When companies make bold commitments to sustainability, we all win. Here, we share lessons learned and ongoing challenges from three very different corporate sustainability journeys — to show others on the front lines that they are not alone.
When it comes to making a business case for sustainability, where do you start?
How do you get management on board? Investors? Fellow employees? Customers? And
where do you go from there?
At Vanguard Renewables, a US leader
in the organic waste-to-renewable energy space, we hear these questions all the
time. We recently hosted a roundtable
discussion where I served as moderator
and was joined by three seasoned sustainability managers who shared their
insights into effecting change from the inside out, and mapping the
sustainability journey for different business brands:
-
Sara Burnett — VP of Food
Beliefs, Sustainability and PR at Panera
Bread, which
has roughly 2,100 bakery cafes across the US and Canada
-
Niki King — Head of
Sustainability
at Unilever North America — part of the
consumer goods powerhouse with over 400 brands, from Dove to
Hellmann’s
and Ben &
Jerry’s.
Formerly worked at Novo Nordisk and Campbell Soup.
-
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Kevin Hagen — VP of
Environment, Social & Governance (ESG) Strategy at Iron
Mountain — a leader in document, data and
asset storage and management with more than 1,450 facilities in over 60
countries, and over 25,000 employees.
What advice would they give to others working on sustainability issues at
companies big and small? Check out their top tips here, then watch the full
video from Sustainable Brands’ Brand-Led Culture
Change event
below.
1. Tap into company core beliefs
When Burnett approaches Panera leadership with her latest sustainability
objectives, she goes armed with data and tactical plans. But first, she takes a
step back and reminds them of the company’s values and mission. At Panera, they
care about their food, their customers, their associates and their community. By
using those touchpoints as ways to discuss the part that sustainability can play
in meeting the company’s multi-faceted mission, you are more likely to
successfully engage management in the deeper, more tactical conversations.
“I am a huge proponent of putting commitments out into the world, to help hold yourself accountable.” — Sara Burnett, Panera Bread
2. Show them the metrics
At some point, business discussions about sustainability must move beyond
emotional conversations about people and the planet to sophisticated metrics
that can be measured in the spreadsheets that hold the most weight with
management, shareholders and investors. So, Hagen advises, frame it in a way
that the money-minded will appreciate. Carbon
accounting,
for instance, can provide insight into a company’s reliance on fossil fuels and
its high degree of price volatility, the feed of raw materials to the business,
etc. Rather than just paying the electric bill, a carbon analysis can open eyes
to parts of the business they hadn’t previously considered, he said.
The incorporation of sustainability into SEC
disclosures
means that “a whole lot of people in our company are talking about
sustainability in a whole new way,” Hagen adds. That can be a good and a bad
thing. It can make leadership more likely to invest in sustainability
initiatives; but it could also make them hesitant to set ambitious goals that
they might not reach.
3. Rethink ROI
Finances don’t necessarily have to be the most compelling factor in ROI. Think
outside the box when pitching a new sustainability initiative, Burnett advises.
How might it impact long-term brand value or relevance? Or customer loyalty? She
also noted that you need to identify your “allies and advocates” to redefine
what traditional ROI looks like. For her, it is not necessarily financial — it’s
also who can help you: There may be five other benefits to any particular
project that can lead to attaining long-term goals. When making a case for
compostable
packaging,
for instance, Burnett teamed up with her culinary associates to argue that it
enhanced the food’s presentation and visual appeal.
4. Employ the employee factor
Don’t underestimate the power of your
employees
in nearly every aspect of a brand's journey. When drafting your sustainability
strategy and implementation plan, be sure to include the person who sources
products as well as the supply chain director. To successfully implement any
sustainability strategy, you must have a sustainability culture that pervades
the entire company, from C-suite to factory floor, King notes. When employees
have a shared belief in the cause, they are empowered to help the company
achieve its objectives. And “consider further incentivizing by rewarding
employees who innovate and help reach sustainability goals,” she adds.
“It's easy enough to throw goals out there and say, ‘Okay, we're gonna be carbon neutral by x.’ But you've got to also empower your employees to innovate; and you've got to put the resources in place so that they can be successful.” — Niki King, Unilever
Another ally on your sustainability journey should be HR, King says.
Increasingly, people want their work to make a difference. A company committed
to sustainability can be extremely attractive to jobseekers. And arming current
employees with additional skills and competencies tied to sustainability can
help them accelerate their careers, keep them in the
company
and contribute to the business’s bottom line, Hagen adds. Nearly every job is
impacted by sustainability; those in procurement now have to consider life cycle
assessment and supply chain resilience, for instance; while finance directors
chase green bonds and facilities managers pursue LEED certification to
enhance company assets. The interdisciplinary nature of sustainability also
means that competencies such as systems
thinking
and collaborative
leadership
will become more valuable.
5. Go big — and don’t be afraid to fail
The final big piece of advice that all panelists agreed upon: “Go big” — with
your goals, with your scope, and with your reach.
Be ambitious with your sustainability goals and be brave in sharing them with
the
public.
Don’t be afraid to fail. As long as you are transparent in what you have tried
and how you plan to go forward, most people will respect that. And your failures
may still achieve more than others’ successes, depending on how high you have
set the bar.
“I’ve seen market research that claims companies that set big ambitious goals and missed them actually achieved more in an absolute sense than companies that achieved their goals because they set such low-bar expectations.” — Kevin Hagen, Iron Mountain
Go big with your scope by involving every employee and stakeholder; and go big
with your reach by involving others outside your company — including
competitors. Educate, advocate and collaborate, King advises. At Unilever,
employees can learn about every aspect of the company’s sustainability program,
from its use of plastics to its top-level commitments. And the company has used
its prominence in the field to convene other organizations to make a difference.
One shouldn’t be afraid to work with other companies and NGOs towards common
goals, and to learn from each other.
Final thoughts
At Vanguard Renewables, we work with sustainability folks who are fighting the
good fight internally and externally to make the sustainable [but often more
expensive] choices on what to do with their process waste, packaged waste, and
how to lower their company’s carbon footprint. Vanguard recycles that inedible
waste along with cow manure to create renewable energy at our Farm Powered®
anaerobic
digesters.
There are multiple barriers to always making the sustainable choice, including
entrenched culture. We see the struggles from the outside.
However, when companies make bold commitments to sustainability, we all win; and
being able to share three very different sustainability journeys is a powerful
way to show others on the front lines that they are not alone.
We are on the front lines, too; Vanguard’s goal is to expand our anaerobic
digestion projects across the US to mitigate on-farm and food and beverage waste
emissions. Our “goal” may look different from Iron Mountain’s, Panera Bread’s or
Unilever’s; but we are each working towards mitigating the climate crisis in our
own ways. The sustainability journey is sometimes fraught with pitfalls — and as
Burnett so eloquently states, “It often feels like you're climbing a mountain
and never actually reach the top” — but we keep going, because the future of our
planet is on the line.
Watch the panel discussion here.
Published Jul 18, 2022 2pm EDT / 11am PDT / 7pm BST / 8pm CEST
John Hanselman is Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Vanguard Renewables — the U.S. leader in farm-based organics to renewable energy. John launched Vanguard Renewables in 2014 to connect farm-based anaerobic digestion to agricultural resilience and produce renewable energy. His work includes finding a decarbonization pathway for the food and beverage industry by enabling the repurposing of unavoidable manufacturing and supply chain waste into renewable natural gas. John’s strength is bringing together partners in the decarbonization journey and Vanguard has strategic partnerships with Dairy Farmers of America and Dominion Energy, among others. (Read more ...)
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