What do you do if your sustainability strategy needs a boost?

If my sustainability strategy needs a boost, I will seek feedback from stakeholders to pinpoint areas for improvement. I will prioritize embedding sustainability deeply within my business model, ensuring it forms a core part of our operations. I plan to pursue educational opportunities for both myself and my team to enhance our understanding of sustainable practices. Additionally, I will focus on tracking and increasing resource efficiency across all business aspects, from energy consumption to supply chain management. My strategy will be centered around continuous learning and operational integration to reinforce our commitment to sustainability.

Your sustainability goals must reflect your material issues. And the thing with materiality is that it is contextual, it is not set in stone. Consider refreshing your materiality assessment, involving stakeholders and investors so as to have a double material perspective.

Examine why the strategy has not been adaopted so far, what are the factors that are ensuring that strategy is not adapting. Then ensure that there is a compelling and customized "Call for change". Before we go to the stateholder we pick a sample from the stakeholder group and get the buy in for the "Call for change", once that is secured we go with the larger group of stakeholderas and do a gap analysis with respect to the agreed call of change and the current strategy. There should atleast be one actionable outcome of such sessions that should either result in next agreed discission point or the actions that we can implement right away. To ensure change happens we need 2 sthings : an urgent cause and change agents.

This can be due to a variety of factors. Re-evaluation of objectives is important in the face of changing market conditions, customer expectations and regulations. In addition, organizational commitment is vital; without it, strategy implementation can falter. Operational challenges, such as resource shortages or process inefficiencies, affect implementation. Addressing these issues through training, communication and process improvement is critical.

There’s no doubt about it that Innovation is a key part of securing your company’s future. Constantly adapting to new technologies, improving current projects, solving customer problems is the best way to ensure that you’re never left behind.? And sustainability needs to be an integral part of innovation and business planning. It needs to be anchored across the organisation. Sustainability is no longer just challenging organisations but is now a sought-after trait in modern business. Coupled with innovation, it represents a key driver of profit and long-term growth for many of today’s businesses. In fact, research indicates that Innovative businesses are 2.4x more likely to be among the strongest performing businesses of the future.

Impact analysis should be performed on strong, ambitious, and impactful KPIs. So, the first step would be to review whether sustainability KPIs reflect the true sustainability mission and adjust them to be more impactful. To do it, management should commit additional resources.

You need to revamp your sustainability narrative, and how you communicate your success: - Use data, data and more data such as reduced waste, cost savings, the KPIs of your impact initiatives... to showcase progress and acknowledge areas for improvement. For the identified areas for improvement, create a corrective action plan. - Tailor messages to different stakeholders and actively seek their feedback. Communicate with your board, colleagues and customers. Use their feedback to iterate on your efforts. - Tell compelling stories of your sustainability impact. Illustrate your stories so your stakeholders can related to them. By being transparent & engaging, you build trust & pave the way for a stronger future strategy.

With the right strategic partnerships, you can clean up your supply chain, find sustainable alternatives to the products and materials you use, reduce energy consumption and more. Strategic partners will enhance your current efforts and help you achieve your sustainability goals faster and more effectively. Such partnerships often bring together diverse perspectives and capabilities, fostering innovation and providing access to new markets and technologies. For instance, collaborations with NGOs can enhance a company's understanding of social and environmental issues, while partnerships with suppliers can lead to more sustainable supply chains. Similarly, working alongside government bodies can help navigate regulatory landscapes.