In a 2022 study by IBM that interviewed over 3,000 CEOs across multiple industries worldwide, one finding became startlingly clear: sustainability is now top of the agenda for almost every business on the planet.
Of the three thousand CEOs surveyed:
It was also found that investment in sustainable practices as a percentage of income doubled in the past five years. And among stakeholders, the most pressure surrounding sustainability came from board members (72%), followed by 57% of investors and 49% of ecosystem partners and regulators.
It’s clear that sustainability is a big challenge, and the Business Futures 2021: Signals of Change report backs that up.
Because it found that 43% of the largest 521 businesses in the world are struggling to implement all the changes they want.
If you’re a CEO struggling to implement sustainability into your organisation, it might be a good time to rethink your approach. And you can do that in a few ways:
While COVID-19 was devastating, it brought a new perspective on how we work. It showed that people could work from home successfully. But it also highlighted how much energy is wasted in daily work life.
Listen to what your staff wants and be aware that the next generation of employees is desperate to work for eco-efficient organisations that allow flexible working methods. You can reduce emissions purely by offering home working. Fewer people on-site means you can downsize offices, which can cut your emissions and save you money on energy costs.
Research shows that modern CEOs need to have three key traits:
A hard-lined, cold CEO won’t cut it in today’s working world. By showing the traits above, staff will be more likely to champion the sustainability changes you need to make. Your staff will be your biggest champion when they feel heard and understood. And when you’re having to make sweeping changes, the more champions, the better!
The Shaping the Sustainable Organisation report by Accenture shows that companies that embrace sustainability outperform their rivals by 21% on profitability, while 74% of consumers said ethical practices and values are essential when choosing a brand or product.
These statistics clearly show that if you put sustainability at the top of your agenda, customers will follow.
Then the first step is to have an honest appraisal of where you are. And the best way to do that is with sustainability accreditations, which we can help you achieve through our Sustainability Impact Reports.
Our SIR reports measure and evaluate your organisation’s environmental impact, providing you with a comprehensive picture of where you are now and what you need to reach your sustainability goals.
We’ll also help you develop strategies and put processes in place that make a sizable difference to your business’s environmental, economic and social impacts.
