Business Sustainability Programs

You may often ask yourself why people make the choices they make.  Given an endless range of possibilities, is sustainability one of the decision criteria which leads to the eventual outcome?

When it comes to daily choices, our personal and professional consulting views each decision point as an opportunity to integrate eco awareness into an eventual outcome.  While the result of every decision does not have to be directly aligned with sustainable values, the inclusion of sustainability concepts in the thought process can greatly improve the evaluation.
 
Integrating sustainability into your daily living is more than just a one-time single yes or no decision.  The pursuit of personal and business sustainability is a mindset change that incorporates expanded eco awareness into all decision making. 

The factors that lead to the choice of one path versus another are usually based upon personal value drivers.  By incorporating sustainability as criteria in decision process and recognizing that the pursuit of personal or business sustainability is not a single decision, this presents an opportunity to make alternative choices.

•    Explore healthier living.
•    Improved quality of life and work life balance.
•    Reconnect with local community.
•    Build your career with eco awareness.
•    Become an educated and conscious consumer.
 
Our sustainability consulting practice works with clients to build sustainability concepts directly into personal daily living.  We work with individuals to release resistance and embrace the benefits of personal and business sustainability.

After all the energy audits and establishing sustainable business strategies have been done, don’t forget to include your Web site. Corporate sustainability managers are looking to use the company Web site to communicate and engage with key stakeholders.  Doesn't it make sense to have the website reflect sustainability values? 
 
Resources to make your website Green, Sustainable, Eco-Friendly:
 
Web Hosting:
There are web hosts that are powered by solar panel, wind, or some type of combination of traditional and natural power. 

• Green web hosting typically involves several of the following elements:
• Servers directly powered by renewable energy.
• Energy use offset using a carbon credit.
• Energy use offset using a Renewable Energy Credit (REC).
• Hosting servers optimized for energy efficiency.

 
Offset Your Carbon Usage:
Companies like CO2Stats will “offset” your dirty energy use by contributing a proportionate amount to a program that will remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere or insert renewable energy into the grid equal to your non-renewable energy usage. The program also claims to drive traffic to your site and help you improve its energy efficiency.
 
Green Energy:
Your computers, servers, and data centers will need to consider green power.

• Energy Star Program
• How to green your electricity: More tips to improve consumer and corporate energy
• EPA’s Green Power Partnership

 
Computer and Server Recycling:
Computers only have a limited shelf life, so what happens to those out of date pieces of hardware? 

• Computer Recycling & Reuse: Various resources
• Ten Tips for Donating a Computer
• How to: Recycle Your Computer

 
Social Media for Stakeholder Engagement:
As viewed in our professional consulting, many websites succeed in presenting basic information about their business sustainability programs by offering access to stand-alone annual sustainability report. However, we encourage clients to leverage social media for stakeholder engagement.   Engaging stakeholders is not only a means of building sustainable business, but it is also a powerful way to master clear communication of the environmental business initiatives your company is pursuing.

As the market shifts its focus in response to a potential recovery and as consumer expectations  for alternative products and business sustainability practices continue to increase, companies are feeling the need to redirect their capital and resources.  In our professional consulting, we find leading businesses shifting the emphasis of their research and development in response to growing global eco awareness.  As a result, business innovation appears to be moving towards a greater emphasis on business sustainability practices.

A recent article, The Top 10 Drivers of Change in 2010 and Beyond,  indicates that the best-positioned companies will push innovation practices to be truly global and facilitate seamless idea flow across their organization and network.  Further, the market prediction is that consumers will become the source of new ideas.

To capitalize on this momentum, a common characteristic will be the ability to recognize public eco awareness and deliver new products that address societal and environmental challenges in a way that meets business sustainability expectations and delivers long term value.

As we engage with companies and business leaders seeking to inspire and motivate sustainable action within their organization, we encourage them to look to their key stakeholders as a source of valuable market information. Our professional consulting works with clients to step outside of the confines of the business to leverage employee, supplier, and end consumer thinking.  We encourage innovative businesses to:
 
•    Promote open communication and embrace creative thinking in the organization.
•    Be curious about what the outside world is thinking and how they responding.
•    Instill imaginative thinking, focusing on the future equally with the present.

