Ever feel like developing relevant and universally comprehensive sustainability metrics is akin to discovering a unified field theory for physicists? You’re not alone! While the greatest minds in human history have yet to develop a framework that unifies the four forces (interactions) of the physical universe, the struggle to develop relevant, comprehensive sustainability metrics should be a much less daunting task.
The need to move away from business practices of yesteryear and integrate sustainability into business models and practices of today is increasingly urgent. Metrics are an important piece of the sustainability transformation. As most would argue, what gets measured gets managed. Knowing what to manage will provide confidence to executives and leaders thinking of establishing sustainability programs in their businesses.
The Current Barriers
For more than half a decade, business leaders have often found themselves confused and overwhelmed with the seemingly endless supply of sustainability metrics. These metrics are typically not accompanied by details of relevance to industry, company size, or relation to company strategy.
When faced with a mountain of possibilities in the form of metrics, forging into the unknown world of sustainability is not an easy step for managers and executives to make. This is especially true as citizens and regulators have increasinglycalled out companies for greenwashing products.
The world of sustainability metrics can be compared to a “wild west” atmosphere with lots of competition and little authority available to regulate. At times this may be helpful as a trial and error process can lead to the best ideas and metrics. However, for a business leader seeking the best way forward today, and the trial and error process still incomplete, the appropriate metrics are elusive and the move towards sustainability often stalls.
The Time is Now
Although corporate leaders increasingly see sustainability as a “top 3 priority” year after year, they continue to struggle with many aspects of sustainability programs. What’s more is that surveys often only poll large corporations. According to the SBA, over 99% of US businesses are “small businesses.” These small business leaders likely do not have the resources to wade through the myriad metrics and distill those that are relevant for them in order to adopt sustainability practices, measure results, and implement sustainability programs.
Business leaders thinking of establishing new sustainability programs often suffer from data overload and feel like they must reinvent the wheel in order to participate in the growing demand for corporate sustainability. Consistent metrics will help these leaders identify where to focus, what to measure, industry best practices, business impacts, and appropriate expectations.
The Human Impact
The social and human elements are perhaps the most misunderstood and ignored aspects of corporate sustainability programs. Often represented through philanthropy and employee safety programs, human focused sustainability falls short on social benefit and business value.
Unlocking the business value of human centric sustainability requires an inward focus from the strategic level of an organization. First, align programmatic elements with the value-chain – find the synergies between sustainability and the operations of the business and invest resources in those places. Second, internally with employees, focus on the whole human and realize employees as an appreciable asset to the purpose and practices of the organization. Employees that are motivated and have a sense of fulfillment in their work create better corporate performance.
The research we conducted over the past 12 months addresses these human based gaps. It highlights how organizations create consistency in measurement and unlocks business value through their people. Understanding the human-based gaps and applying the appropriate metrics will be as valuable as a lasso and steed for business leaders in this wild west of sustainability metrics.
