What do you do if your organization's strategic decision making is hindering its sustainability strategy?

Analyze the disconnect! First, assess how current decisions impact your sustainability strategy. Are short-term gains overshadowing long-term environmental benefits? Identify specific areas where strategic choices hinder your sustainability goals.

Craft a compelling business case for embracing sustainability to secure management support. This entails conducting a comprehensive analysis of sustainability within the industry, evaluating competitors' approaches, and assessing our own market positioning. By doing so, the organisation can pinpoint the optimal balance where sustainability drives business success. Furthermore, aim to seamlessly integrate sustainability into every facet of the organisation, aligning it with our goals, setting measurable targets, and even tying it to employee remuneration. This holistic approach ensures that sustainability becomes ingrained in the culture, enhancing our brand reputation, operational efficiency, and long-term viability.

In my experience, to incorporate strategic thinking in your sustainability project, one can employ the following strategies: 1. Engage the stakeholders at the ideation, development, and deployment stages of the project. 2. Have well-defined metrics in place to assess the international social impact of the project. The metrics should be both quantitative and qualitative. 3. Have monitoring evaluation and learning framework to learn from the stakeholder engagement and evolve and learn. 4. Have a third-party expert intervention to understand the nuance of strategic thinking integration

According my experience, is important to reach sustainable goals as financial and operations goals. This must be in harmony for a real impact so the company could define SMART objectives basing them on ESG goals including benefits and measurable targets to accomplish in all areas of the company. The sustainability have to integrate the DNA of the company measuring the impact in every strategie and decision each area takes.

Organizations must shift focus from short-term sustainability goals to a more forward-thinking approach, considering strategic impacts and industry trends over the next 5-20 years. By adopting this proactive mindset, businesses can gain a competitive edge in sustainability.

If your organization's strategic decisions are hindering its sustainability strategy, begin by conducting a thorough impact assessment. Evaluate how current decisions affect long-term sustainability goals and identify specific areas of conflict. Analyze both short-term gains and potential long-term costs to the organization's environmental, social, and economic health. This assessment will provide critical data to present to decision-makers, illustrating the need for aligning strategic decisions more closely with sustainability objectives to ensure the organization's future resilience and success

Sustainability professionals can leverage quantitative and qualitative methods to capture data assessing the diverse dimensions of impact. These methods may involve using a mix of ESG metrics, such as carbon footprint or employee turnover, alongside qualitative assessments, including stakeholder interviews and case studies, to provide a comprehensive view. Collaboration and standardisation within industries are essential to address the challenges of impact measurement. Engaging with industry peers, stakeholders, and regulatory bodies to develop standardised impact measurement frameworks and reporting standards can help improve the consistency and comparability of impact data.

Navigating Strategy and Sustainability: The Importance of Impact Assessment To bridge the gap between strategic decisions and sustainability goals, embark on a comprehensive impact assessment. Scrutinize existing strategies to pinpoint where they deviate from sustainability aims. By documenting these discrepancies, you gain insight into the scope of the problem, laying the groundwork for corrective action. Addressing both symptoms and root causes is vital for fostering alignment between strategy and sustainability.

This isn't where I'd start. I would start by understanding how sustainability is factored into your organisational strategy. If sustainability is seen as separate to your core strategy then strategic decision making is unlikely to help your sustainability efforts. Whereas if sustainability is integrated into your core organisational strategy then decisions made in line with this strategy should help deliver sustainability goals. In too many organisations there's a disconnect between sustainability and the core business strategy. Therefore strategic decisions do not automatically enable any sustainability objectives. Understanding the level of integration of sustainability into the core strategy is therefore where I'd always start.

Foster consensus by continuously engaging with your stakeholders! Clearly communicate the disconnect between decisions and sustainability. Present data that showcases the environmental and financial advantages of sustainable practices. Engage all stakeholders, from leadership to employees. By fostering understanding and buy-in, you can create a more sustainable future together.

Sustainability is a confusing term. Very few people have had any training to clarify what it means for them and their business. It is also broad and can mean different things (and have different levels of importance) to different employees from a personal and business perspective – this can vary across business units, seniority and location. Especially in global companies. You need to understand and meet employees where they are in their journey to engage them effectively. This ensure that the way that you talk about the sustainability strategy and their role within it resonates in their context and is pitched at their level of sustainability understanding.

At the front and centre of engaging stakeholders and revisiting strategy, sits the well-proven method of materiality assessment. If stakeholder engagement is centered around gathering their pulse on what they believe is in the interest of the organization's sustainability strategy, eventually resulting in the selection of the 'top bracket' material topics - you've cleared the path of resistances. Of course, this is based on presumptions that 1. Your sustainability strategy will now be built on the material topics identified by your stakeholders. 2. While identifying sustainability initiatives, they will be aligned with the material topics. Since these material topics came from the stakeholder consultations, their support is a given.

Change is driven by people, not companies. Engaging employees and making sure they understand what sustainability is, how it applies to their roles and how it can help achieve the company's overarching goals is key.

Stakeholder engagement is crucial. Especially if strategic decisions about the sustainability programm are needed. Know which stakeholder group is most important for your decision and understand their values and needs. After that you can tailor your engagement strategy and your key message to your stakeholders in order to convince them of the importance of the sustainability strategy & execution

You need to constantly highlight how sustainability aligns with the business growth goals and how other players in the industry have capitalised on sustainability to meet their business goals.

Align strategy for a greener future, revisit your strategies on frequent intervals. Revisit your sustainability strategy in light of the identified gaps. Refine goals to ensure they're ambitious yet achievable within the organization's long-term vision. Develop clear action plans that bridge the gap between strategy and everyday decision-making. This ensures sustainability becomes an integrated part of everyday operations.