The best ideas do not always come from the top or even from within.  By enabling creative ideas and inspired actions inside and outside of the company, businesses can create an innovative environment that promotes long-term business sustainability.

Most leaders of successful organizations recognize that change can be unsettling, yet our experience in sustainability consulting still finds many of the leading businesses approaching change from the same traditional structured implementation processes.  However, facilitating business sustainability discussion can opens the door to a inclusion and a smoother transition..

One of the most common “miss-steps” taken by many business leaders is the roll of the salesman.  In this case, executives attempt to sell a predefined change to the organization as a way to attain agreement and accelerate implementation. Selling change to employees or other business stakeholders is often not the best strategy for success. 

An alternative approach is to align business sustainability with the needs of the employee.

•    Encourage employee discussion around business sustainability direction.
•    Focus on facilitating sustainability learning for employee development.
•    Stage implementation at a rate that is manageable for your workforce.
•    Encourage feedback from stakeholders  regarding change management processes.
•    Take ownership in the outcome of each step and make improvements going forward.

Successful implementations recognize that communication and learning are success factors in the pursuit of business sustainability.  By allowing for flexibility and promoting innovation across the organization, you are positioning the business to capture the interests of its stakeholders and ensure active and engaged participation.  This creates personal buy-in and ongoing support.

Our sustainability consulting firm works with business leaders and organizations to build business sustainability concepts into core practices and employee daily activities.  We work with individuals and groups to recognize the importance of change management as a key process in the pursuit of personal and business sustainability. 

We've all heard about "going green" and the corporate sustainability plans that many larger organizations are undertaking.  However, one of the biggest misconceptions around this topic is that sustainable business strategies are exclusive to larger organizations.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  
 
In fact, within our professional consulting with smaller businesses, we guide clients to use the best practices of larger organizations to sustainable business strategies they can use in their business that deliver bottom line and environmental results.

As an example, HP is known as a consumer and vendor of paper.   Internally, HP executed six guiding principles including efficient use of raw materials, sustainable forestry practices, responsible and low-carbon production, and waste minimization.   The results?  HP diverted   91.3 percent of its waste in 2008 and the company’s non-hazardous waste reduction program helped the company avoid sending 83,866 tons of waste to landfill, which was primarily paper waste.   Technology Business Research  says this strategy saved the company nearly $7.7 million from reusing items and avoiding landfill costs, and generated $2 million in revenue by selling material to recyclers.
 
How can a small business implement similar sustainability concepts in the business and generate similar results of cost savings, environmental impact reduction, and increased efficiency?
 
One approach taken in our business sustainability programs is to identify all the activities in a business that utilizes paper.  The obvious comes to mind like printers, copiers, mail, and collateral.  Areas to explore include:
 
•    How much paper do you use for events, trade shows, invoicing, literature, packaging, shipping materials?
•    What about the kitchen areas and bathrooms?  Remember, it's not just paper but paper products. 
•    Consult with people in other departments and get a clear picture of the paper they are using, where it is coming from, when they are using it, and how they are using it.
•    You might want to talk to your purchasing department and learn more about how much you are spending on your paper products.
 
As a next step, take eco action and employ the sustainability concept of the 3 R's: reduce, reuse, recycle. 
•    Reduce your paper consumption by working with your purchasing department to reduce the amount of paper purchased and switch to buying  recycled paper (100% post consumable is best). 
•    Reuse paper by placing bins next to the copiers and printers for easy reuse of single sided scraped paper. 
•    Recycle paper that has been used.
 
Simultaneous with these efforts, we suggest the use of online document management systems for your documents.  Content management systems give you more than the environmental benefits of going paperless.  They offer the ability to manage different types of data: emails, contracts, logos, reports, forms, drawings, web pages, and blogs which contributes to improved efficiency, further cost reductions, and environmental gains.
 
Sustainable business strategies used by larger organizations are examples of best practices that can be utilized in small business to generate cost savings, reduced environmental impacts, and brand differentiation by going green.  

