This week we hosted our latest Connect UK event ‘Leadership in sustainability: driving organisational performance’ where we were delighted by expert insights and thought-provoking conversations.
We would like to extend a big thank you to our three speakers, Sacha Dench and Louis Barnett from Conservation Without Borders who explored telling a compelling sustainability narrative and understanding the true ROI, and Ilya Selivanov from Reckitt who shared his experience of delivering productivity, sustainability and growth as part of the same programme.
Following the inspiring presentations, our guests delved further into these topics and reflected on their application in their own contexts. There were lively discussions, constructive challenges and, overall, a consensus that sustainability can be a driver of performance, not just a tick-box exercise.
There was a wealth of interesting topics explored, but three takeaways were:
- Narrative eats data for lunch: Although quantifying the impact of sustainability initiatives is important (see point two below), businesses must avoid falling into ‘paralysis by analysis’. Sacha encouraged the audience to take action boldly, with authenticity, and above all communicate their intentions in a compelling way to have true impact.
- Return on Investment (ROI) comes in many forms: Biodiversity and sustainability are complex topics, and the benefits can sometimes be overlooked when considered in a narrow financial lens. ROI can be measured across many internal and external areas. For example, cost of churn of employees can be significant. Louis advised that businesses think more broadly and plan ahead so that the before and after impact on metrics can be understood.
- Sustainability and growth are not mutually exclusive: Ilya shared numerous examples from his experience where efficiency, sustainability and growth were all on the same agenda. One common challenge in sustainability is that benefits are often only realised in the longer term. His approach of running short- and long-term initiatives in parallel, so that the benefits from the smaller initiatives can be re-invested into the longer ones was particularly resonant.
If you would like to find out more or share your own thoughts and experiences on this topic, or join our Connect community please get in touch with Judith Richardson, Head of Sustainability at Argon & Co UK.
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