In March of 2023, we launched our “Inspiring Perspectives” podcast. As the host of the show, I constantly hear fresh ideas on corporate sustainability from leaders at respected companies and nonprofits in the sustainability and climate action space. With a new episode every two weeks, we’ve now produced 15 episodes of “Inspiring Perspectives.” Each episode features bold ideas, practical applications, and advice for sustainability professionals.

What we love about the show is that it offers a genuine look at what it takes to drive sustainability and climate action forward in practical terms. And, while we may all be working across a variety of the issues within sustainability, these conversations also reveal that many of us share similar challenges. 

As a full service creative sustainability strategy and communications agency, we are well positioned to be your partner, and our services align with the challenges our guests discussed.

In this two-part series, we’ll be discussing the six key takeaways we've identified, supported by insights from our guests. Here are the first three:

1. Integration of sustainability across departments and through the business drives lasting progress

Sustainability is increasingly seen as a shared responsibility rather than the sole domain of dedicated teams. This integration is essential for fostering collaboration and driving engagement throughout the organization.

Maisie Ganzler, author and former Chief Strategy & Brand Officer at Bon Appétit Management Company reminds us that embedding sustainability and ESG work into every department is not just the responsibility of a sustainability team: 

“If you're really going to have sustainability at the heart of your brand, you need everyone to be working on sustainability. It's embedded into everybody's KPIs or key performance indicators. It's embedded into evaluation of every department and it's not just one person's siloed responsibility.”

Kristine Richmond, Sr. Director, ESG & Sustainability Impact at WM believes that true action will come from your people — and that takes resources and effort: 

"When you're talking about action, when you're talking about change management, you're really talking about people. And that takes resources, that takes people understanding what the objective is, understanding the strategy, and then really helping to be that connective tissue across other functions so that we all can be moving toward the same place.”

Aimee Griffiths, Head of Social Impact, Employee Engagement and Internal Communications, MoneyGram says your programs (social impact or otherwise) have the best chance for success when you make sustainability a true part of your business: 

"There's a business case to be had for it. We have very passionate executives and leaders throughout the organization that are highly involved in their own communities, nonprofits, board members, those kinds of things. So, they saw the need and the necessity of being a good participant in a just society. But there is also a really great business case to be made for reputation, for brand, for customer relationships."

Alyscia Raines, CEO, ADR Consulting Group, LLC is convinced integration of your program is essential if you don’t want it to face the vulnerability of downsizing or elimination: 

“When we are facing financial pressures and we need to trim the fat, if you will, if we haven't done our diligence with our DEI programs, and let's say we have ERG groups or DEI council that never got executive sponsorship, that never made its way to a handbook, that never kind of got that support and structure that it needed… Well, naturally, those are going to be the first things to go because at the end of the day, the main goal for a business is to make money, save money, reduce risk.”

Need help? Our team of experts can help craft your sustainability strategic plan and design and facilitate leader and board alignment workshops and functional team activation programs to further engage your entire organization. Once leadership is locked in, dive deeper with our employee engagement campaigns and then our supply chain engagement program.

Read more: How to embed sustainability into your company’s core‍

2. Data-driven decision making should be a priority

Data plays a critical role in shaping sustainability strategies. Organizations must leverage data effectively, not just for reporting but to inform decision-making and drive actionable change. That means, if you’re not capturing good data, you’re likely not making the best decisions for your organization.

Richmond, WM touches on the adage that what gets measured gets managed, but reminds us that it’s also about facilitating change.

“Embedding sustainability throughout the organization is about data and metrics and reporting on performance. It's the old adage, what gets measured gets managed. So we're always trying to put more numbers behind it, but it's also really about how you are facilitating change — at the end of the day, we're all people.”

‍Brittany Pettit, Global Outbound Product Manager, ESG Management, ServiceNow says data management technology (and the strong data that comes with it) can help sustainability professionals demonstrate the value and impact of their initiatives — even when compared to the benefits of AI:

“In terms of the value that it's going to provide to your organization, the amount of time that it can save, the efficiency that it brings, the accountability that it brings, simply having a single source of data where you're managing your programs, your initiatives, and collecting all of your KPIs is even more powerful when compared to AI in terms of the value that technology can bring.”

‍Richmond, WM says we don’t need more data and reports, we need more action based on that data and those reports:

"As practitioners, we're feeling the pressure and the requirement externally to report more. But I think it's just as important that we make sure we're finding a way to use that data internally to drive action and inform the right decisions. So that can sometimes be a misstep, where sustainability teams can get really focused on what we are reporting externally. But make sure you're taking a pause and thinking, well, where can I put this internally? Is there a dashboard or a scorecard? Or a report out business strategy meeting that I can put that data point into and integrate it? So it's being looked at cohesively?”

We’ve partnered with North Star Management to help you precisely understand, quantify, and manage your carbon impact and even other environmental data points. North Star has a reputation for being one of the easiest-to-use carbon accounting and management software on the market. 

‍3. Stakeholder engagement and communication strategy go hand in hand

Engaging both internal and external stakeholders is crucial for successful sustainability initiatives, and effective communication builds credibility and fosters partnerships. If you don’t have a communication strategy, you’re likely missing out on the opportunity to connect with your stakeholders effectively.

Andrew Behar, CEO, As You Sow suggests shareholders have power in holding companies accountable and driving positive change so it’s important to keep them involved and informed:

“We filed what are called shareholder resolutions. These are very formal resolutions that are filed six months ahead of the annual meeting. And it means that you get to have that conversation with all the shareholders and then the shareholders vote. And once they vote, it's non-binding. But when you sit down with a company and say 30% of your shareholders think this is important, or 50% think this is important, or in many cases, even 6%, it leads to the companies really thinking it through a little bit more deeply, and realizing this is actually good for the company, good for all our stakeholders, and they can implement it for change.”

‍Read more: The case for honest sustainability communications

Ali Mize, Senior Director of ESG, Belonging, and Corporate Philanthropy at Neiman Marcus Group says we need to engage customers as partners in sustainability efforts:

“When we were first starting to construct our goals and our strategy, we took the time not only to conduct desktop research on what themes were most common across different ESG ratings and rankings frameworks, but we also surveyed all of our key stakeholders from our investors and board to our associates, to our customers and brand partners and really asked them what issues they thought were most impactful both to our business and to the society within which we operate.”

The “Inspiring Perspectives” podcast has provided invaluable insights from industry leaders, highlighting the trends and challenges in corporate sustainability across a wide range of perspectives. These key takeaways serve as a roadmap for organizations aiming to drive meaningful change.

If you haven’t already, we invite you to tune in to the podcast and join us as we continue to delve into the bold ideas and real-world challenges that are shaping the future of corporate sustainability.

Need help getting started on these strategies? Reach out to book a meeting with one of our sustainability experts anytime. 

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