Every manager looks at the books of accounts for his organization and thinks of new ways that the enterprise can move to the next level. To achieve the goal you have for your organization, whether it is in product development or expanding to new markets, you need a working strategy. On top of that, you also need to adopt corporate sustainability reporting. Although not mandatory, it is very important because it tells your stakeholders about your efforts to make the world a better place.
One question that might arise when thinking of sustainability reporting is, “How do I integrate it with the organization strategy?” This post takes a closer look at ESG sustainability reporting to demonstrate four main ways that you can use to integrate it with your organization’s strategies.
Review Your Organization to See the Areas of Weakness and Opportunities
If you look at the process of sustainability reporting, the first step is a review of the organization with the aim of establishing the challenges and opportunities. Because most of the management strategies also start with reviews, you can use the data gathered when doing sustainability reporting to inform other processes without duplicating roles. Some of the areas that should be given focus during the review and progressive analysis include:
- Efficiency of the production equipment.
- Level of engagement of your staff.
- Customer satisfaction.
- Compliance with policies and legal requirements.
Synchronize Sustainability Reporting with the Business Cycle
When planning for business operations, most managers and leaders follow a 12-month or 6-month cycle for easier monitoring. However, it can be a great idea to combine the selected model with regular assessments, perhaps every three months, as a way of determining whether the operation strategy is on course. Your ESG sustainability reporting effort will work very well if it is aligned with the business cycle.
If you establish that the targeted goals are not being realized, think of a way of making some adjustments. For example, if the new machinery is not hitting the anticipated efficiency, a good idea might be to consider training staff on using it.
Aligning sustainability reporting with the organization cycle makes it an important item for discussion when others are being considered. This will come in handy in ensuring that enough resources are allocated for sustainability activities.
Build on the Current Efforts on Sustainability
Have you started working on activities that promote sustainability? Perhaps these efforts are based on legal requirements or as a way of giving back to the community. Well, you can build ESG sustainability reporting efforts on them to race ahead of others. Good examples are companies that work with local communities through corporate social responsibility.
The good thing about building on the current efforts is that you might have already invested in them. When preparing your report, do not hesitate to capture the journey that you started way back before competitors joined the queue. This might be all that your clients and investors might be looking for.
Use Sustainability Management Software
One of the challenges that many organizations face about sustainability reporting is that it requires a lot of work, especially gathering and analyzing data. Indeed, it can get more challenging when dealing with multiple sets of data, such as staff training, emission standards and production numbers. Instead of trying to do all the work manually, you should select good sustainability management software that can easily integrate with the management system of your organization. This means that gathering, analyzing data, and creating reports will be easy and accurate.
In this post, we have demonstrated that sustainability reporting can be made part of your organization’s operations to make the execution easier. Start by identifying a good framework, such as the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board’s model or the Global Reporting Initiative’s model, and then work with a reliable program. Remember that every report should be used as a stepping stone for the next reporting activities.
