Today we talk more and more often about business sustainability. The biggest challenge for an entire generation of Sustainability Managers (formerly CSR Managers) is to ensure that sustainability becomes a transversal and pervasive element in the way of doing business. This is what emerges from a survey carried out by ALTIS, the Graduate School of Business and Society of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart.
On the occasion of the twentieth edition of the Sustainability Profession Course, which is helping to train an entire generation of sustainability professionals, ALTIS involved alumni and alumnae of all editions in a survey aimed at exploring evolutions, critical issues and perspectives that await Sustainability Managers. The results were presented today during an event that aimed to bring together the former participants of the twenty editions of the course, to start a shared reflection on the future of the profession. On the occasion of this milestone, we wanted to bring together the former participants in a reunion event that was held today at the headquarters of ALTIS Università Cattolica.
"What we once called corporate social responsibility has now become a broader concept, of a cultural and structural nature, which requires managers to take a long-term vision. We need to develop the ability to see beyond the direct repercussions of our choices, a culturally relevant and intellectually challenging task", comments Mario Molteni, Scientific Director and creator of the course.
TODAY'S CHALLENGES OF SUSTAINABILITY IN THE COMPANY
According to respondents, the test of sustainability nowadays is played out in the field of carbon neutrality (21.6%), followed by the need to develop new, more sustainable business models (13.4%). In third place, on an equal footing, is sustainable finance and the dissemination of a shared culture of sustainability in the company (10.3%). Stakeholder engagement and inclusion, not only related to gender issues but also at the motivational and collaborative level of employees, are among the most underestimated challenges, when, on the contrary, stakeholder involvement is indicated as one of the main differentiating levers in corporate sustainability (below). It therefore emerges that this is one of the main areas in which it is necessary to invest more resources and energy in the future.
THE BRAKES ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINABILITY AND THE DILEMMA OF COMMUNICATION
If the lack of commitment of top-management and the lack of resources and investments are what slow down the development of ESG policies for 18.3% of respondents, what is most lacking in the company today is an internal culture on the subject (29.4%), also linked to a difficulty in managing sustainability communication. In fact, this very issue appears to be one of the most controversial and complex: if for some respondents it is excessive communication that puts a brake on sustainability, for others it is, on the contrary, ineffective communication. The criticality therefore lies in being able to adequately calibrate communication, finding the right balance and the right weight, to have effective actions that do not lapse into greenwashing.
THE "4 CS" OF SUSTAINABLE DIFFERENTIATION
And it is precisely the consistency between actions and communication, avoiding greenwashing, that is indicated by 19.2% of respondents as the main lever of differentiation when it comes to corporate sustainability. In a constantly evolving context, where sustainability is becoming a must-have, it is essential for a company to integrate it into the corporate culture (17.2%), cultivating stakeholder engagement and demonstrating the concreteness of the impact generated (16.2%). These are the "4 Cs" of sustainability: consistency, doing what you say, saying what you do; concreteness, generate a significant and quantified impact; involvement, integrating stakeholders into management; culture, making sustainability an element of identity.
SKILLS: THE PRIMARY ROLE OF SOFT SKILLS
From the point of view of skills, it is the soft ones that make the difference for a sustainability professional. Considering the generalized lack of corporate culture on the subject, it is clear that communication and leadership skills (24.3%) and integrated thinking (26.2%) are now fundamental for the performance of the profession, to know how to dialogue with multiple actors, inside and outside the company, and with different company functions. Skills that must necessarily be supported by increasingly technical skills, in particular regulatory and environmental (9.3%) and measurement (8.4%).
Article by Elena Pirovano