A new survey by McKinsey identifies a set of practices that value-creating companies adhere to when implementing their sustainability program. Encouragingly, 83% of C-suite leaders and investors expect ESG programs will contribute more shareholder value in five years than today. Also, they would be inclined to pay about a 10% median premium to acquire a company with a positive record for ESG issues.
Whether you are building a challenger brand or managing a legacy brand, a sustainability strategy is the growth strategy.
Below is a quick round up on what value-creating companies do from the survey findings:
- Sustainability is a CEO-led strategic priority to live up to an organizational purpose, or to make a positive impact on an issue. As dreadfully obvious as it sounds, it starts by setting focused goals and developing KPIs to track sustainability progress. Simply said, it’s a rally cry across the enterprise.
- Sustainability is embedded into the corporate culture and employees are trained on how to integrate sustainability into their day to day work. Some organizations consider sustainability performance when making decisions about employees’ compensation.
- They collaborate with customers and suppliers on addressing sustainability issues and adjust product portfolios to create long-lasting solutions. They also select suppliers based on the sustainability agenda to create a shared & preferred future.
- Value-creating companies focus on managing energy, water use, and waste generation at their own facilities, as well as making decisions about their site portfolios. They monitor suppliers’ sustainability performance and efficiency of their transportation and distribution networks. They identify and co-create solutions to address issues for the industry at large.
When we reflect on a myriad of citizen brands like Tony’s Chocolonely, Toast, Allbirds, Mijenta and Alara etc, the above mentioned practices are well in place and their success is evident for all to see.