Don't follow the sustainability pioneers, go your own way
Despite the many cornerstones set by customer requirements, bank guidelines and new laws, the path to continuously more sustainable business remains an individual matter for each company. If approached correctly, small and medium-sized family-run companies can preserve and utilise their culture and tradition despite far-reaching changes. Implementing sustainable action from within the company is the right way forward. Putting sustainability management “on top” will be doomed to failure if it is imposed. Instead, if it is anchored in the breadth and depth of the organisation in such a way that all employees and partners get involved, you are doing it right.
There are already many companies, primarily in sectors close to consumers, that have already implemented sustainable business practices in their organisations. I have analysed many of these lighthouses in more detail. There is no standardised pattern of how companies implement sustainability in their actions. From my conversations with many managers who are still putting off the topic, it is clear that many of these decision-makers are looking for a pattern. This is often a reason to postpone getting started.
Let me quote from some of the many conversations we have had in recent weeks to show how some entrepreneurs view the situation:
- “…I have to protect my company from even more bureaucracy and documentation madness, don’t get me wrong Mr Spill,…”
- “…we already know that we need to do something in this area, but first we are looking for a sustainability manager and once she:he is here and have familiarised her:himself with our structures, we will start with a systematic introduction…”
- ” We have a group of colleagues who have long known that we need to do something about sustainability. We even see our jobs at risk. Our owners have also recognised this in the meantime. Maybe we’ll organise a workshop with the management to make a decision on how to get started…”
- “…we are fully aware that something has to happen here. But at the moment, we have more important issues that we need to work on first…”
- “… I recognise the need for us to dedicate ourselves to more sustainable business practices, not only because our foreign parent companies are much further ahead than we are. I will discuss this with my colleagues on the Executive Board in peace and quiet ….”
Dear business partners and interested parties, I would just like to point out that politics and society, your customers and business partners, your employees and often your shareholders will develop expectations on you very soon. We sustainability managers can only advise you to start planning your sustainability management as soon as possible. If you want to get your employees, customers and partners on board, it takes time and a lot of communication. Getting started does not mean doing everything straight away, it means starting to deal with the topic systematically. The journey is the goal!
I wish you sustainable success for the new year!
Yours, Torsten Spill