A recent Gallup poll shows that 94% of Americans are aware of Climate Change issues, and of that segment 75% feel that action needs to be taken.  So what percentage of Americans is transferring this awareness into action?  What impact would it have if 75% of the US population took personal action to address these climate issues?

The gap between awareness and action may represent the single largest opportunity for global sustainability progress.  While historical efforts have focused on expanding awareness, the recent explosion of information and global interest indicates that the “word is out” on most major issues.   The next step is closing the growing gap between knowledge and personal action.

One of our sustainability consulting missions for 2010 and beyond is to promote the action step  in personal sustainable lifestyle and business sustainability change.  Integrating sustainability concepts into everyday activities at home and at work doesn’t have to be a costly or laboring process.

As we discuss with clients and friends, personal and business sustainability is a continuous improvement process that challenges each of us to constantly transform our personal eco awareness into manageable and value adding action. Putting a plan into action creates alignment and further expresses or extends one’s personal commitment. 

Take for example a few basic actions to address personal impacts on climate change.  These concepts are not beyond our current awareness and simply need to be put into action.  In fact, these actions will not only make a positive impact but will actually save money.
 
•    Evaluate energy sources: at home, at work, and in transportation.

•    Evaluate electrical energy efficiency at home and at work.

•    Evaluate the impacts of everyday purchasing decisions .

An important aspect of creating a personal or business sustainability plan is finding the right incentives to keeping a program going.  As a sustainability consultant, I encourage everyone to look for the economic benefits as well as the personal satisfaction of a sustainable lifestyle.  Our goal is to help business and individuals take continuous inspired action on their growing eco awareness.

Engaging conversation around sustainable business strategies is always exciting and this morning was no different.   Why?  Because as a sustainability consultant in the heart of Texas, I was welcomed with open arms to speak at the Houston Business Connection.  The Houston Business Connection is an allegiance of business professionals in Houston’s prestigious Spring Branch/Memorial area in which its members are committed to fostering growth in the Houston business community by providing local entrepreneurs a central source for their core business and personal needs.  Generally, Texans are known for embracing independence and not necessarily sustainability concepts; however, this network of professionals demonstrated that eco awareness is alive and kicking in Texas.
 
We started out clarifying misconceptions around business sustainability.  Our working definition for the day: business sustainability is not only about the environment.  It's about profitable businesses including the social and environmental impacts of their decisions in a way that strengthens the organization, the community, and the environment. 

What were the hot topics? 

• Sustainability as a profit center
• Sustainable business strategies for the year ahead
• Energy efficiency to increase profits
• Double whammies!  Eco actions that boost productivity and also reduce carbon emissions. 

While there may be some in Texas still arguing that sustainability is a passing trend, profitable businesses are not.  Sustainable business strategies are designed to bring eco awareness and sustainability concepts to employees, customers, and suppliers which bring value to the organization and also broaden and expand sustainability concepts into the communities and lives of the individuals.  Many thanks to the Houston Business Connection for inspiring eco awareness in their organization and the community. 

Have you ever noticed how the expression of a corporate mission differs from the high level vision to how it's expressed within an organization?  It appears there is often a disconnect between a corporate sustainability plan and how that vision filters down to the day-to-day workings of the company’s employees.   The heart of this may lie in the misconceptions of executive management about true employee engagement. 

In a recent report by Companies at a Crossroads, findings show there is a huge disconnect between executive beliefs and employee reality.  While 38% of chief executives felt levels of trust in their companies were high and that their staff was engaged, only 16% of managers had similar perception from the front line.

It is concerning that both perceptions were well below 50%, but even more surprising is that there is such a disconnect between executive belief and employee experience.  What chance do companies have to implement business sustainability programs with such a wide gap in leadership?  What can businesses do to bridge the gap?
 
 A few ideas we have seen in our sustainability consulting include:

•    Green teams: informal groups of people in a company organized around environmental issues and tasked with ways to promote business action in alignment with the corporate sustainability plan.

•    Individual employee sustainability programs: personal employee commitments with the basic premise of translating corporate strategy into personal business sustainability action.