In instances where strategic decision-making conflicts with sustainability objectives, it is my contention that a holistic integration of sustainability into the company's core strategic model is the optimal solution. This approach entails redefining success to encompass ecological and social metrics, in addition to economic ones. The adaptation of long-term goals and the reallocation of resources to support sustainability represents a transformation of challenges into opportunities for innovation and leadership in responsible business practices. In conclusion, this strategic realignment is of paramount importance for the long-term viability and relevance of the organisation.

Ask yourselves what your industry will look like in 10-20 years time. And what your business will need to look like if it is going to thrive in that future scenario. This will include looking at your workforce, supply chain, forecast regulations, technological developments. This perspective can help you identify how your business needs to change now in order to thrive in the long term - i.e. to be sustainable. This should then influence your overarching business strategy.

Unleash ingenuity! Explore innovative solutions to reconcile strategy with sustainability. Can short-term goals be tweaked to align with long-term environmental benefits? Consider green financing or resource efficiency measures that enhance profitability and sustainability simultaneously. By embracing creative problem-solving, you can find win-win solutions that propel your organization towards a sustainable future.

When you identify a current area of your business that is unlikely to be sustainable in the long run, explore alternatives. Often this will seem an impossible challenge and it will be difficult to imagine an alternative to the way you do things today. Encouraging everyone to be open minded, curious, and willing to explore things that might seem impossible is important. In many industries, we need to completely reimagine the way we do things.

When strategic decision-making hinders sustainability, innovate solutions by integrating sustainable practices into the core business strategy. Propose pilot projects that demonstrate the viability and benefits of sustainable options, like adopting renewable energy sources or waste reduction technologies. Use success stories and data from these pilots to advocate for broader implementation. Encourage cross-departmental collaboration to develop new ideas that align with both business and sustainability goals, ensuring innovative solutions are scalable and can positively impact the organization's overall strategy

The changes needed to address hindrances in the sustainability strategy should be carefully planned and executed. A thorough analysis of the current decision-making processes must be conducted. Recommendations for improvement should be presented to key stakeholders. Implementation of changes should involve clear communication, training sessions, and support mechanisms to ensure a smooth transition.

For EU-companies, the CSRD will be requiring continuous reporting. For non-EU companies who wish to collaborate with any EU-companies, you will likely get asked for your sustainability report as well. Setting up monitoring on ESG-metrics now will make you better suited for the near-future and it can even help you make/save money! Your management team should be able to see the logic in this. If not, start tracking a few ESG-metrics anyway and show management the results when they ask. (And they will ask!)

If strategic decision-making is hindering the sustainability goals, integrate them into the overall decision-making goals. Assess the impacts and create viewpoints that integrate all departments with the sustainability goals. This will allow for progress while integrating the overall strategic goals of the organization with the sustainability goals and also enable the organization to establish itself as a flagbearer of sustainability.

If your organization's strategic decision making is hindering its sustainability strategy, it is crucial to take proactive steps to address this issue. Firstly, assess the reasons behind this misalignment and identify key stakeholders involved. Communicate the importance of sustainability and its long-term benefits to decision-makers, highlighting potential risks and opportunities. Present data-driven evidence to support the integration of sustainability into strategic decision making. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to develop innovative solutions that align with both strategic and sustainability goals. Seek external expertise if necessary. Lastly, continuously monitor and evaluate progress, making adjustments as needed.

If there is resistance to making decisions about the sustainability strategy, it's important to show evidence and data to support your position. This can help convince others by providing concrete reasons for your suggestions. Also, offer alternative approaches that align with both the organization's goals and sustainability objectives. This shows that there are viable options that can benefit both aspects.

Sustainability activities are often to be found in small pockets of employees around the business where materiality is significant. Rather than being a company wide strategic push in which every employee has a role - which is what it needs to be to be successful. But there is something everyone can do to contribute to a company’s sustainability goals whether it is asking an extra question of a supplier that is ESG related, biking to work, getting plant based food in the canteen….the list goes on…. So as Unilever’s Keith Weed said “Don’t create a little [sustainability] department in the corner. Mainstream into all countries, all brands, all divisions.” Give every employee a sustainability outcome to own so they can be part of the journey.

When an organization's strategic decision-making hinders its sustainability strategy, you can also leverage data and analytics to better understand the impact of decisions and discuss witj stakeholders on adopting a more long-term perspective in strategy formulation to balance immediate gains with sustainable growth.

As long as Sustainability is not driving business we will have a misalignment and the cost saving and risk mitigation arguments won't be enough! Think Sustainability-driven service offerings which can open up new revenue streams through subscriptions, premium service tiers, or by leveraging government incentives for sustainable business practices. Additionally, consider strategic partnerships with other organizations to amplify the reach and impact of your new services.

Suppose your company's reliance on non-renewable energy sources is hindering its sustainability goals. As an innovative solution, initiate a pilot project to integrate solar panels at one of the company's facilities. Monitor performance metrics such as energy savings and carbon footprint reduction. Use the positive outcomes, such as cost savings from reduced energy bills and enhanced corporate reputation, to advocate for a company-wide adoption of renewable energy. This practical example not only supports sustainability but also showcases potential long-term financial benefits to decision-makers.

It is good to have in mind that management strategic decisions are primarily influenced by fiduciary duties to shareholders. When sustainability objectives appear misaligned with these decisions, the creation of well-considered transition plan is essential. Such plan can ensure that sustainability initiatives are aligned with broader business goals, acknowledging also that strategic adjustments and trade-offs may be necessary. These adjustments are essential for crafting resilient and holistic approach in the long-term development of a fully integrated corporate sustainability strategy.