Four unexpected superpowers of your sustainability team

Find out how to unlock additional value from your organization’s sustainability function

Whether you call it your corporate social responsibility (CSR), environment, social, and governance (ESG), or sustainability team, your organization likely has a function focused on being a responsible corporate citizen. Beyond meeting local, regional, and national regulations for disclosures on governance, risks, and environmental impacts, the role of these teams has evolved into a business imperative.

From an outsider’s perspective, it might seem like sustainability teams spend their days turning off the lights, policing the recycling bin, and showing up at charity events for the sake of an annual report or social media talking point.

Of course, this outsider would be wrong — very wrong.

Sustainability teams play a vital role in attracting and retaining employees, responding to shareholder proposals, capturing investor attention, and maintaining regulatory compliance. While these functions are what sustainability teams are gradually becoming known for, I would like to introduce you to a few less obvious superpowers.

1. Omnipresence

As a function, sustainability teams exist to support other functions and work across functions. We can’t exist in a silo; we require a network of partners across IT, procurement, HR, travel, finance, real estate, and more. This also extends to stakeholders outside of the organization including suppliers, customers, and communities.

With this network comes the superpower of omnipresence: we touch at least one initiative per function. Organizations generally can’t roll out a new product or service without the input of the sustainability team or open a new office location without a site selection and health and safety review.

By nature, our teams are silo busters with the innate ability to make connections and collaborate. The issues we’re working to solve are big, requiring everyone’s participation.

2. Super scent

We have a need for data to baseline our starting point and track year-over-year changes based on economic or behavioral change interventions. We sniff out data in all forms, whether in an enterprise system, SharePoint, or Excel file.

This could be the number of suppliers who’ve had a supply chain audit, sites reviewed for health and safety considerations, or the balance of servers that are on-premises versus cloud-based. We sniff out datasets from vendors on CPU usage or from PDFs of utility bills. We also likely have information on employee engagement and expectations, as well as commuting or telecommuting behavior. All of this information is required for a portfolio-level view of how a company is progressing against its goals.

3. X-ray vision

With omnipresence and super scent, we can see through myths, fallacies, and false assumptions about the cost of sustainability initiatives. With the data we have from teams and functions across the company, we can see when it’s a lack of compliance that’s driving costs up versus a sustainable choice. We can develop business cases for making certain procurements and negotiating “green” terms that will actually save the organization money. Additionally, we frequently identify ways to save costs from spending on unnecessary resources or travel in the effort to reduce emissions and optimize resource use. This results in lower operational costs and increased profitability over time.

4. Telekinesis

Lastly, we can move stakeholders to different outcomes with our minds. (Well, really our work, but let’s pretend.) We’re able to partner with sales and client-facing teams to proactively demonstrate the work we’re doing in the ESG space. This helps enhance our brand and leads to new business opportunities.

With companies focused on their value-chain emissions (scope 3), they’re looking to do business with vendors in their supply chain who are also actively thinking about carbon reduction. Additionally, we work to engage the community through philanthropic and volunteer efforts. This resonates with not only customers but also investors, employees, partners, and the communities being served. By supporting sustainability initiatives, we help create a positive impact that leads to stronger local support and an enhanced reputation.

Uncovering and delivering value

The superpowers of a company’s sustainability team extend beyond the obvious and visible efforts. From being involved in major initiatives to sniffing out data to getting buy-in from stakeholders, sustainability teams are vital to the future success of today’s organizations. By recognizing and leveraging the unique abilities of sustainability teams, organizations can achieve established goals and targets while also unlocking opportunities for business efficiency.

So, the question is: Are you utilizing your sustainability team to its fullest potential?

Slalom is a next-generation professional services company creating value at the intersection of business, technology, and humanity. Learn more and reach out today.