•    Cross-Organizational Education: sponsor ongoing workshops, training, lunch and learns, and educational activities to educate both employees and management on the corporate programs and the individual efforts underway within the company.
 
Evidence has shown that stakeholder engagement, particularly employee engagement, is critical to a company’s ability to capitalize on internal eco awareness, innovation, and overall business sustainability.  Start building the bridge today between your corporate sustainability vision and employee action.

The ability to capitalize on opportunity or mitigate business risk often depends on the availability and access to quality information.  Being able to sift through what is important and what is not can be a determining factor in transforming a good decision into business turning point.  Today’s market intelligence has expanded to include business sustainability expectations, trends and requirements.  Are you listening?

With the speed of business sustainability information rapidly increasing and global eco awareness constantly expanding, it has become increasingly important for companies to leverage available technology to capture and access information.  The questions we often pose in our sustainability consulting: where is this information coming from and is the feedback specific enough for your business to take action.

The internet and social media provide  individuals, communities, businesses, and non-government organizations the ability to connect with business in meaningful discussion from anywhere in the world in real time.  To focus the corporate ear, business sustainability minded organizations are engaging with stakeholders, who have a vested interest in the success of the business, as source of actionable information.  These interested parties include:
 
•    Shareholders – knowledge that may affect company share price.
•    Partners – data that may impact investment dollars.
•    Employees – daily feedback on internal operations.
•    Customers – direct feedback on product quality and shifting market expectations
•    Suppliers/Contractors – input on new material sources and process improvements.
•    Local Communities – continuous feedback on business impact on society
•    Natural Environment – feedback from NGOs on business impact to physical surroundings.
•    Non-human species – feedback from NGOs on business impact on life.

Done effectively, stakeholder engagement can positively impact the outcome of business sustainability decision making.  Our professional consulting encourages business to leverage technology to engage vested parties in the discussion to propel the organization to greater success.

According to a study conducted by the American Marketing Association and Fleishman-Hillard, Inc., nearly one in six corporate marketers and communicators think their organizations will increase involvement in environmental sustainability initiatives over the next two to three years, and half believe the economy will actually encourage the adoption of sustainable practices.  Why? Because our business sustainability consulting practice understands that sustainable business strategies are key to creating winning workplaces. 
 
Aside from the positive impact sustainable business practices deliver to the bottom line, today’s employees are looking for more than just the ‘green’ in their paycheck.  “Engaged employees are not just committed. They are not just passionate or proud. They have a line-of-sight on their own future and on the organization’s mission and goals. They are enthused and in gear using their talents and discretionary effort to make a difference in their employer’s quest for sustainable business success”.  - Employee Engagement Report 2008.  

Global economic uncertainty has reduced employee counts in companies around the world, leaving organizations in many cases resource limited.  However, recent signs of recovery have companies reevaluating their talent strength for a more positive future.  Our sustainability consulting finds the ‘recovery’ generation of highly effective organizations is creating a business sustainability culture to motivate and retain top eco-talent. 

‘Eco’ or ‘green’ talent management is becoming increasingly necessary for many industries and is gradually becoming a general business sustainability best practice.  As consumers seek out companies that can deliver new and innovative products, top talent is necessary to meet changing expectations.  Our sustainability consulting works with businesses to view eco talent as a driver of innovation and a true business differentiator.

Through continuous communication and employee engagement, companies are creating an internal resource driver for the company’s business sustainability plan.  Building and motivating the organization becomes critical to recruiting and retaining top eco talent.


•    What is the ‘green’ generation seeking from employers?

•    How do we train talent professionals to identify and attract top ‘eco’ talent?

•    How do we tap into the growing enthusiasm for sustainability in business?

•    How do we challenge the organization to engage in business sustainability programs?

•    What new managerial skills do the next generation of managers need to get the most from their employees?

•    How do we conduct effective retention and succession planning to ensure a diverse sustainable leadership pipeline for the future?

Employee development is critical to raising eco awareness of the organization and enabling these business stakeholders to identify and implement sustainability concepts that add value.  By tapping into what is inspiring to each member of your team and acknowledging  their contributions, your company can surpass the organization of the past.

