To survive organisations must become more sustainable

“Companies who focus on the short-term gain at the expense of long-term sustainability will not last long”.

Clever business leaders know they must manage the day-to-day, the short term, but they also know they must look at the long term, protect the company for future generations. Leaders must know run their organisations while thinking about how their organisations contribute to the environment and the society in which they operate. No more talking the talk, the time for that is over. It’s about walking the walk, it’s about action. Every organisation, regardless of size, must look at its environmental footprint. This is more than going beyond old basic policies of having signs in the office telling people to think about not printing out material unless needed and turn off lights in rooms when not in use. This is a  good place to start, but organisations must implement meaningful sustainable initiatives.

Evaluate your organisations efforts

Ask yourself the following questions and evaluate the effort you as a leader and your organisation is making to become a more sustainable organisation.

• Do you make employees drive into the office when really they don’t need to be there?
• Do you spend large amounts of money on parking spaces rather than spending that money incentivising or subsidising employees’ public transport use?
• Are you looking at new technologies to cut down power usage in our offices both in terms of heating/cooling but also in terms of the equipment used day-to-day?
• Are you using our PR to showcase what you’re doing in a meaningful way? Displaying to other organisations solutions that will benefit the environment and society rather than using PR for tokenistic gestures?
• Are you using your influence to tell those in political circles that climate action must be top of the agenda going forward, no excuses will be accepted?

How to improve

When aiming to become a more sustainable business, it is important to be genuine and reflect the reality of your organisation. Greenwashing is a term used to describe the process of conveying a false impression or providing misleading information about how a company’s products are more environmentally sound. Greenwashing is considered an unsubstantiated claim to deceive consumers into believing that a company’s products are environmentally friendly.

Consumers are becoming more and more aware of Greenwashing and instead want to see organisations creating meaningful change that will benefit their society. With less than 10% of Irish businesses considering themselves to be sustainable or well-advanced along their sustainability journey, now is the time to act.

Ingenium can help you become a more sustainable business through our Strategic Renewal process, with our team of experienced consultants in Strategy & Change Management, Environmental Science, and Energy Engineering. Reach out to Jack McGrath, Director of Strategy and Change Management today on jack.mcgrath@ingeniumtc.com to begin your journey to a more sustainable future with Ingenium.