How to achieve sustainability excellence in organisations

The ability of an organisation to transform and achieve strategic differentiation through sustainability in an enduring manner rests on several factors. These factors enable organisations not only to achieve these goals but also to continually raise the baseline for market-leading performance.

Successfully navigating current and emerging challenges in the operating environment is critical for organisations to succeed in the short, medium, and long term. Therefore, having clarity and understanding of the components necessary to accomplish this goal is important. The following factors drive sustainability excellence in organisations.

Organisations must make the right investments in talent to achieve sustainability excellence that enables transformation and long-term success. Investments in talent and upskilling will be continuous to address the evolving demands of sustainability.

Just as shareholders, regulators, and other stakeholders are demanding better-quality information, including the application of emerging technologies, and faster decision-making by management based on decision-useful information, having the right talent is what allows organisations to meet these internal and external stakeholder demands.

Data and technology are another essential factor driving sustainability excellence. The quality of data should be accurate, complete, and relevant to provide insights and aid decision-making.

Having the right data can be an asset and a source of competitive advantage to an organisation. In addition, integrating emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence to propel transformation within an organisation, coupled with the right talent equation, will help to achieve sustainability excellence.

Read: How organisations are preparing for mandatory sustainability reporting

Another factor is a tailored, fit-for-purpose governance structure and framework that promotes ownership and accountability and clearly defines roles and responsibilities.

Governance ensures appropriate goals, timelines, and incentives are set for sustainability, while individuals and teams are held accountable for their performance against sustainability targets and overall business outcomes.

Finally, organisations have to build and continually develop a proactive stakeholder engagement, communication, and reporting capability to ensure they remain focused on stakeholder demands and report on their performance in meeting these demands.

It is not enough to understand and implement stakeholder priorities through strategy execution alone. It is equally important for organisations to report credibly on their performance. Organisations should make stakeholder engagement a continuous exercise and build the required capacity, processes and systems for effective engagement and reporting.

The writer is a Partner at PwC Kenya. He is an author who writes and speaks widely on corporate reporting topics.