Why You Need a Business Sustainability Strategy
Are you wondering whether your company needs a business sustainability strategy? Do you find yourself facing increasing pressure to create and implement sustainability initiatives? If so, you’ll find this comprehensive exploration extremely useful. Read on if you’d like to know more about what a business sustainability strategy is and why your company needs one in today's business climate.
Having a business sustainability strategy will help you to sleep more peacefully at night. It will also improve your company’s chances of long-term survival in an uncertain and ever-changing world.
What is Business Sustainability?
Contrary to popular understanding, business sustainability means more than simply adapting business practices to reduce your company’s impact on the environment – although this will also be a factor.
There are so many factors that will impact whether a business is sustainable over the long term, and there are several questions you may need to ask if you believe your business could have sustainability issues.
In order for a business to be economically sustainable over the long term, business owners must ensure that they are continuing to meet the needs of their customers. However, in the current business climate, leaders do also need to be aware of how they are meeting customers’ needs (by what means).
Other factors that will have an impact on the sustainability of an organisation are related to staffing issues, operational effectiveness and business capital. Customer service as well as customer satisfaction with the buying experience will also naturally impact a company's financial sustainability.
To increase the sustainability of their businesses, leaders need to ask themselves the following questions:
What do our customers want from us?
What do our staff teams need from us?
What does the wider world ask of us?
Business leaders need to understand that, to a great extent, the sustainability of their businesses depends on their ability to serve their customers and society in the highest and best possible way.
This could mean constantly innovating to improve products and services. In some cases, however, it could simply mean not deviating too far from the company’s original mission – the very thing that made it successful in the beginning.
Company leaders will also need to remain up to date with new developments in their sector, as well as keeping an eye on their competitors’ innovations.
The bigger questions are about leadership. Mentality, vision and authentic interest in doing things for purpose, mission and the aim to make a meaningful difference.
Financial Business Sustainability
When developing financial business sustainability strategies, leaders might begin by asking a couple of key questions.
1. What is our long-term plan for continuing to be our customers’ first choice
The answer to this question might lie somewhere in their ability to continue supplying exceptional offerings, products or services at a price their customers can afford.
2. Do I have investors, a financial safety net and/or a solid contingency plan to carry the company through lean times?
Financial sustainability strategies should be developed and implemented even when business is booming.
Operational Sustainability
There might also be a requirement for assessing the company’s operational sustainability. In other words,
How can we increase the effectiveness of our operations to improve productivity, reduce production costs, and therefore remain competitive over the long term?
How can we improve unity and communication across our teams to increase our efficiency, and effectiveness?
How can we support the growth, job satisfaction, safety, and engagement of the people who work in our company?
Does our message and mission solve problems in the community and in the world at large?
Are we genuinely satisfied with the company’s brand and the public’s perception of it?
If company leaders are satisfied with the answers to these questions, they are well on the way to achieving optimal flow within their operations. This will increase their chances of financial and overall business sustainability.
Business sustainability is dependent on understanding how all these key elements connect with each other and then ensuring that leaders and their teams are continually working to improve each one.
Sustainability Through Staffing
The recruitment, training, and treatment of staff will naturally play a large part in any business sustainability strategy.
A harmonious and collaborative culture is a more sustainable culture.
A happy staff team will work enthusiastically on new initiatives to improve operations.
This will help to increase operational efficiency effortlessly and organically.
Treating staff well and creating a safe and comfortable working environment is not only a fairer choice, it can also help to ensure that a business remains competitive.
A happy and engaged workforce will be kinder to customers and more efficient in the workplace. This will have a knock-on effect on customer satisfaction and, therefore, financial sustainability.
How Can Using Sustainable Development Become a Smart Business Strategy?
True sustainability also involves understanding that customers and staff teams are not just commodities. They belong to the wider society and world in which we all operate.
So, business sustainability cannot only be based on keeping our customers and staff happy.
Social responsibility means adopting the belief that we need to give back to society as well as receive from it.
If business leaders are to create sustainable businesses, they need to ask themselves the following questions about the impact of their business, products, or services on the global ecosystem.
Do our products harm the world?
Do our offerings, sourcing or systems harm people or their societies?
Are we paying attention to the needs of everyone in society? For example, by addressing issues of diversity, inclusion, gender equality, bullying, micro aggressions, equal opportunities, and other concerns related to the mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing of the workforce?
Are we ensuring the dignity and happiness of all staff members?
When business leaders pay attention to the mental and physical health of their staff, they are rewarded with increased engagement, enthusiasm, loyalty and increased creativity within their teams.
When business leaders pay attention to the way their business services and operations treat society and the wider world, they are rewarded with increased respect among staff and customers.
This is particularly the case for large corporations whose sheer volume of output will have a substantial impact on the world. When developing small business strategies for company profitability and sustainability, some of the same issues will apply.
Using ethical supply chains and encouraging recycling, waste reduction and responsible use of resources, are all ways for large corporations to make a substantial contribution to the world.
Implementing community outreach initiatives will also allow them to make a valuable contribution to society and increase the public’s trust.
According to an article in the Independent, public satisfaction with the Body Shop brand slumped almost by half following its infamous deal with L’Oréal.
The body shop was once best known for its values of inclusion, fairness, environmentally friendly practices, and sustainability. At the root of many of its methods and offerings, there was an underlying mission to reduce waste, increase environmental awareness and be a shining example of sustainable business practices.
For decades, the Body Shop seemed beyond reproach for its efforts towards energy-efficient production methods, ethical supply chains, and kindness. L’Oréal, on the other hand does not make any such eco friendly claims and has historically had a questionable reputation for its continued use of animal testing.
Anita Roddick's original Body Shop prided itself on releasing very few chemicals into the world through the company’s environmental effluent. They did this by using natural ingredients and biodegradable containers. They even encouraged the reuse of these biodegradable containers by offering customers pricing incentives for using their in-store refilling service.
The body shop was founded on principles of natural beauty, cruelty-free skincare, and a desire to safeguard the planet for future generations. It was the embodiment of the environmentally sustainable business model.
When the company was sold to a skincare giant whose founding principles were based on conflicting ideologies, the public simply lost confidence in the brand.
The Body Shop has since been sold to a more aligned company, but the impact of the brand’s dalliance with L’Oréal was clear from the figures. We may know little about the sustainability practices of the current Body Shop, but for many consumers the moment has been lost.
It’s also clear that the public is not easily fooled. Disingenuous messaging, ideological flip-flopping and the old-school corporate ‘anything goes’ mentality, will affect a company’s bottom line drastically.
Businesses cannot operate within a vacuum, and therefore, how they are perceived in the wider world is of the utmost importance. The world has changed. As its citizens demand to live on a cleaner, fairer planet, companies can no longer turn a blind eye to the ever-expanding demand for ethical and responsible business practices.
Wise business owners know that they must now answer to the concerns of an evolving world if they are to survive. Their practices, ethos, and operations must reflect these changes in collective societal expectation.
The real definition of sustainability is finding the business models, operational culture and creative leadership required alongside a more entrepreneurial fiscal policy, to create strategies that properly understand markets and audiences.
By understanding how these factors integrate within a company’s business structure and goals, companies can sustain by PERPETUALLY having the flexibility to stay in front and drive market attraction beyond fashion and fad.
The challenge lies in getting the operational culture to align with these more advanced strategies.
Having a business sustainability strategy in place will help you to get very clear about how you intend to benefit the planet. It will also give you an opportunity to enjoy a happier, healthier work environment yourself.
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