with such an issue? It could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
At Leading Green, our approach to sustainability in business consulting encourages our clients to look closely at their own internal leadership strengths and goals. Helping them adopt an inquisitive state of mind and supporting them in how sustainability can support their long-term business strategy. In addition we provide a confidential mentoring and coaching services to new and experienced professionals seeking to enhance thier performance and skill sets.
Leading Green is delighted to announce a new Sustainability in Action leadership course for Environmental Management, EHS and Sustainability professionals.
Obtaining Top Management Support (a new 1 day course)
22 – 25 January 2019
Getting across the board buy-in for sustainability in organisations can be difficult. Progressing strategic actions that create visibility for and awareness of sustainability, both inside and outside the organisation will require top management support. When seeking to change an organisation’s sustainability culture, their support – which must also require their participation and involvement, may be the most important success factor before you start!
Top management support is the critical success factor when progressing a business sustainability agenda.
This one day course sets out a strategic pathway that aims to supports you
self-assess the degree to which a sustainability framework is embedded across your organization, helping you understand your company’s progress, and
where to prioritize your efforts (1/2 day).
The second half of the day sets out a toolbox of tips and tactics to help win support, participation and involvement from the CEO and senior leadership team,to identify opportunities to support your CEO’s journeys to embed sustainability, and to increase the visibility of for sustainability initiatives within your organisation.
The course focuses on your day-to-day activities and your organisations direction of travel. It follows an established pathway, used successfully within several Business Schools and international organisations. The course’s objective is to help you personally:
Advance your organisation further along the path from environmental management/EHS to sustainability
Self assess progress year on year
Introduce your sustainability agenda to senior management
Increased your corporate visibility
Align Sustainability with the Corporate Plan, and
Demonstrate value and win support.
The Courses will be held during the 22nd – 25th January 2019 in Birmingham (2 days); Sheffield (1 day) and Lincoln (1 day).
This 1 day course is designed to align with IEMA’s CPD requirements for environmental professionals, with elements of the course corresponding to requirements within IEMA’s Sustainability Skills Map.
For further information, delegate rates and details contact: Ross Marshall at info@leading-green.com or view the Training page.
Supporting Business Leaders implement Sustainability in Business
Ross Marshall has over 25 years experience of senior level Corporate Environmental Management & operational Sustainability within the Power, Water & Government Sectors. He is involved in the accreditation of environmental professionals for IEMA.
At Leading Green, our approach to sustainability in business training & consulting encourages our clients to look closely at their own internal leadership strengths. Helping them adopt an inquisitive state of mind and supporting them in how sustainability can support their long-term business strategy.
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