The exploration of sustainability concepts, particularly in business, has traditionally been a reaction to an undesirable outcome rather than a pursuit of value.   Few organizations truly advance the sustainability conversation to unlock future business opportunities.  However, positive signs in the market may offer a new sustainability perspective.

As the business world begins to emerge from economic uncertainty, our sustainability consulting finds many organizations eager to explore a more positive future.  In general, we find companies have a more optimistic outlook and are interested in capitalizing on the lessons learned over the past few years.  To our delight, this has shifted the sustainability conversation from a corporate side note to a strategic value discussion.

The value of business sustainability has traditionally been demonstrated when sustainability concepts are directly applied to specific areas of concern in current business processes and practices.  The ability to transcend lagging business sustainability measures to a pursued future value can often differentiate an innovative organization from the rest of the pack.

While the pursuit of business sustainability value is often specific to an organization’s unique business goals, there are areas of common interest among most businesses.  It is this engagement of future business value that our sustainability consulting focuses much of its attention and resources to: 
 
•    Define new markets, products and service offerings to expand business.

•    Create company and brand differentiation to drive current and future sales.

•    Improve stakeholder engagement to align business sustainability goals and drive profitability.

The sustainable businesses emerging from the economic uncertainty are companies that will anticipate and take proactive steps to address change in the business world.  Our sustainability consulting encourages clients to create a competitive advantage by building sustainability concepts and continuous improvement directly into the organizations core business processes. 

Most companies may recognize the high-level consequences of their decisions; however, not all take the time to evaluate the positive and negative impacts of their choices on the communities in which they conduct their day-to-day business.  The link between business sustainability and a thriving business community is more visible today than at any time in recent past.  What role does your company play in the business community?

As a sustainability consulting firm working in our own community of ecopreneurs, small ‘green’ businesses, and action-oriented corporations, we are constantly reminded of the community benefits to both our professional consulting and the stakeholders who engage with our business.  We recognize that a company and the business community in which it operates are closely and strategically linked.

Taiga Company seeks to be a source of business sustainability information and a positive example of community values.  Our professional consulting focuses on and seeks to partner with individuals and organizations who:

•    Recognize a thriving community as being essential to business sustainability.

•    Incorporate supporting business sustainability strategies and a governance structures into their core business processes.

•    Align business actions to support and engage community goals and objectives.

•    Engage the business community as a key stakeholder in corporate planning.

•    Defined internal performance metrics to evaluate ongoing business actions on the community.

As part of our sustainability plan and company core values, we are committed to the empowerment of others.  We believe that we must operate in a matrix of value adding relationships: with employees, with the supporting organizations, and with peer companies. 

In speaking with prominent business leaders, we have come to realize there are a wide variety of opinions on the topic of sustainability.  Some view business sustainability as re-purposed business jargon, while others stress sustainable development to be the most pressing issue facing their organization. 

The willingness to ask and address some basic questions often differentiates business views and set varying business sustainability efforts apart.  Leading companies are adopting more comprehensive definitions of “sustainability” and implementing business sustainability strategies that run consistently through their core functions.  These organizations are chasing business sustainability value:

•    Corporate commitment to sustainability to minimize business risk.

•    Corporate commitment to sustainability to protect and differentiate business reputation.

•    Corporate commitment to sustainability to increase sales and ensure market position.

•    Corporate commitment to sustainability to ensure viable operations.

•    Corporate commitment to sustainability to ensure sustainable supply.

At a minimum, companies are now leveraging sustainability concepts to address their business exposure. The ability to manage and mitigate business risk often depends on the availability and access exposure.  Being able to sift through what is important and what is not can be a determining factor in transforming a good decision into business turning point.

These sustainable business strategies enable executives to focus on more than just cost and risk management.  They provide visibility to leaders that their response to environmental and social pressures for sustainable business practices can ultimately affect company profitability.  When you think of it, the title is really not that important.  It's whether or not business sustainability is occurring is what is important.

