Business – It’s personal: Sustainability

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 where your business is on its ‘sustainability journey,’ Mazars offers an ESG Health Check tool – an online questionnaire that provides an ESG and sustainability assessment, including a gap analysis of minimum regulatory requirements, ESG risks and opportunities specific to your business.

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1 HP Workforce Sustainability Survey 

The information provided here is for general guidance only, and does not constitute the provision of tax advice, accounting services, investment advice, legal advice, or professional consulting of any kind. The information provided herein should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional tax, accounting, legal or other competent advisers.