Real life sustainability advice, from our business to yours

“Companies are not what they say they will do – they are what they repeatedly do,” writes Paolo Taticchi, Professor in Strategy and Sustainability at UCL School of Management. But how do you decide what to do in the first place?

For Paolo’s book, How to Be Sustainable – Business strategies for leading change, he interviewed a number of the world’s leading business voices on sustainability – including our very own EMEA Sustainability and Government Affairs Director, Peter Bragg – asking them for their approaches. And, perhaps surprisingly, among them were plenty of achievable sustainability strategies for organisations of all sizes. Because, as Peter explains, “it’s a phrase that so many people understand a bit of, but it’s become so broad that you have to try and bring all the different aspects together and make them into something meaningful for your business.” So, we asked Peter what he sees as crucial to the sustainability efforts of any organisation.

Set your targets together

Whether that’s reducing carbon emissions, working towards a circular business model or your company’s social impact, build-in is buy-in. “Everyone knows that they have to build sustainability into their business plans, but what does that actually mean? How do you turn that into something meaningful?” asks Peter. He knows that for a business to be competitive, there are plenty of compliance hoops to jump through, but that cannot lie on the shoulders of a single person or function. After all, even in a circus someone holds the hoop, another makes sure there’s a packed house, and the acrobat has to learn to land safely. From boardroom to post room, to meet shifting customer priorities or deliver winning tenders, everyone has their own set of objectives. And these must include actions to support a sustainable business direction with a clear understanding of how this contributes to success for everyone. Which leads neatly on to…

Create a way to communicate effectively

“One minute you’re talking about Net Zero. The next, human rights in the supply chain, circular economy, resource efficiency…” says Peter. “And we have lots of functions that operate quite differently.” Many issues to cover across a number of different business areas can make it hard to have a coherent conversation with your stakeholders. To this end, Peter finds the Canon Sustainability Steering Committee to be an effective means of communication, helping him to understand everything that is happening across the business, but also to share the very latest information, policies and strategies clearly and quickly. But it’s not just a useful structure for huge organisations – plenty of smaller businesses routinely use the steering committee model for change management projects– so it’s familiar to implement and creates strong two-way conversations on sustainability issues.

Measure, measure, measure…

The idea of collecting so much data can feel daunting, but with a new steering committee in place, you and your stakeholders should have a clear understanding of what must be delivered. Each area can then assess what is required to gather this information. Whether that’s training, relationship building or even investing in technology, every function will take a slightly different approach, but this means you also need to create a framework for setting targets and measuring progress. “We have status reports and dashboards that we are now producing so that we can monitor all of the different activity,” explains Peter.

Know that your colleagues care

If your people seem to be detached from their work or ‘checked out’, perhaps this is a sign that they do not feel part of – or understand – the company journey and their place in it. And this might mean they don’t feel valued, respected or heard. It doesn’t have to be this way. Are your colleagues part of a community? Is there a sense of camaraderie and common cause in your organisation? “Canon’s corporate philosophy of Kyosei – living and working together for the common good – is the foundation for everything the business sets out to do, whether that’s excellence in our products or the way that we treat our customers and each other,” explains Peter. “We ask our teams to reflect and share how they feel about their ability to support the business on its journey towards becoming more sustainable. Because we want them to understand that every role, no matter how big or small, plays a key part.”

Prepare for some knocks

Sustainability for businesses isn’t a flash in the pan. It’s here for keeps and it takes work to shepherd an organisation of any size to understand its goals and keep striving to realise them. Peter often describes the role of the Chief Sustainability Officer as “Chief Change Maker or Chief Influencer. You can add to this ‘Chief Knowledge Demystifier’.” What he means is that when you’re looking to change the trajectory of a business, you must wear many hats, be prepared to roll up your sleeves and dive deep into its inner workings, understanding all perspectives and ready to counter resistance.

Avoiding cliches, it is true that sustainability is not about an end goal, but ongoing effort. “It requires being patient, being pragmatic,” says Peter. “Celebrate the wins when you get them. You also need to build that capacity for change.”

How to Be Sustainable – Business strategies for leading change by Paolo Taticchi and Melina Corvaglia-Charrey is published by KoganPage.