The economically driven actions over the past two years may have temporarily shifted the direction of business; however, the prospect of financial recovery is creating a new platform  for business sustainability.  The corporate actions of the first quarter strongly indicate business sustainability is a 2010 focus.  So the question becomes: Have you missed the boat?

An evolving landscape of business is placing business sustainability as pinnacle in executive boardroom conversations for future success.  By shifting the traditional view of business sustainability as a cost to a true value opportunity, companies are jumping on board to capture untapped benefits. 

Outlined in a recent Harvard Business Review report, “The key to progress, particularly in times of economic crisis, is innovation.  By treating sustainability as a goal today, early movers will develop competencies that rivals will be hard-pressed to match.”  The companies that are a step-ahead are transforming this knowledge into action.

With many still on the fence, there is still early-mover advantage in taking proactive steps to create a business case for sustainability in your organization.  Our sustainability consulting experience has shown there to be an exponentially increasing number of benefits to sustainability.  So, come on-board today!  This party is just getting started!

Choosing a business name is one of the most important aspects in starting a business. The name you choose represents the image and label of the business and carries a powerful energy.  In as much as biomimicry is used to inspire sustainable solutions by emulating nature, in a similar fashion, Taiga Company too found its essence inspired from the environment.
 
Taiga, pronounced, tahy-guh is a biome that stretches across a large portion of Canada, Europe, and Asia.  The taiga is truly vast in extent. It makes up 27 percent of the world's total forest and occupies 11 percent of the land area of the Northern Hemisphere.  The taiga's immense oxygen production literally changes the atmosphere and refreshes the plant. 
 
It is this inspiration that Taiga Company was founded and named.  The continuous renewal that the taiga offers our planet has shaped our company vision to drive similar change in the business world.   Collectively, we are entering an age of broadening eco awareness and changing societal expectations: our personal and professional views of the world and of business are changing.  As sustainability consultants partnering with small business to integrate eco awareness, sustainability concepts, and sustainability plans, we seek to transform traditional business processes, to explore, discover, and embrace new sustainable ideas, technologies, and best practices.
 
Business sustainability isn't about sacrificing profitability or becoming an environmental business.  Sustainable business strategies span a multitude of topics: stewardship of resources; best practices; reputation, brand management and customer service; leveraging technology and enable a business to meet goals of growth and revenue generation while simultaneously contributing innovative thought leadership to some of the world’s most complex and pressing concerns.
 
Taiga Company was founded to address the growing need for individuals and organizations to incorporate sustainability concepts into their everyday world.  Through demonstrated eco action and an inquisitive, sustainable mindset, the sustainability consultants of Taiga Company seek to be the "oxygen for your business."

It is estimated that the average person makes between five hundred and a thousand decisions each day.  Multiply that out by weeks and years and we are talking about hundreds of thousands of choices.  Some choices are small, like whether to keep reading this post (please do!), yet other decisions can have significant influence on your life and business.

Our eco living consulting work focuses on the daily choices we, as individuals, make that can have significant impact on our social surrounding, the environment in which we live, and on our personal life experience.  Some may be major sustainable lifestyle decisions while others may be as simple as:

•    Do you want paper or plastic?
•    Do you want organic or conventional?
•    Do you want a paper or an electronic copy?
•    Do you want to share a ride or take your own car?

We view each decision point as an opportunity to integrate eco awareness into some of these decision outcomes.  While the result of every choice we make does not have to be directly aligned with sustainable values, the inclusion of sustainability concepts in the thought process can greatly improve the evaluation.

The factors that lead to the choice of one path versus another are usually based upon personal value drivers at a given point in time.  By incorporating sustainability as criteria in decision process and recognizing that the pursuit of personal or business sustainability is not a single decision, presents an opportunity to make alternative choices.

Integrating sustainability into business or your daily living is more than just a one-time single yes or no decision.  The pursuit of personal and business sustainability is a mindset change that incorporates expanded eco awareness into all decision making.  Make sustainability a part of your daily thought processes and see how it can add value to your life.

If you knew you were paying too much for something and could get the same thing right down the street for the same price, what would you do?  The answer is that most people, when given access to information, will make the best personal choice.  Now if told to buy it down the street, or else, would the same motivation be present?

