Seven steps on the sustainability journey

The Kearney Sustainability Chessboard series / article 2

Kearney’s Sustainability Chessboard works for all kinds of businesses, regardless of the size, industry or geography, offering an innovative step-by-step approach to map out your sustainability action plan.

As you begin your work with the Sustainability Chessboard?, seven steps can guide you from initial assessments to continuous improvement. Some actions have short-term effects, and some will take longer to realize. Shortcuts rarely give the best result: creating a clear sustainability road map takes time, resources, and patience. However, some of the impacts will be immediate, energizing your organization to take the next step, and the step after that, and the step after that.

Our framework is based on two axes, four strategies, 16 approaches, and 64 levers. It might sound complex, but it is surprisingly intuitive and will make it easier for you to map out the road between where you are today and where you want to go in your sustainability journey. The Sustainability Chessboard is a practical framework that can serve as a guide because, while all businesses and journeys are unique, there are some questions and practicalities that all companies need to consider. We see it as a journey in seven steps.

Step 1: assessment

Not all of a company’s sustainability targets come from within. Instead, some are guided by external factors such as compliance or capital market requirements. As a result, few organizations assess their sustainability status in a comprehensive way; often, analyses only serve specific, narrow purposes that miss the big picture.

As part of the assessment, map your organizational enablement (what roles and responsibilities are anchored in your organization, what tools are available, what data can we retrieve today, and what’s missing?) with a profound analysis of your sustainability ambition (what do we want to achieve, how is the alignment to overall strategic targets, and what are we prepared to invest?). The assessment should encompass available documentation, such as policies, manuals, and certifications, as well as interviews with key stakeholders and a deep analysis of the regulatory framework now and in the future. It’s important to establish a common view about the status quo and the actions needed from the analysis before you move on to formulating targets and timelines. This will give you a starting position on the Chessboard and help you to get started on your journey.

Step 2: prioritize your gaps

Sustainability leaders eat the elephant one bite at a time. Before going farther on your transformation, pause after the first step and assess the gaps in your current strategy. For example, if you have a net-zero target, you will need sub-targets that focus on energy reduction, renewable energy, and sustainable transportation—all with different business units carrying out the work (facility management, procurement, and logistics could be relevant in this case) and quickly finding the gaps in their specific areas. Some of these shortcomings will need a closer look, and while this step might delay some of your ambitions in the short term, it will make your transition more efficient in the end, maintaining focus and energy throughout the organization.

Step 3: define your ambition level

To understand where your sustainability journey will take you, you will need to set your ambition level. Surprising to many, this is one of the hardest exercises in your sustainability transformation.

Define your choice by looking at three levels of ambition:

·??????Act like a leader. Define specific sustainability areas that you want to develop further as a pioneer, either on your own or with partners in a specific industry segment.

·??????Be a fast follower. Implement sustainability activities after studying a role model for inspiration and guidance.

·??????Accept the role of slow follower. Acknowledge that you won’t be able to drive sustainability improvements but instead will need to take on general established norms and follow the developments.

All three approaches have consequences for investment levels, returns on those investments, and organizational maturity. The chosen input and commitment also have an impact on the speed and quality of the transformation, so this choice is pivotal to successfully addressing the levers on the chessboard.

Step 4: set realistic targets

Attainable targets is a key element of a successful sustainability transformation. After understanding where you stand, filling the gaps, and planning where you want to be, quantify your ambition in clearly defined targets. Overly ambitious targets might inspire organizations to move forward, but they are difficult to achieve if they compete with other corporate goals that also require organizational attention and resources. We have seen successful transformations where an ambitious vision has been strengthened by adding realistic targets that quickly show progress. Being able to show rapid progress takes good care of the resources, provides energy, and supports alignment with the overall corporate direction.

Step 5: create organizational alignment

Many major change management programs suffer when C-suite decisions are not aligned with middle management’s priorities or realities. Before putting your plans in action and pursuing the targets defined in step 4, we propose spending extra time bringing teams on board by involving them in the analysis, defining priorities, and allocating resources to make a sustainability transformation happen. Involving a more diverse team might slow down the initial ramp-up phase, but it can help avoid hiccups and internal resistance at a later stage. A key element to organizational alignment goes beyond cultivating a sustainability culture and the overall vision to “do good.” Sustainability targets and KPIs need to be linked to performance and bonuses of specific roles to ensure alignment and incentivizing teams to push for more sustainability. While certainly a bold and controversial move in many industries, this will ensure that you are set up for long-term success.

Step 6: start on your plan

A sustainability journey is complex territory, and it’s not easy to map a clear path. We’ve seen companies have a hard time leaving the starting blocks because there were too many options for which way to go. If you overanalyze your options, you run the risk of losing organizational commitment and delaying the process. Rely on your assessment and your chosen priorities, and start the journey by implementing selected targets one by one—even if you don’t have all details defined on your road map. All transformations come with an element of insecurity; it’s up to leadership to judge at the crossroads whether decisions need to be revisited. The effects of the climate crisis and changes in consumer perceptions will have impact and potentially trigger a need to revise as you go. However, if you have followed steps 1–5, you will be in a better position to adapt to external factors as necessary.

Step 7: revisit, recalibrate, reinforce

Continuously revisit your targets and strategies. Sustainability is a dynamic topic; being flexible and incorporating the latest improvements will be essential. A continuous review of your targets can be set up in the same way that you track financial or business-critical activities. Add them to a dashboard, mirroring your company’s commitment and ensuring company-wide transparency about what needs to be done and the status of the sustainability journey.

Outlook: map out the way forward

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed during your transition to becoming a more sustainable company. Regardless of where on the journey you are, there’s so much to do in so many different areas. Social initiatives, energy consumption, waste management, diversity and inclusion, biodiversity—the list goes on and on. Many organizations are struggling to figure out exactly what to do, in what order to do it, and how to do it . What’s often missing is a clear road map and a step-by-step approach to execute in an organized and well-measured fashion. Regardless of your company’s size, sector, maturity, or ambition level, these seven steps on the Sustainability Chessboard can help you create your own action plan.

The Kearney Sustainability Chessboard? is now available at www.kearney.com/sustainability-at-kearney/the-sustainability-chessboard .

Thank you to Angela Hultberg , Markus Vejvar , and Daniel Oelker for their valuable contributions to this article.