Let Your Stakeholders Be Your Sustainability Guide

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.