Too often discussions around sustainability focus on pressing issues, risks, and negative outcomes as the primary drivers for change.  According to Peter Senge, Senior Lecturer in Behavioral and Policy Sciences at the MIT Sloan School of Management, fear-driven behavior change only motivates for as long as people feel the issues are pressing on them. As soon as the fear recedes, so does the motivation.

So rather than focus on consequence from a predetermined choice, why not focus on expanding eco awareness  through accessibility to information.  Our professional consulting resources finds this practice currently working with individuals and business seeking sustainable change.

In just one example, utility companies across the United States are beginning to install smart meters which will provide greater visibility into home and office energy consumption.  These devices provide our energy conscious clients with real-time information on electricity usage and cost. 

Armed with insight, consumers are able to make eco living and business sustainability choices to consume less.  Applied broadly, visibility to the right information can provide businesses and individuals the opportunity to make more informed, personally-driven, and sustainable choices. 

Experience has shown that it is sometimes easier to focus on the negative outcome of not pursuing sustainability.  By directing attention to the other side of the equation, the pursuit of business sustainability or a sustainable lifestyle is in direct alignment with positive gain.  Our sustainability consulting encourages others to focus thoughts and actions on the value of sustainability and watch how effectively it impacts our world.

Evidence has shown that stakeholder engagement is critical to a company’s ability to capitalize on its eco awareness, product stewardship, reputation, and overall business sustainability.  But how are stakeholder informed of business sustainability milestones? 
 
The rise of social media has led companies to form new relationships with their stakeholders, including investors and customers, but also employees, suppliers, NGOs and others. Stakeholders are increasingly looking for authentic, transparent, two-way communication with organizations. 
 
Two questions surface:  "How does a business authentically and effectively communicate their sustainable business strategies to stakeholders?"  And "What corporate sustainability efforts should be shared?
 
Echoed throughout our professional consulting is a communication framework for companies to better communicate  their environmental message which includes:

•    Impact: Make sure it’s real
•    Alignment: Build Support Internally and Externally
•    Communication: Communicate it accurately
 
As far as which milestones to communicate?  There are the most obvious which include meeting and exceeding sustainability targets and recognizing/ rewarding the creation of specific value from sustainability efforts. What is most appealing?  Telling your story of how your business embraced sustainability concepts in your business and the results that you achieved.  Sustainability principals are universal, but how your business applies them to your circumstances and goals yields a different result and inquiring stakeholders are listening.     

Work over the past few years reveals that supply chain improvements are driven by a wide variety of business sustainability goals and objectives.  Although, businesses across all industries have one thing in common, the search for greater supply chain value.  However, the question that looms on our minds as sustainability concepts find their place in the supply chain: Are suppliers engaged in the value discussion or is this a one-way conversation?

Wal-Mart made the business sustainability headlines again this week with an announced goal to reduce their supply chain greenhouse gas emissions by a 20-million-tons by 2015.  The retail giant continues to set the mark for corporate commitment and supplier performance from which we can all leverage.  As a sustainability consultant, I am encouraged by Wal-Mart’s step forward and take note of opportunities for further expansion.

Procurement organizations view environmental and social responsibility actions within the supply chain as both a risk mitigating strategy and a business opportunity.   Companies are creating strategic sourcing and procurement guidelines aligned with their business sustainability strategies.  The next step, even beyond the Wal-Mart model, is expanding a one-way conversation to include active engagement with all key stakeholders.

•    Supply Chain Alignment: All business partners have input into the business sustainability direction and have equal value opportunity.

•    Supplier Integration: Integrated processes with supplier to improve communication, increase efficiency, and ensure common sustainable processes.

•    Customer Expectation Translation: Sustainable product expectations clearly communicated down the supply chain to material and service providers.

Creating supply chain management alignment begins with increased eco awareness, applied sustainability concepts, and corporate commitment.  However, increased value can be realized by active engagement and two-way communication with key business stakeholders.  Our sustainability consulting provides information and business resources to clients of all sizes seeking to make incremental steps towards a sustainable supply chain.