Companies are failing to translate sustainability principles into concrete goals for managers and staff

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2007-10-31 18:52

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Hong Kong--(뉴스와이어)--Corporate sustainability targets have yet to be embraced by managers and senior executives in most companies, according to a global survey of over 1,100 executives by the Economist Intelligence Unit. It shows that social and environmental goals, such as improving energy efficiency or enforcing ethical practices across supply chains, are not typically included as part of executives’ overall responsibilities. Six out of ten executives polled noted that they or their team had been given no specific sustainability goals to achieve.

The findings are revealed in “Action or Aspiration: Sustainability in the workplace”, a new report written by the Economist Intelligence Unit and sponsored by BT. The research indicates that although corporate sustainability is now a major issue for top executives, companies are struggling to translate this into action across a globally dispersed workforce.

While firms agree that they should do more to embed sustainable processes into their day to day operations, two-thirds of respondents have not been consulted by their companies regarding how sustainability issues can be integrated into their roles.

“Many firms are putting a strategy for corporate sustainability into place, but have yet to translate these goals into practical action lower down the business. Managers need to work hard at communicating their strategy and entrenching these principles across the global workforce,” says James Watson, the report’s editor.

The survey covered over 1,100 senior executives across a wide range of industries. In addition, the Economist Intelligence Unit conducted in-depth interviews with business leaders around the world, to understand the challenges that companies face in implementing their strategy for corporate sustainability.

Francois Barrault, CEO, BT Global Services, said: "The link between sustainability and commercial success is, without doubt, becoming clearer all the time. The key to helping sustainability programmes benefit society, the environment and profitability is leadership. All organisations, BT included, are at the start of this journey, but now is the time for CEOs and CFOs to lead from the front."

Other key findings from this research include:

● There is still more talk than action. The survey found that between one-quarter and one third of respondents felt that there was “more talk than action” when it comes to implementing sustainability strategies. Where action is taken, it tends to be in areas that directly and obviously affect customer perceptions and sales.

● There is clear involvement in sustainability at the top of the company, but less engagement at lower levels. Almost three-fifths of respondents agreed that management sets the pace, with nearly four in ten (37%) saying that direction comes from board level. Almost one-third of respondents say that their chairman or CEO is responsible for the company’s sustainability policies. Getting a clear signal from the top can be vital when it comes to implementation and galvanising staff. But the survey also shows that the amount of interaction with the person leading any sustainability efforts tends to shrink further down the management hierarchy. While the majority of board-level executives say they collaborate with the sustainability chief, only one third of junior managers do so.

● Sustainability helps to attract talent, but not as much as money or location. For all the talk about a firm’s sustainability efforts giving it an edge in recruitment, this metric was at the bottom of the list of what executives seek in a new job, far behind the scope of the role, location, pay and several other factors. However, it was listed as a “very important” consideration for some 32% of survey respondents.

Action or Aspiration: Sustainability in the workplace is available free of charge at: www.eiu.com/sponsor/BT/ActionorAspiration

웹사이트: http://www.eiu.com